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https://thenerdsofcolor.org/2017/02/06/double-dragon-iv-stumbling-down-memory-lane/
The NES was my staple console for the majority of my childhood. While I did not have many games at my disposal, games like Double Dragon and Double Dragon II were titles that I played just about every day on my own and with friends. I still consider Double Dragon II to be one of my favorite NES games and it influenced my tastes in games I play today. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the series’ creation, Arc System Works recruited many of the original crew that made the original game to make a brand new sequel in the form of the 8-bit games I cherished as a child. When hearing about this news, I was excited and skeptical at the same time. The nostalgia side of me wanted it but would it be enough to maintain my interest in the current era of video games?
The plot to Double Dragon IV is ridiculous, more so than the other games. It takes place after Double Dragon II; Billy and Jimmy Lee are spreading their marital arts around the world and are cruising towards California for some reason. All of a sudden, they are attacked by a mysterious car and the mayhem begins. In typical Double Dragon fashion, Marion is kidnapped throughout the game and the duo has to rescue her by fighting new and old enemies. I personally found the cut scenes featured in the game to be very distracting and lazy. Most of the cut scenes involve your characters drilling the recently defeated boss of the level for more info where to go. I’m sure this was done on purpose to reflect how the old games were but even Double Dragon II had more interesting pictures to go along with the story, as over the top they were. The ending will also leave you quite dumbfounded.
But we weren’t playing Double Dragon for the fascinating plot, right? The beat-em-up gameplay was had me coming back for more. Aside from Double Dragon III, I felt that the other two games had a good balance of difficulty (aside from the platforming sections) and controls. The game could be tough, but it felt fair, especially if you mastered the moves that were provided to you. Double Dragon IV adds a few new moves and mechanics but I never had time to try them out for long because I was overwhelmed by enemies. The game starts out fairly easy but by the time you hit Mission 8, you begin to experience the cheapness that is having tons of enemies surround you and knock you down over and over. Getting out of this pattern is really hard, especially in the final missions. I could understand why adding more enemies on the screen was a logical evolution to the game but it only makes the game frustrating when you are literally swarmed by four boss characters that deplete half of your life every time they hit you. You eventually figure out that tornado kicking the enemies repeatedly is the only way to progress without dying. What about those new moves? Waste of time. As you can imagine, it gets old really fast. I felt like I had to play the game this way rather than try out other moves because if I didn’t, I would simply get surrounded and lose my lives, fast. This is the biggest minus to this game, in my opinion.
The level design has a lot of variety but I felt like there could have been more to it. I don’t know if it was just me but I felt a lot of levels just had a nice background that you walked across and the occasional ladder that you climbed. This would have been a perfect opportunity to add new mechanics such as moving vehicles, multiple routes, or interactive areas but Arc System Works instead decided to stick with what the game’s roots to a T. Unfortunately the level design of yesteryear feels a bit stale now. I’m also unsure why they kept the platforming sections, arguably the most-hated areas of any Double Dragon game, in this game. While they aren’t terribly difficult, if you are not cautious, you can easily lose a lot of lives trying to jump across spinning gears and disappearing platforms. It’s nothing as annoying like Double Dragon II was but still, did we really need this?
One thing that has not changed though is how fun these games are with a friend. I had a blast playing with a friend and despite the added difficulty, we both enjoyed killing an hour going through the story. The PS4 version (the one I am basing this review on) gives you the ability to Share Play so as long as you have a PS Plus subscription, you can play the game online with a friend and they don’t even have to own the game. Local co-op is also available. One thing I noticed though is that there are several minor bugs when playing 2 Player Mode. Nothing big, but noticeable.
Aside from the story mode, there is a Versus and Tower mode. Versus mode is what you would expect it to be, allowing you to play characters that are unlocked by completing missions in the Story and Tower Mode. Tower mode is an endurance mode where you and/or a friend travel through floors in a tower, encountering different combinations of enemies per floor. As you might expect, the higher you go up, the more difficult it gets. I did not get too far but apparently you will see some characters from previous games in the higher floors, as well as the old level designs. I really like that they give you the ability to play the characters you unlock for the story mode, adding replayability. I tried out Abobo for awhile and it was fun to see him smash through everyone. Everyone has their own moveset so it’s worth trying different characters out.
In the end, Arc System Works successfully created a Double Dragon game but I felt that they decided to stay too close to the original games in order to try to appease old fans like me. Oddly enough, it ended up being a step backwards and Double Dragon IV comes off as a title that lacks the magic of the original games. I feel that the hardcore nostalgia fans may like it more because it sticks so close to its roots. Still, I feel like I can’t complain too much, seeing as this game is only seven dollars. Treat Double Dragon IV as a present-day sequel to an old action movie franchise of the ’80s. You’ll see old faces and content that you liked back in the day but it just does not feel the same anymore.
If you’re still thinking about it, I leave you to watch my blind playthrough of the game and be the judge yourself.
The NES was my staple console for the majority of my childhood. While I did not have many games at my disposal, games like Double Dragon and Double Dragon II were titles that I played just about every day on my own and with friends. I still consider Double Dragon II to be one of my favorite NES games and it influenced my tastes in games I play today. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the series’ creation, Arc System Works recruited many of the original crew that made the original game to make a brand new sequel in the form of the 8-bit games I cherished as a child. When hearing about this news, I was excited and skeptical at the same time. The nostalgia side of me wanted it but would it be enough to maintain my interest in the current era of video games?
The plot to Double Dragon IV is ridiculous, more so than the other games. It takes place after Double Dragon II; Billy and Jimmy Lee are spreading their marital arts around the world and are cruising towards California for some reason. All of a sudden, they are attacked by a mysterious car and the mayhem begins. In typical Double Dragon fashion, Marion is kidnapped throughout the game and the duo has to rescue her by fighting new and old enemies. I personally found the cut scenes featured in the game to be very distracting and lazy. Most of the cut scenes involve your characters drilling the recently defeated boss of the level for more info where to go. I’m sure this was done on purpose to reflect how the old games were but even Double Dragon II had more interesting pictures to go along with the story, as over the top they were. The ending will also leave you quite dumbfounded.
But we weren’t playing Double Dragon for the fascinating plot, right? The beat-em-up gameplay was had me coming back for more. Aside from Double Dragon III, I felt that the other two games had a good balance of difficulty (aside from the platforming sections) and controls. The game could be tough, but it felt fair, especially if you mastered the moves that were provided to you. Double Dragon IV adds a few new moves and mechanics but I never had time to try them out for long because I was overwhelmed by enemies. The game starts out fairly easy but by the time you hit Mission 8, you begin to experience the cheapness that is having tons of enemies surround you and knock you down over and over. Getting out of this pattern is really hard, especially in the final missions. I could understand why adding more enemies on the screen was a logical evolution to the game but it only makes the game frustrating when you are literally swarmed by four boss characters that deplete half of your life every time they hit you. You eventually figure out that tornado kicking the enemies repeatedly is the only way to progress without dying. What about those new moves? Waste of time. As you can imagine, it gets old really fast. I felt like I had to play the game this way rather than try out other moves because if I didn’t, I would simply get surrounded and lose my lives, fast. This is the biggest minus to this game, in my opinion.
The level design has a lot of variety but I felt like there could have been more to it. I don’t know if it was just me but I felt a lot of levels just had a nice background that you walked across and the occasional ladder that you climbed. This would have been a perfect opportunity to add new mechanics such as moving vehicles, multiple routes, or interactive areas but Arc System Works instead decided to stick with what the game’s roots to a T. Unfortunately the level design of yesteryear feels a bit stale now. I’m also unsure why they kept the platforming sections, arguably the most-hated areas of any Double Dragon game, in this game. While they aren’t terribly difficult, if you are not cautious, you can easily lose a lot of lives trying to jump across spinning gears and disappearing platforms. It’s nothing as annoying like Double Dragon II was but still, did we really need this?
One thing that has not changed though is how fun these games are with a friend. I had a blast playing with a friend and despite the added difficulty, we both enjoyed killing an hour going through the story. The PS4 version (the one I am basing this review on) gives you the ability to Share Play so as long as you have a PS Plus subscription, you can play the game online with a friend and they don’t even have to own the game. Local co-op is also available. One thing I noticed though is that there are several minor bugs when playing 2 Player Mode. Nothing big, but noticeable.
Aside from the story mode, there is a Versus and Tower mode. Versus mode is what you would expect it to be, allowing you to play characters that are unlocked by completing missions in the Story and Tower Mode. Tower mode is an endurance mode where you and/or a friend travel through floors in a tower, encountering different combinations of enemies per floor. As you might expect, the higher you go up, the more difficult it gets. I did not get too far but apparently you will see some characters from previous games in the higher floors, as well as the old level designs. I really like that they give you the ability to play the characters you unlock for the story mode, adding replayability. I tried out Abobo for awhile and it was fun to see him smash through everyone. Everyone has their own moveset so it’s worth trying different characters out.
In the end, Arc System Works successfully created a Double Dragon game but I felt that they decided to stay too close to the original games in order to try to appease old fans like me. Oddly enough, it ended up being a step backwards and Double Dragon IV comes off as a title that lacks the magic of the original games. I feel that the hardcore nostalgia fans may like it more because it sticks so close to its roots. Still, I feel like I can’t complain too much, seeing as this game is only seven dollars. Treat Double Dragon IV as a present-day sequel to an old action movie franchise of the ’80s. You’ll see old faces and content that you liked back in the day but it just does not feel the same anymore.
If you’re still thinking about it, I leave you to watch my blind playthrough of the game and be the judge yourself.
With the recent confirmation of Jeff Sessions for Attorney General of the United States, Chris Evans has proved to us just how much he is like his film counterpart, Captain America. Evans recently tweeted his disappointment in the confirmation of Sessions. And his argument? David Duke’s praise for Sessions:
Duke is best known as a white nationalist, Holocaust denier, and former Imperial Wizard of the white supremacist organization known as the Ku Klux Klan. He also happens to support Donald Trump and his team, especially fellow white nationalist Steve Bannon.
Like an angry troll, Duke responded:
Evans quickly clapped back with proof of Duke’s racist history with some quotes made by the former KKK wizard.
Duke did not respond to Evans but continued posting anti-Semitic tweets, like the villain he is. Evans didn’t stop there. He then dropped some knowledge to his 4.93 million followers.
Chris Evans truly is our Captain America.
You’ve seen online Photoshops and sketches of what Popeye would look like as a real human. You may have been amused, or weirded out, and then never given them another thought. Mezco Toyz, however, went ahead an made an action figure that they’ve just revealed, and it’s both a work of art and the stuff of nightmares.
Shelly Duvall aside, Popeye characters simply were never meant to look like representative, real-world humans, and their cartoon flexibility was part of the fun. Brought to three-dimensions as part of Mezco’s premium One:12 Collective of super-detailed 6-inch figures, this sailor man looks like he got too close to the nuclear tests in the Pacific. If this is what an all-spinach diet does to you, it’s time to add more protein.
The detail is astonishing, from the realistic faded ink on Popeye’s tattoos to the dirt stains on his jeans. And since these figures usually come loaded with accessories, I trust we can expect spinach cans in various stages of squeezing, and maybe alternate biceps for when he powers up and flexes. More might be revealed at Toy Fair later this month–for now, you can check out a glut of new Mezco reveals (including Dawn of the Dead, movie Wonder Woman, and Netflix Daredevil) on their Facebook page. If Popeye sells well, I’m really curious to see how Alice the Goon translates into the same style. Or maybe they should try a realistic Asterix next.
Does this action figure blow you down? Sail below to the comments section and leave it strong to the finish.
Image: Mezco