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85)
Astra Superstars86)
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance87)
Star Wars: Dark Forces 2 - Jedi Knight88)
Star Wars: Dark Forces89)
VVVVVV90)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist91)
Broforce (PS4)
92)
Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight93)
The Terminator (SCD)
94)
Aban Hawkins and the 1001 Spikes95)
Electronic Super Joy96)
Golden Axe (GEN)
97)
Double Dragon (GB)
98)
Double Dragon II (GB)
99)
Double Dragon III (GB)
So, inspired by Jeremy Parish's writeup at USGamer, I decided to give this one another go. I made one run with save states, and then... I got bored waiting for some scripts to finish, and didn't want to mentally shift gears to another project, so I booted it back up and made another run at beating it legit. And I did! I died one time, where I got the timing wrong on the moving platforms in Stage 3, which ironically I cleared the first time through without dying, no save states needed. I also got extraordinarily lucky with the Abobo that you fight while the ground is caving in behind you. He almost knocked me back, got back up, somehow fooled him into a counter-free jump-in, then quickly jump-kicked behind him.
The last stage was relatively easy from there. Even Willy, who's pitifully easy to manage. Actually, almost all the enemies are. The combat isn't what will kill you, it's the platforming. The edges are almost always closer than you think, and if you miss a jump, you're toast. And there's very little room for error either way, because jumping too early will kill you, too.
A note: jump-kicks aren't nearly as effective against Abobos, since it doesn't knock them down. Better to flail away with punches. Don't try to jumping-roundhouse them, it usually ends in pain.
Another note: The platforming is made even trickier if you're too close to the edge of the screen. Until you reach a certain point, only the screen will scroll, and you won't move. So if you're on the moving platform segment of Mission 3, make darn sure the screen has scrolled enough so you can move again before making each jump.
All in all, a solid Game Boy brawler, with a couple of really tricky spots.
EDIT: Well, add
Double Dragon II to the list. Legit beat the first time through. A little dicey at the end, because I let those gun-toters get the best of me. But there's no pits in this one, and everything can be taken out using a combination of the jumping uppercut and knee/elbow drop (it's actually kinda hard to tell which one it is).
There's actually no jump kick in this one. Also, no weapons. Also, no grab attack. Secretly, this wasn't originally a
Double Dragon game at all, it was a
Kunio game.
Anyway, also a decently fun (and short) Technos brawler.
EDIT: Okay, fine.
Double Dragon 3 for Game Boy. Ugh. This game is garbage. Hit detection is shoddy, enemy patterns are annoying, and it's just pretty terrible all around. The only consistent way to hit enemies is to have them come at you from the bottom of the screen. Try to do it the other way, and you get hit instead. And they get up and hit you quite well on wakeup as well.
There's a rudimentary shop here that mirrors the arcade version. But honestly, the weapons, other that the nunchucks in the second stage, are worthless. And you also stop seeing shops halfway through the game.
There's also a tile sequence that is tricky to figure out for a bit. I
did use a save state here, because I wasn't attempting it a third time. Besides, I know the trick now, and can clear the room without losing a life easily. It wasn't nearly as hard as I was making it.
Long story short, don't waste your time with this game.
. Thankfully the checkpoint system is very forgiving as it was in the first game but I did probably die 30+ times due to stupid mistakes while trying to rush through platforming sections. There is one tool which I also really dislike which is the broad head arrows for climbing they really suck all the momentum out of a scene since all of a sudden you go from running, jumping, and climbing to suddenly having to stop and shoot 3+ arrows carefully into some soft wood which could have easily been programmed as one of the many climbable walls.
. Was it specific to a certain bow or in the equipment/tool upgrade menu somewhere?