Double Dragon II: The Revenge

From Sega Retro

n/a

DoubleDragonII MDTitleScreen.png

Double Dragon II: The Revenge
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: PALSOFT
Developer:
Developer(s) of original games: Technos
Genre: Action

















Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code

Double Dragon II: The Revenge (ダブルドラゴンII ザ・リベンジ) is the sequel to Double Dragon. It was released for the arcades in early 1989, although it has a copyright date of 1988 due to the prototype testing conducted that year. The arcade version was essentially an improved version of the first game, featuring revamped graphics, a different combat system, new bosses and all new music, while retaining the same level structures and enemy characters from the first game. The Famicom/NES version, released by Technos at the end of the same year, was a completely different game that shared only the basic premise and a few superficial similarities in levels and character designs.

The Sega Mega Drive version, released by PALSOFT exclusively in Japan in 1991, is notably the only console version of the game that was actually a conversion of the arcade game, as the later PC Engine version released in 1993 by Naxat Soft was a remake of the aforementioned Famicom version. However, the Mega Drive version was poorly received by critics and was never picked up for export release as a result.

While the Mega Drive version has no official credits, it is known that the sound conversion was handled by Hitoshi Sakimoto, while Masaharu Iwata, who composed the game over theme for this version, claims that Quest may had handled the actual conversion.

Gameplay

Marian is gunned down by Willy in retaliation of his defeat at the hands of the Lee brothers during the events of the previous game. Swearing to avenge Marian's death, Billy and Jimmy Lee embark on a revenge mission to eliminate Willy and his gang, the Black Warriors, once and for all. This time Billy (Player 1) wears a black outfit, while Jimmy (Player 2) wears white.

The combat system was revamped from the previous game. Instead of having specific punch and kick buttons, A attacks to the left and C attacks to the right, with B serving the jump button. Pressing the front attack button while standing will cause the player to throw a flurry of punches towards his direction, while pressing the rear attack button causes a kick. This also applies while grabbing an enemy's hair (the front attack button will do repeated knee kicks, while rear attack performs a shoulder throw) or performing a standing jump kick. Pressing the attack button at the peak one's jump will cause the player to perform a whirlwind kick, which will sent enemies from both sides flying away. Like in the previous game, certain enemies can be disarmed of their weapons and used against them and certain large objects can be picked up and used against them.

The game has a total of four stages, much like its predecessor, which consists of a heliport, a lumber storehouse, a farm, and Willy's new hideout. While most of the enemy characters are redesigned versions of the bad guys from the previous games, the bosses at the end of each stage, are completely new.

Versions

  • The characters are designed on a much smaller scale than the arcade version. The Lee brothers, who were each 32x64 pixels tall in the arcade version when standing, are only 24x48 pixels in the Mega Drive version. Colors are also much darker. This was not due to the hardware limitations of the Mega Drive, as Accolade's port of the first game that was released in the west managed to preserved character scale of the arcade version, while later beat-'em-ups on the console such as Streets of Rage 2 displayed much larger characters in much greater numbers.
  • The amount of on-screen enemies could go as large as up to eight enemies in the arcade version, whereas the Mega Drive tends to restrict itself to only two or three on-screen enemies at a time for each battle. The actual enemy placement is also very different in the Mega Drive, such as the second fight in Mission 1 being against a trio of Lindas, whereas there was only one Linda in this fight in the arcade version.
  • The seamless transition sequences when the Lee brothers leave one stage to enter the next one are gone. Instead, the screen fades to black after defeating the stage boss and then cuts in to the start of the next stage. However, the intermission music can still be played during the options menu.
  • The jumping reverse kick (performed by pressing jump and front attack simultaneously) is missing in the Mega Drive version.
  • All the enemy characters from the arcade version are present, except for Jeff, a Lee brother clone who served as a sub-boss in Mission 3 and 4 in the arcade game. The Mega Drive simply substitute his appearances with more Lindas.
  • The level designs for the stages are closed to the arcade version, except for Mission 2, which has a completely different layout: it is much longer and has several more conveyor belts and pitfalls to avoid.
  • The Mega Drive version pauses for a second when certain enemy characters are killed just before playing their death scream. The Mega Drive version also has incompatibility issues with the Fighting Pad 6B, as it causes the player's character to move much slower than the standard control pad.
  • Instead of a photograph of the Lee brothers with Marian, the ending is a black and white montage of Billy Lee fighting against the game's bosses.

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
67 №124, p32/33[2]
10 №38
45 №24, p148[3]
39 №3, p40/41[4]
30 №19, p106/107[5]
29 №4, p62[6]
29 №18, p65
Sega Mega Drive
 36
Based on
7 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
30
[7]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
48
[8]
Consoles + (FR)
71
[9]
Console XS (UK) NTSC-J
29
[10]
Cool Gamer (RU)
50
[11]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
67
[12]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
45
[13]
Games-X (UK)
10
[14]
Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J
30
[15]
Joystick (FR) NTSC-J
45
[3]
Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J
58
[16]
MegaTech (UK) NTSC-J
39
[4]
Mean Machines (UK) NTSC-J
30
[5]
Mean Machines Sega (UK)
30
[17]
Power Play (DE)
38
[18]
Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-J
29
[6]
Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-J
29
[19]
Sega Opisaniy i sekretov (RU)
50
[20]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
31
[21]
Sega Mega Drive
 40
Based on
19 reviews

Double Dragon II: The Revenge

Mega Drive, JP
DoubleDragon2 MD JP Box.jpg
Cover
DoubleDragon2 MD JP CartTop.jpg
DoubleDragon2 MD JP Cart.jpg
Cart

References

Necretro-round.svg
NEC Retro has more information related to Double Dragon II: The Revenge
  1. ↑ @iwata1966 on Twitter
  2. ↑ File:CVG UK 124.pdf, page 32
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 File:Joystick FR 024.pdf, page 148 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Joystick FR 024.pdf_p148" defined multiple times with different content
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 File:MegaTech UK 03.pdf, page 40 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MegaTech UK 03.pdf_p40" defined multiple times with different content
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 File:MeanMachines UK 19.pdf, page 106 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachines UK 19.pdf_p106" defined multiple times with different content
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 File:SegaPro UK 04.pdf, page 62 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:SegaPro UK 04.pdf_p62" defined multiple times with different content
  7. ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 61
  8. ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "January 1992" (JP; 1991-12-07), page 80
  9. ↑ Consoles +, "Janvier 1992" (FR; 199x-xx-xx), page 40
  10. ↑ Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 129
  11. ↑ Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 66
  12. ↑ Computer & Video Games, "March 1992" (UK; 1992-02-15), page 66
  13. ↑ Famitsu, "1991-12-27" (JP; 1991-12-13), page 42
  14. ↑ Games-X, "16th-22nd January 1992" (UK; 1992-01-16), page 22
  15. ↑ Hippon Super, "February 1992" (JP; 1992-01-07), page 97
  16. ↑ Mega Drive Fan, "March 1992" (JP; 1992-02-08), page 83
  17. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 138
  18. ↑ Power Play, "3/92" (DE; 1992-02-12), page 140
  19. ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 65
  20. ↑ Sega Opisaniy i sekretov, "14000 Opisaniy i sekretov" (RU; 2003-03-11), page 53
  21. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 87



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)
Retrieved from "https://segaretro.org/index.php?title=Double_Dragon_II:_The_Revenge&oldid=318848"