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4Sep/100

Double Dragon for SEGA Master System




Double Dragon for SEGA Master System... It seems many people cite this 8 Bit version of the arcade smash hit as being more faithful to the original vs. the Nintendo NES version. And to some degree this is true if you look at the multi player and nothing else.

Graphically its similar though the Master System version has more colors but less detail. The moves seem more arbitrary and in many cases more difficult to pull off than it's NES counter part.

But everything is there including the correct music, plus the added bonus of a third enemy on the screen (the NES version never had more than two on the screen at the same time).

There is one more thing that the Master System version has that I have yet to notice in any of the home conversions... Spike and Hammer. These were the names of the characters in the arcade version and the arcade art featured tattoos of a spike and a hammer. Well the box art of the SEGA Master system clearly shows 'Billy and Jimmy' with the tattoos!

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3Jul/100

Atari Lynx

I can't begin to describe how excited I am to be re-united with an Atari Lynx.  Most people never heard of this gem, and depending on who you talk to some would say the world is better that way.  And that's a shame.  The Lynx was revolutionary at the time but limited support pretty much killed it.  When it was available I only knew of two stores that carried it: Montgomery Wards, and Toy's 'R' Us.  I got mine from Toy's 'R' Us along with Rampage and A.P.B.  Since games were sparce and so few stores carried them to begin with I ended up trading mine for a SEGA Master System.  Clearly I had brain damage at the time.

Two versions were released, the one shown here is the original launch system just like I had.  The revision was a little bit smaller with a few other improvements but obviously not enough to keep it from being forgotten.

The revolutionary aspects of the system are obvious.  It had a color screen.  It was the first, although SEGA Game Gear often gets the credit.  It's funny to look back on this and think how far we've come.  Everything now has a colored screen.  Cell phones, XM Radio Displays, etc.  Certainly the technology has gotten less expensive and easier to manufacture, but for a company to have the guts to try and turn a profit on a colored LCD backlit screen is pretty gutsy.

The flash of the camera distorts the color of the system.  It's a darker grey than what it appears to be here.  Note the two sets of buttons on the right.  The system can be flipped around for left handed players.  Some games required the unit to be held vertically so as to take advantage of a vertical play-field (Like Klax).

The system did look like a bloated monstrosity compared to the original Gameboy and the SP shown here for reference.

Taking a photo of a game in action is a near impossibility.  I'm not sure if it's the back light or the pixel's themselves, or even the refresh rate but digital cameras don't play nice with the screen.

But here is where things get very interesting.  The screen of the Atari Lynx was much bigger than the Gameboy's.  Almost 1 and 1/2 times bigger.  But the resolution was smaller.  It had the same width and almost 2/3rd's the same height!  So the sprites and objects on the screen where certainly bigger... but also more blocky!  This would require some interesting talent from the programmers which we'll see why in a moment.  But below is a resolution (not screen size) comparison of the original GameBoy, the Atari Lynx and the GameBoy SP:

So with such a tiny canvas to work with, anyone developing for the Lynx would have an enormous challenge ahead of them.  Take for example Double Dragon.  The Atari Lynx version features spot on graphics.  They look very close to the arcade version, but when you compare two screen shots with the same resolution look what happens:

Atari Lynx version of Double Dragon:

The Arcade version of Double Dragon:

The Lynx version is a postage stamp sized 'sample' of the play field from the original game!  Rygar also suffered in this regard:

But all in all, the Lynx is still a neat system with several unique games that were never available on any of the mainstream systems until emulation became available (APB for example).

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21Jun/101

The Story Of Double Dragon

I've blogged about Double Dragon so many times before. But it's so much fun so why not again? 

Sometimes there is a subtle plot to a videogame that can easily be forgotten or ignored in the action.  Double Dragon is one such game. Now depending on the version you'll usually be treated with a story about a girl being kidnapped in a post apocalyptic nuclear world. That might be true, but the evidence doesn't support it. 

For example why is everything still intact?  The skyscrapers in the first level show no damage. The construction site looks a little organized to be rebuilding a destroyed city. 

The arcade and Genesis versions have wanted posters so there must be some sort of law enforcement around which asks the toughest question of all: why not call the police? Sure it makes a lousy plot for a game, or maybe its a key to a bigger piece of  the plot.

I think Marian is a junkie.  Billy and Jimmy are pushers, and the Shadow Warriors are part of some major drug cartel.  Why would they hide out in caves or even have a fabulous palace decked out with spikes and dragon heads and other ridiculous crap?  Maybe in the Japanese to Engrish translation it was supposed to be like "Double Drag On"... like "Hey Jimmy, take a double drag on this bong."

Then again, at the end of the day, maybe this is just a story about a kidnapping.

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6Feb/101

Double Dragon Funeral

From The Milwaukee Sentinel - Jul 9, 1988, we have the Funeral of Double Dragon.

It's not like Marion fought back you know.  She liked it.  She liked it real good.  She wanted a back-alley abortion and she got it.  The Shadow Warriors took her back to their lair to allow her time to recover.  Shesh.  Slow news day or what?

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5Feb/100

SEGA Genesis And Double Dragon


I finally had an opportunity to fire up the SEGA Genesis. You don't know how big of a pain in the ass that was. But the point being the five dollar thrift store Genesis works!

So naturally there is but one game to play: Double Dragon. With the exception of almost non-existent noise the game is true to the arcade version.

I'd like to thank the person who chose not to throw the Genesis controller away. Yay! ...

You know that bat is bad-ass!

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8Jan/101

Double Dragon Time Lapse

I liked the Dr. Mario time lapse so much I decided to make one for Double Dragon

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23Dec/090

Double Dragon 2 Box Art Revisited

Remember this post about Double Dragon 2 box art: http://www.salzmafia.com/2009/12/double-dragon-ii-box-art.php? Uh... yeah, anyways below is an Americanized version of that same box art.  Looks like it was for the Atari ST version of the game.
It speaks for itself why Americanizing Box Art is a BAD idea.  More examples coming soon...
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14Dec/091

Double Dragon II Box Art

Double Dragon is a genre in itself. The characters in the original game told a story that was much deeper than a simple kidnapping. But what was so great about Marian that she had to be kidnapped?

Anyways Double Dragon is a good example of where "less is more" can back-fire. Since the game was so popular it would have been financially irresponsible not to create sequels. Unfortunately the game was exploited to oblivion and the story line had gotten too stupid or distorted.

To me, the franchise ended with this box art for Double Dragon II: The Revenge. It tells an interesting story. You have this hot woman with her skirt nearly tore off and Billy (or maybe Jimmy) fighting off goons who are desperate to show her the business. The goons infact have a spectacular view of Marion!

It's clear that this street fight is on the roof of a building, and without ever playing the game you cannot determine if the chopper is friend or foe.

Incidently, Marion is gun downed at the airport so technically this box art is an anachronism to say the least. But it sure is cool!

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