Double Dragon Advance
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| Double Dragon Advance | |
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| Developer(s) | Million |
| Publisher(s) | Atlus |
| Designer(s) | Muneki Ebinuma (planner) |
| Series | Double Dragon |
| Platform(s) | Game Boy Advance |
| Release date | NA November 13, 2003 JP March 5, 2004 |
| Genre(s) | Side Scrolling Fighter |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Two Player Cooperative |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: T (Teen) |
Double Dragon Advance (ダブルドラゴンアドバンス Daburu Doragon Adobansu?) is a 2003 side-scrolling beat-em-up released for the Game Boy Advance. It was published by Atlus and developed by Million Inc. It is a remake of the 1987 arcade game Double Dragon and incorporates elements from its sequels and home versions.
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[edit] Gameplay
Double Dragon Advance expands the premise of the original arcade game. Billy's girlfriend Marian is taken captive by the Shadow Warriors (the Black Warriors in the original version), who demand the secrets of Billy and Jimmy's fighting style Sou-Setsu-Ken in exchange for her safety. This time, the story is told through in-game cut-scenes featuring hand-drawn artwork overlaid with text that narrates the action or describes dialog between the main characters.
This time, several new techniques taken from later installments are added to the Lee brothers' repertoire in addition to the ones they had in the original arcade game: this includes the sit-on punch from the NES version of the first game and Renegade; the Cyclone Kick from the arcade sequel, the Hyper Knee and Hyper Uppercut from the NES version of Double Dragon II: The Revenge, the ability to dash and stomp fallen enemies from Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone and The Combatribes; and even the ability to block and parry an enemy's attack from Super Double Dragon. New weapons are introduced such as a battle axe and kali sticks, as well as the flail from Double Dragon II and the nunchaku from Super Double Dragon and the NES Double Dragon's "VS Mode". The player can also crouch to avoid attacks or execute the Hyper Knee or Hyper Uppercut (in the second NES game, the player could only crouch briefly by landing from a jump or from recovering after being knocked down). The "body throw" move normally performable when the enemy is bent forward after a few punches was removed (throws can still be performed after an enemy has been caught in a hairpull). Players can now run and perform dash attacks (seen in the NES Double Dragon VS. Mode, Renegade, Combatribes, and in 'Double Dragon III' in the arcades).
Differences in the ways that enemies reacted to various attack moves were altered from how they were in the arcade version. Linda no longer is knocked down by a single kick. Now large characters like Bolo, and the female character Linda can be hair pulled and pinned. Players now have the ability to "kick out" if they are being pinned, just as many enemies do (except when low on health). Much of the climbing was removed from the game, presumably to limit the instances of splitting up the players onto separate screens in multiplayer. Unlike the first two arcade games, players cannot climb horizontally, only vertically. The fence at the beginning of Mission 2 cannot be climbed and the ladder immediately after it has been removed. Enemy characters never climb, but can jump much higher than the player to reach the same platforms. The climbable rock section is automatically climbed as a transition from the bridge at the start of one mission to the next part with the boss Mibobo (the green Bolo).
All four stages from the arcade game are included, along with four new stages between them, which includes the Chinatown and Truck stage from Super, a Cavern stage based on the cave section from the first NES game and a new section of the fortress prior to the final stage. Nearly all of the enemy character from the original arcade game (with the exception of Jeff, the head-swapped Lee brother) are included, as well as Burnov and Chin Taimei (now named Chen Wang-Yu) from the arcade version of Double Dragon II. New enemy characters includes Steve, a man in a suit modeled after the Agent Smith character from The Matrix movies; Kikuchiyo, a parody of Kikuchiyo from The Seven Samurai; Hong and Wong, a pair of Chinese martial artists; and the Five Emperors of Gen-Setsu-Ken, a group of martial artists led by a man named Raymond. The presentation of the large muscle-man, known to players as Bolo, replaces Abobo (the goateed, mohawk-wearing head swap of Abobo and end boss of Mission 1 in the arcade), with three different haircuts (afro, mohawk, and bald).
The game has four game modes. In addition to the standard single-player and two-player link cable modes, there's also a unique "Single Player Double Dragon" mode where a single player takes control of both Lee brothers. In this mode, the player can only take control of one of the Lee brothers at a time, while the other stands still and becomes vulnerable to an enemy's attack. There's also a Survival Mode, where the player must defeat as many enemies as possible with a single life bar. As in the original arcade game, if both Lee brothers are present, they will square off against one another in a final battle (without weapons).
Certain glitch exploits found in the original arcade game can no longer be performed, such as sending weapons just off the screen before a Mission ends (to scroll forward in the next stage to pick them up again). This is due to new transitions fading out the screen before the next mission, and displaying Mission preview screenshots (reminiscent of those from the first NES game, but without music). These screenshots actually depict the original arcade game's graphics, for the stages that were present in the original Double Dragon.
[edit] Reception
Double Dragon Advance garnered generally positive reviews, with a few of the criticisms aimed at the length of the game. Alex Navarro of GameSpot gave the game a score of 8.3 and wrote "while (the game) may prove to be a bit too fleeting for anyone seeking a long-lasting gameplay experience and the additional gameplay modes are a bit too restrictive in the design for what they're supposed to be, the game is still great fun and is definitely worth playing through long after you've beaten it the first time"[1] Justin Leeper of Game Informer, who gave the game an overall score of 9, wrote "It’s still no 30-hour marathon, but Atlus has added a whole lot to an already-excellent beat ‘em up".[2]
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