Welcome to another edition of Playing With Power. The review article that looks at all things Nintendo Entertainment System. Well, the last couple of weeks have been devoted to the Double Dragon franchise, so why not complete the trilogy this week? After two excellent titles that became massive classics for the great grey box, surely this third instalment couldn’t possibly take a dive? I mean, for the most part, the third game in the series for any NES game was often considered the finest in the franchise. Cases in point being Castlevania III, TMNT III and Super Marios Bros 3. So will this join the ranks? I think you already can guess that answer, so let’s push onward. Here’s Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones.
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1991
PUBLISHER: Acclaim
GENRE: Beat-Em-Up
Similar to its predecessors, Double Dragon III got its start in the arcades. Double Dragon III: The Rosetta Stone. However, unlike the previous instalments, this one was very poorly received for its gameplay. But since Double Dragon was still a hot franchise in the early 90’s, that didn’t stop ports of the game from being released. The game was changed to “The Sacred Stones” instead of “The Rosetta Stone”, possibly due to the hard stance on religion in games at the time (for licensed games at the time at least)
This time around, the game was ported over to the likes of the Commodore 64, the ZX Spectrum, the Sega Genesis, even a Tiger Handheld port. And of course it was also ported to the console that the Double Dragon franchise had thrived on and had become extremely successful on, the Nintendo Entertainment System. Double Dragon III was released in early 1991, just about a year since the last game.
However, unlike the previous two in the franchise, this game has not been given the most glowing of reviews over the years, and was even an early review from James Rolfe’s Angry Video Game Nerd (Then the Angry Nintendo Nerd). Many also consider it the signs of the beginning of the end to the Double Dragon franchise. But is that claim of doom and gloom for the Lee brothers accurate?
COVER STORY
Wow. Talk about a cluttered cover. While the art is decent on it (nowhere as good as Double Dragon II’s art), it’s way too busy. So many things going on in every corner of the cover. I mean, at least they had the logic to color in the Lees a little bit more than everyone else, or I’d never tell them apart from most of what’s going on. This feels less like an action packed cover, and more like a page from a Where’s Waldo book. And that’s not a good thing in my opinion. Definitely the weakest cover.
STORY
It’s been a year since Billy and Jimmy Lee defeated the black shadow warriors, and revived Billy’s girlfriend Marion. All seems well at last. But when the Lees return to their dojo to discover Bret, one of their top students beaten to near death, and Marion has once again vanished. The only one who seems to have any answers is a mysterious old woman named Hiroko, who says that the Lee brothers must find her the three sacred stones scattered throughout the world. Can the dragons take on their toughest fight yet?
GAMEPLAY
Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones is a 1-2 player beat-em-up. You control Billy and Jimmy Lee as you trek across 5 continents to find the sacred stones and rescue Billy’s girlfriend Marion. You move in all eight directions with the D-Pad, kick with the B button, punch with the A button, and jump with A+B together. Yes, once again the gameplay reverts back to the fighting style executed in the original Double Dragon.
Once again the game has plenty of special moves that the Lees can execute at will. These include the classic spin kick, drop kick, and a new somersault flip move that grabs an enemy in mid-air, and throws them. It’s a pretty neat move to use when executed. The downside to these moves is that they do feel a little tricky to execute sometimes.
By that I mean sometimes you can execute a spin kick with ease on enemies, and sometimes it just fails to work entirely. This can be frustrating especially when dealing with some rather annoying enemies. Another issue is that the hit detection feels clunky at times. Even if you think you’ve hit an enemy dead center, you can still end up being hit with an oncoming dropkick or cheap shot.
Another new thing to this game is that in your travels, you will meet two new allies that you can switch to on the fly. These include the fat Chinese fighter Chin, and the ninja warrior Ranzou. Each of them have their own fighting techniques that can help in times of need. You can select between them by pressing the select button. Each character has bare fists to start, but also contain a weapon to use as well. But these are very limited, and should be used in dire situations.
But if you think a lot of this game sounds hard so far, you haven’t heard the kicker yet. This game only gives you one life. That’s right. You die once, and it’s game over. Granted, you earn characters as you advance, and they kind of count as extra lives, but in the end, it’s all the same. Die once, and it’s over. Back to the start of the game.
The game once again uses co-op double team, that allows both players to jump in on the action, giving you a bit better hope at beating the game. But for the love of goodness, don’t even bother with mode B, which once again gives the ability of friendly fire. And in a game where every dollop of life counts, this just seems like a foolish addition. Also, yes, I’d be foolish if I did’t mention the infamous “Bimmy and Jimmy” typo at the start of the 2-player adventure.
The game has five missions, each taking place in a different part of the world. USA, to China, to Japan, to Italy, and finally at Egypt, where you’ll learn that Hiroko was simply using you to gain the stones for her own evil deeds. But that’s not even the worst thing the Lees have to deal with, as they also have to deal with the evil priestess Queen Noiram (Aka a possessed Marion). Can Billy really put himself to the challenge of beating his girlfriend to save her?
GRAPHICS
Graphically, the game looks to be the best one Of the trilogy. Levels and characters have yet again earned a far nicer polish job, and while sprites are a bit smaller this time around, they are still detailed enough to keep them from looking too generic. Levels like Egypt look beautiful, and all of the different parts of the world look close enough to their real life counterparts. The game also has some quality caricatures in their cut scenes, which all look great. I will say that despite the downsides of the main gameplay, at least the game looks nice.
MUSIC
Once again Technos Japan delivers in the soundtrack department. Every level has an excellent track to it, each fitting the part of the world they appear in. The best songs in the game for me would be the USA theme when leaving the dojo, and the battle with Princess Noiram. While a great soundtrack all around, I still feel the best Double Dragon soundtrack belongs to II: The Revenge.
TUNE OF THE GAME
The tune of the game goes to the battle at the end with Princess Noiram. It’s got a great Egyptian vibe to it, and also really sets the tone for an epic final battle with a most dangerous foe.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
Double Dragon III is without doubt one of the toughest games on the NES. I can barely get through stage 1 on my own. That mainly has to do with some lax hit detection, and the annoying difficulty. But other than that, the game has great sound and graphics, and does at least try to build more of a story and narrative to the world of Double Dragon. But for a lot of people, this felt like the beginning of the fall of the dragons.
What followed would be a cult hit in Super Double Dragon IV, and a team up with the Battletoads (an NES game I’ll cover if I should find it), both of which were decent titles. But what many felt was the real downfall of the Double Dragon license came in the mid-90’s, first with a bland animated series that felt less like Double Dragon, and more like a poorly executed Power Ranger knock off, which spawned a terrible Street Fighter knock off in Double Dragon V. And the true death knell came in the form of the awful 1995 bomb of a film. After that, it seemed like Double Dragon was dead.
That is until 2012, when Wayforward Technologies and brought Double Dragon back with the downloadable game “Double Dragon Neon” for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. This game returned the Lee brothers to their classic beat-em-up roots, while being a far more light hearted adventure parodying the silliness of the 1980’s. It’s been well received by most reviewers, and hopefully is a sign that the franchise isn’t dead.
Going back to Double Dragon III, if you’re looking for a hard game, you may find enjoyment out of it. If you’re not, then this one is certainly not for you. I honestly didn’t like it as much as the sequels, but don’t think it ranks as one of the worst on the console. Just a really, really, REALLY tough game that will test your abilities along with your patience. And that may be what keeps me from coming back often to it. I’d say give it a shot yourself to see how you feel, but this dragon I don’t want to deal with.
RATING: Thumbs Down