Double Dragon 2600 vs 7800

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envytomdead
Posts: 55
Joined: October 27th, 2015, 11:56 am

Double Dragon 2600 vs 7800

Postby envytomdead » November 9th, 2018, 11:16 pm

I am morbidly curious about the Atari 2600 version of double dragon. I own the 7800 version which I don’t actually think is as bad as people say. How much of a step down is the 2600 playability wise?

ThePixelatedGenocide
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Joined: April 29th, 2015, 9:06 pm

Re: Double Dragon 2600 vs 7800

Postby ThePixelatedGenocide » November 11th, 2018, 9:54 pm

The best way to describe the 2600 version is "Unfinished school project." Unfortunately, the ear mutilating lobotomy of a soundtrack was way more of a priority for the 128bytes of system RAM than "Stun effects" and "balanced gameplay". As soon as the first fight begins, the hyper aggressive AI plays more like the cheapest parts of Mortal Kombat 3's single player, where most of your options will quickly lead to a quarter sucking fail state.

Because that's what everyone wanted out of a post crash Atari 2600 game that was almost as expensive as the system itself. Really, it's not a patch on Kung Fu Master. Or even Activision's Boxing.

With that said, some fans are masochistic enough to enjoy it. It might be worth a play through, just to satisfy your morbid curiosity.

Also, Atari Age offers a graphics enhancement patch that's worth exploring. It'll at least look like a polished Double Dragon demake on the 2600, rather than a generic clone.

envytomdead
Posts: 55
Joined: October 27th, 2015, 11:56 am

Re: Double Dragon 2600 vs 7800

Postby envytomdead » January 26th, 2019, 2:06 pm

I did get this game and it is fairly brutal but that being said I did start to have some fun with it after I started to get the hang of it. That being said I still can't get past mission 2. I have gotten past the Abobo screen usually with one bar of energy in my last life and then I am quickly killed . It is kind of like the 7800 in that you have master one attack and spam it. It is far less forgiving and far more frustrating than the 7800 version. I did try the graphic hack one on my flashback portable and I do feel that one is a better experience. The larger graphics make it easier for some reason. I give it a C+ maybe a B- if I am feeling generous.

lynchie137
Posts: 539
Joined: November 15th, 2016, 6:46 pm

Re: Double Dragon 2600 vs 7800

Postby lynchie137 » February 2nd, 2019, 7:19 pm

[quote="envytomdead"] I still can't get past mission 2. I have gotten past the Abobo screen usually with one bar of energy in my last life and then I am quickly killed

Geez> i wish I could get that far in the game. I always die on the second screen in the first mission where three guys just come out and kill me six ways to Sunday....

lynchie137
Posts: 539
Joined: November 15th, 2016, 6:46 pm

Re: Double Dragon 2600 vs 7800

Postby lynchie137 » February 2nd, 2019, 7:22 pm

I played both, and to me, both are just terrible. Heinous, even. But with that being said, if I had to make a choice between the two, I'd probably go for the 7800 port. Just because it at least resembles the arcade version, and you can also attack the enemy. In theory, that is....

envytomdead
Posts: 55
Joined: October 27th, 2015, 11:56 am

Re: Double Dragon 2600 vs 7800

Postby envytomdead » February 4th, 2019, 1:55 pm

I've actually beaten the 7800 before. The 2600 I can now get well into the third mission. I should mention that I don't use a 2600 joystick. I either use a Genesis or my modded NES pad although I can do ok with a proline. I also play it on the flashback portable. Both games are about learning what attack to spam with. 7800 reverse kick, 2600 elbow smash. Once you master those attacks the games are fun, if you don't they are painful. I get why people think they are unplayable, they are brutal without learning the exploits

djc
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Joined: September 24th, 2016, 3:42 pm

Re: Double Dragon 2600 vs 7800

Postby djc » February 5th, 2019, 12:39 am

The 7800 version is not as bad as people say. It's by no means as good as the Master System or NES versions but it's playable and has reasonably good graphics. A better soundtrack (more competent music) probably would've done wonders.

The 2600 version is a disaster. I'd rate it as unplayable. Like many of the later 2600 games, they look kind of okay but they play terribly.

It's interesting that the handheld versions of Double Dragon (Gameboy, Atari Lynx and later Gameboy Advance) are the best ones out there.

Sut
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Re: Double Dragon 2600 vs 7800

Postby Sut » February 5th, 2019, 3:12 pm

djc wrote:It's interesting that the handheld versions of Double Dragon (Gameboy, Atari Lynx and later Gameboy Advance) are the best ones out there.


Glad you omitted the Game Gear version which was terrible.

envytomdead
Posts: 55
Joined: October 27th, 2015, 11:56 am

Re: Double Dragon 2600 vs 7800

Postby envytomdead » February 12th, 2019, 6:05 pm

I actually beat the 2600 version today using a proline controller without losing a life. Elbow smash is the key!

lynchie137
Posts: 539
Joined: November 15th, 2016, 6:46 pm

Re: Double Dragon 2600 vs 7800

Postby lynchie137 » February 12th, 2019, 7:20 pm

Sut wrote:
djc wrote:It's interesting that the handheld versions of Double Dragon (Gameboy, Atari Lynx and later Gameboy Advance) are the best ones out there.


Glad you omitted the Game Gear version which was terrible.


Yeah. That one was pretty bad for sure. And worst of all, it dosen't even feel like a Double Dragon game to me just because you can actually shoot the on screen enemies with a gun. Which seems rather odd for a beat 'em up.

I could be wrong about this, but I've always felt that it was supposed to be another type of game Sega was gonna release for the Game Gear but then they slapped the Double Dragon license on it at the last minute in an attempt to sell more copies. Like I said, I could be totally off base with this theory. But that's the way I've always felt about this particular port of the DD franchise..


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