Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones (1991)

Beat. I tried playing at standard speed but the enemies immediately proved to be too difficult. So 30 frames per second mode it was. The controls were stiff and the look of the game felt worse than the previous 2. The enemies were fast and aggressive with frequent use of jump kicks, thrown weapons and double teaming. Jimmy's attacks were too slow such that enemies often hit me first or just powered through my hits to hit me. All of this made the combat less enjoyable than the previous games. On the up side Jimmy's moves were like the first game, with 1 button for kicks that seemed to have slightly more range and knock down faster, while the other button did slightly faster punches that did more overall damage through a longer combo. I did a lot of grabbing and elbow smashes after punching 3 times, just like in the second game. Jump kicks were good and it was easy to nail sprinting enemies with it as they often did their own jump kick. The cyclone kick was easy to pull off this time by holding down 2 buttons (1 was turbo though so not sure how this would translate to a regular controller). The cyclone was laughably overpowered against bosses and I easily defeated all but the final boss, who was a very annoying ranged mage. I had to get the timings perfect to squeeze in a quick punch or jump kick where I could. Even got in a few punch combos, but that fight was way too long and unfair.

I used Chin for regular enemies after I got him. Despite moving slower, his punches and jump kicks were better than Jimmy's. He killed enemies faster and was less likely to take hits, but no cheap cyclone for bosses. It was after getting him that I discovered the character select screen and the optional limited use weapons. I just used them up immediately. The ninja character sucked at fighting due to low damage, even though he should have done the most with his innate sword. How much of a wimp do you have to be to do less damage with a sword than a guy with fists? Felt more like a plastic toy sword. His shuriken were also weak but were slightly useful as a ranged attack. He was the best jumper so I used him for the platforming in the final level, which was even simpler than in the first game.

Lame boring level design that at least did not have too obnoxious platforming, combined with worse combat that made the game a little too difficult, and no difficulty modes made this a fairly lackluster game. The only cool thing was the other 2 characters that offered some novel tactics and extra health bars. They probably should have put Billy in too for singleplayer just to get that extra life bar and weapon.

6.2/10

DOUBLE DRAGON 3 REVIEW:(GB)

Double Dragon 3 is a 1992 progressive fighting game.Sales Curve Interactive, the producer of the game, and Acclaim, the distributor, have done a great job.The story of the game is as follows.Only one person knows the real story behind Marion's disappearance... and she's dead! Now the Double Dragons must rely on a mysterious fortune teller to find Marion and her ransom - the Sacred Stones of Power! You fend off evil street thugs, evil ninja warriors, deadly gladiators, Manchurian barbarians and more! Defeat your most fearsome enemies and they will join your side with pure respect - adding their Iron Claws and Shanghai Stars to your brand new martial arts maneuvers - like awesome mid-air somersaults. Double Dragon III. If you survive the action, you will save Marion, protect your honor and discover the truth behind the Sacred Stones. If you fail...The gameplay is as follows.in this game consisting of 5 sections, you are trying to kill the enemies and cross the section.The music of the game is beautiful.If you are not too obsessed with graphics and you like retro games, this game is for you.My rating for the game: 10/10 (y) Good games to everyone 🙂

Some context for this review: I'm not skilled enough to have much fun with old NES games without one or two Game Genie codes and/or save states. I try not to overdo it, but for me the alternative is never clearing more than the first level of any game released before 1996. 😅

My brother and I played and enjoyed Double Dragon II: The Revenge a while back, so we decided to give this one a try. We enjoyed it, but not quite as much as its predecessor.

On the plus side, the ability to expand your party and swap between different characters and weapons is pretty cool. I preferred Ranzou for his agility, whereas my brother favored Chin for his powerful punch. It also makes it a lot easier to differentiate which character is yours on-screen.

Unfortunately, the levels themselves are pretty boring. Although the game takes place in several different regions, it all tends to feel like wallpaper on the same boring corridor. It just doesn't match the elevators, sewers and cityscapes of Double Dragon II.

The game's fun and we enjoyed it, but I wouldn't bother playing it again solo.