Previous Next

There's something very strange about the computer game hero. Not content with a nice quiet life of meditation, contemplation and pretty pixel-perfect partners, they seem to fly off the handle at the first opportunity. For instance, if you had just come back from a transcontinental mission of death and destruction, you want a bit of a break, wouldn't you? Of course you would. And it'd take an awful lot to tempt you away from your home sweet home, I bet.

Not so the computer game hero. Take our dynamic Double Dragon duo, Billy and Jimmy. They've barely got their maiming and killing costumes off and into the washing machine before an old hag turns up at the door and tells them to find three Rosetta stones and then go to Egypt. And they do! Just like that!

Not only are our heroes too stupid to know that there's only one Rosetta Stone (and it's in the British Museum in London), but they don't even ask for a good reason for their quest before they head off on another global gore-fest. Honestly, some people...

Double Dragon III comes from Storm, who weren't responsible for Double Dragons I and II (but for the fabby Swiv and Rodland). This means that the whole program has been completely re-written and is totally different from the earlier DDs. Double Dragon III's style and story have been taken from the arcade machine (there's one with all its bits hanging out in the Storm HQ).

Every detail of the original has been squeezed into the C64 version. The levels are just as huge and the enemies just as mean and multiplicious. The only thing not included in the C64 version was a bit where one of the end-of-level bad dudes (like baddies but meaner and more hip) rides in on a horse and dismounts - in the C64 version he just walks on and makes with the heavy stuff.

The C64 version even has something in it that the arcade machine doesn't - in two-player mode, the players can beat the other character up! Not only does this mean that you have to be much more careful in battle but it livens up the quiet bits between bad guys, by letting you fight it out between yourselves!

The backdrops which set the scene for all this murder and mayhem are pretty stunning. Each of the levels captures the feel of the arcade machine adding bucket-loads of atmosphere to the game. Bits the inside of the castle where the players weave between pillars is very slick and the end levels deep inside the pyramid become more sepulchral and foreboding the further down you go.

Unfortunately, you won't have much time to admire the scenery as, when the bad guys come, they tend to bring their family, all their mates and most of the people they met in the Horse & Hellhound last night.

And when they come, they come quickly and with malice aforethought. This is one of the fastest, most frantic beat-'em-ups we've seen for a quite a while.

Everything moves fast, even during a two-player game when the meanies are coming thick and fast, there's no jerking, juddering or freeze-framed action. This may scare our heroes but it makes for the kind of frantic fun that fight fans favour.

Unfortunately, although the sprites are very fast and funky, they're a bit on the tiny side. In fact they're really very weeny - some of the sprites are barely recognisable from the arcade version and after a while all the different types of bad guy tend to seem like one and the same.

To add spice and variety to the (very, very, long) game, there are also loads of nice touches packed into the gameplay: at the beginning of the first, second, third and sixth levels, there are shops at which you can exchange some of your extra credits for weapons, energy or power. In battle, you can run at a wall and spring off making your flying kick even more powerful; in a two-player game you can stand back to back and link arms to give a super-powerful double spinning kick; when - well, part of the fun is noticing all the little touches, so we'll leave it there.

It you liked Billy and Jimmy's first two outings then you should rush out and add their latest quest to your collection. The only thing that stops Double Dragon III from being a really great beat-'em-up is the weediness factor of the sprites. But they're fast and formidable, and the combination of lots of long levels and vast hordes of enemies make it a real toughie that'll tax even the best bashers - in fact, it may well be too hard for novice nobblers.

Double Dragon III isn't the kind of ground-breaking gore gala that's going to win over people who don't like the genre. But hardcore beat-'em-up fans who are looking for a big, fast and tough game to test them will find Double Dragon III an ideal thrash to while away the long winter nights. This one doesn't take your breath straight away but it's got staying power, lots of it.

1. A fast-movin', smooth scrollin' beat-'em-up of the best kind.
2. There are lots and lots of levels to get your teeth into.
3. And even more enemies to chop, hack and bash.
4. The weapons shops add variety - and firepower.
5. The enemies are varied in tactics as well as looks.
6. The two-player game is almost a necessity.
7. The soundtrack is chunky and effective.
8. A great coin-op conversion.

1. The sprites are a bit weeny.
2. It's very hard, hard enough to put some people off.
3. No save (and it's a long game).