Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone

From Sega Retro

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DoubleDragon3 title.png

Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System
Publisher: Flying Edge
Developer:
Genre: Action

















Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code

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Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone is a 1991 arcade beat-'em-up by Technos; it was ported by Software Creations to the Sega Mega Drive and published in 1992/1993 by Flying Edge. Although the boxart refers to the game as Double Dragon 3: The Arcade Game, the title screen remains the same as the arcade version.

Gameplay

The purpose of the game is to collect three "Rosetta Stones" in order to face off with an adversary in Egypt. The Lee brothers and other characters must travel the world to reach this objective. A punches, B jumps, C kicks. Besides the ability to run by double tapping in a direction additional moves can be bought in a in-game store. The in-game store, which can be entered through a door in certain parts of a level, offers extra moves, extra characters, agility, energy, and weapons for purchase with coins. The extra characters only appear when the main character presently being used is killed. Extra characters include the Urquidez brothers, the Chin brothers, and the Oyama brothers.

Levels

There are five levels available. This includes America, China, Japan, Italy, and Egypt.

Version differences

  • The arcade version of Double Dragon 3 featured item shops where players could gain additional moves, weapons and other playable characters by inserting more credits into the cabinet. This system was retained in the Mega Drive (despite the existence of a Japanese version that removed it), but since the console naturally lacks a coin shutter, the player instead starts off with a certain amount of credits (15 by default in 1-player mode, which is raised to 19 in 2-players mode), which are used as both, currency in item shops and for continues. Additional credits are gained after clearing a stage
  • The arcade version can be set for up to three players simultaneously, while the Mega Drive version only allows up to two.
  • The Mega Drive version features an options screen that allows the player to adjust the number of credits the player start with, change the starting character for both players and turn the background music on or off before the game begins. The Japanese version of the arcade game had a character select feature, but it allowed each player to choose their individual character instead of choosing the same type for everyone.
  • The purchasable items work differently in the Mega Drive version.
    • In the arcade version, "energy" restores the player's health to 150%, while "power up" increases the player's movement speed. In the Mega Drive version, the "energy" item was removed, but "power up" serves the same purpose. However, instead of restoring the player's health to 150%, it restores the player's health to 100% and adds 50 HP more.
    • Both versions allow the player to purchase a stock of up to three extra fighters. However, the arcade version allows the player to have different character types in reserve, while the Mega Drive version only allows one character type at a time. This means that if the player is controlling a Lee brother and the first extra fighter purchased is a Chin brother, every additional extra fighter will be a Chin until the player runs out of extra fighters and returns as a Lee brother.
  • The name of the second Oyama brother was changed from Kunio to Nunio.
  • The starting HP for each character type are distributed differently. In the arcade version, the Lee and Oyama brothers started with 230 HP, the Urquidez brothers started with 270 and the Chin Brothers with 290 HP. In the Mega Drive version, the Lee brothers start with 250 HP, the Urquidez brothers start with 225, the Chin brothers with 300 and the Oyama brothers 375. The damage data for both, player and enemy attacks, are also different.
  • The animation frames for consecutive attacks and running are missing in the Mega Drive version. The belly-to-back throw was removed as well. The enemies also lack their "stun" poses, leading to a much harder difficulty than the arcade version.
  • In the arcade version, the hurricane kick is performed by doing a neutral jump and pressing the kick, while the jumping throw is performed by pressing the punch button while jumping over an enemy. In the Mega Drive version, both of these moves are performed by holding down the d-pad up or down and pressing the C button near an enemy.
  • The two co-operative moves (the back-to-back hurricane kick and the triangle jump kick) were removed in the Mega Drive version.
  • The arcade version have multiple music tracks for each mission for different areas and situations (including boss battles). In the Mega Drive version, there's only one track for each mission.

Promotional Material

  • DoubleDragon3 MD US PrintAdvert.jpg

    US print advert

Physical Scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
25 №24, p163
10 №9, p38/39
20 №35, p153
31 №40, p28/29
35 №16, p42/43
35 №18, p65
39 №3, p64
70 №14, p14-16[1]
Sega Mega Drive
 33
Based on
8 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
30
[2]
Aktueller Software Markt (DE)
50
[3]
Cool Gamer (RU)
40
[4]
Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) NTSC-U
72
[5]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
68
[6]
Joypad (FR)
25
[7]
Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL
10
[8]
Mega Force (FR)
69
[9]
Mega Fun (DE) NTSC-U
27
[10]
Player One (FR) PAL
35
[11]
Play Time (DE) PAL
49
[12]
Sega Power (UK)
31
[13]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
35
[14]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
35
[15]
Sega Zone (UK) PAL
39
[16]
Sega Force (UK) PAL
70
[17]
Supergame (BR) NTSC-U
77
[18]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
38
[19]
Sega Mega Drive
 44
Based on
18 reviews

Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone

Mega Drive, US
DoubleDragon3TheRosettaStone MD US Box.jpg
Cover
DoubleDragon3 MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, EU
DoubleDragon3TheRosettaStone MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
DoubleDragon3 MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, BR
DoubleDragon3 MD BR Box.jpg
Cover
DoubleDragon3 MD BR Cart.jpg
Cart



Double Dragon games for Sega systems
Sega Master System
 Double Dragon (1988)
Sega Mega Drive
 Double Dragon II: The Revenge (1991) | Double Dragon (1992) | Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone (1992/1993) | Battletoads/Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team (1993) | Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls (1994)
Sega Game Gear
 Double Dragon (1993)
  1. ↑ File:SegaForce14UK.pdf, page 14
  2. ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 94
  3. ↑ Aktueller Software Markt, "August 1993" (DE; 1993-07-12), page 136
  4. ↑ Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 67
  5. ↑ Electronic Games (1992-1995), "March 1993" (US; 1993-02-09), page 70
  6. ↑ GamePro, "February 1993" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 50
  7. ↑ Joypad, "Octobre 1993" (FR; 1993-xx-xx), page 163
  8. ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "May 1993" (UK; 1993-xx-xx), page 38
  9. ↑ Mega Force, "Septembre 1993" (FR; 1993-0x-xx), page 119
  10. ↑ Mega Fun, "05/93" (DE; 1993-0x-xx), page 63
  11. ↑ Player One, "Octobre 1993" (FR; 1993-xx-xx), page 153
  12. ↑ Play Time, "6/93" (DE; 1993-05-05), page 101
  13. ↑ Sega Power, "March 1993" (UK; 1993-02-04), page 28
  14. ↑ Sega Pro, "February 1993" (UK; 1993-01-14), page 42
  15. ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 65
  16. ↑ Sega Zone, "January 1993" (UK; 1992-12-xx), page 64
  17. ↑ Sega Force, "February 1993" (UK; 1993-01-14), page 14
  18. ↑ Supergame, "Maio 1993" (BR; 1993-05-xx), page 17
  19. ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 53
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