The only thing that fell in this "sequel" was the ammount of respect fans had for the games after this thing showed up.

Double Dragon V was produced by Tradewest who was responsible for the first game in the series adapted for NES, so I guess it would count as "canon" if you accept that fact. Released for various systems, DDV was made into a fighting game rather than a beat'em up as most of the games in the series are known for. This was not the first time a Double Dragon fighting game was made however.

The game is based on the 90s animated series and you take control of the Lee brothers along with other characters to choose from, which consists of antagonists. Curiously enough, Abobo and Marian are not featured, although I already know the former was rid of in the second episode but would had been nice seeing his presence being he appears in virtually every game of the series. Marian in the cartoon series is a cop, so you would think she would be around to kick the Shadow Master's ass.

You get to choose between various modes of play including STORY MODE which will tale your progress in cut scenes depending on who you choose to play as. If you choose to be a Lee brother, the wise old man will guide you through the fight while Shadow Master will keep being an ass to you if you choose to be one of his minions. The fact that the number of bad guys outnumbers the good, this mode is really bias and quite unnecessary.

Gameplay wise is pretty much as any other Street Fighter inspired game tends to be. The controls are a bit unresponsive, the fighting a bit uninspired, the AI is at times cheap and overall it leaves you with quite an average feeling about it. However, it is entertaining enough to fight your way and execute combos when it feels like responding to your button mashing and quite frankly it is not all that bad. There are other far worst fighters on any system that have come out during the 90s on consoles to be honest.

The game came out for SEGA Genesis, SNES, and (ugh) Atari Jaguar. The Genesis version added blood to the action so it does get a bit of the edge over the SNES version, although the sound is pretty damn fugly in comparison. The Jaguar version is ass so you are better off with either 16-Bit adaptation.

Did the game do well? Kind of. Many would play it for being an adaptation to the 90s cartoon but others raised their eyebrow at having a fighting game be portrayed as part of the canon as Tradewest would like us believe. I would collect it just for the fact that is a Double Dragon title overall.


BACK TO DOUBLE DRAGON!
BACK TO GAMING STUFF