Granny Vinnie Reviews

7800 Rank: 5th Genre Rank: (Action/ Adventure) 4th Awards: 4th Best Graphics Ow. I Bet She's Uncomfortable Pros: All levels are in place/ Tons of beat-em-up action Cons: Blocky characters/ Background song starts to grate nerves Crack! That's the Sound of yo Melon Head!

Overview: This is the 7800 version of the Arcade Hit of the same name. Two players can play simultaneously, and every stage in the arcade version is available here in the 7800 cart.

Graphics: Wow, this is a FAT 7800 game graphically. Backgrounds are absolutely great. Along with Tower Toppler, this game features some of the best backgrounds for the 7800. But, the characters themselves are a little bland, but they are decent. There is a large array of textures, backgrounds, and colors in Double Dragon. Activision did a bang up job recreating this game for the 7800. Mission 4, the boss's hideout, is brilliantly done. It is complete with gargoyles, a spiked pit, and artwork and architecture similar to the arcade game.

Sound: There are a few loops in the game that sound similar to the arcade game. There are different pop and crunch sounds for different strikes and hits, and a groan for a defeated enemy. There is no noise that is ear-piercingly annoying... except maybe the main ditty that repeats over and over.

Gameplay: It would be nearly impossible to put all of the arcade game's moves into the 7800 cart, but Activision did a good job getting close. The two heroes have a selection of head butts, elbow strikes, punching combinations, uppercuts, jump kicks, straight kicks, weapon strikes, knife throws, and the infamous reverse jump kick. The reverse jump kick is nearly unstoppable for the computer to avoid. Player should use this 90% of the time. Some slow-down does occur when characters are scrolling into newfound territory, and bad guys are running about. This can cause some attacks not to work properly. The hardest part of the game is attempting the broken bridge jump, because of this very thing. The game plays very well, even though they left out my two favorite Double Dragon attacks...(The hip throw and the move where you grab their hair and just repeatedly knee them into the nose...YA! YA! YA!...oops, sorry.)

Interpretation: Activision did a better job than the Nintendo at recapturing the arcade feel of the game. All four Arcade Missions are in the Atari game, which is great. Understandably, some little touches are missing. Like when a big guy breaks through a wall in the Arcade and scares you silly. That is not here, it is replaced with a preexisting hole and the guy just moseys out with the other peons. Also, the hideout's gargoyles do not jab at you with their spears like they do in the arcade. That's quite OK, because the game is hard enough as it is.

Value: Once you finally beat the game, that's pretty much it. But I remember it being a very tough game to beat until I learned a trick or two that made it easier. The two player mode is fun, and is harder because you can hit each other. Then you both get paranoid of hitting one another and the bad guys can take advantage of your hesitations. After all of the bad guys are beaten, you and your partner then turn on each other...to battle it out for the girl you came to save. Slut.

Overall: It's amazing how fun this game is today. If you can get past the character's graphics being a little on the weak side, you can lose yourself for an hour or two in Double Dragon. Something is really satisfying about beating up hordes of people one right after the other...maybe it comes from inner rage. My shrink says I'm fine...I'm fine? Don't you think???



Other Reviews:
CV's Atari 7800 Panoramic Froo-Froo: 4.5 out of 5.0 (Excellent)
Digital Press: 8 out of 10
The Atari Times: 5 out of 10
Video Game Critic: F

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