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Double Dragon for Commodore 64

Billy and Jimmy must fight the Black Warriors gang in ord...oh forget it. I think most of us probably know this game's premise.

Port Info.

There are two licensed ports of Double Dragon on the C64; one published by Ocean and the other by Melbourne House. This run is the Ocean version. Both ports are generally considered mediocre to poor quality ports. From what I can find online, the Ocean ports seems to be the one with the slightly more positive reviews. These generally revolve around increased combat attack options. Unfortunately this port is one player only. From what I understand, the other has the 2-player co-op option. Perhaps I'll look into a TAS of the Melbourne House port for comparison.

TAS Notes

  • BizHawk 1.13.0 with default settings.
  • Game is a cartridge version.
  • Aims for fastest completion.
  • Game can only be played with either SFX or Music...this run uses music.
  • Frustratingly, Billy can't access about 1/5 of either side of the screen resulting some waiting on enemies.
  • Reverse elbows seemed to be the fastest way to KO opponents. Thankfully this and all other moves are available from the start.
  • EVERYONE moves SLOOOOOOOWLY in this game.
    • The few times it appears that Billy speeds up his walking from area to area seems to be related to lag frames. I could not reproduce this at any other points in the game.
  • Sometimes knocking enemies off an edge takes longer than just beating them up because with how slow they walk, it takes forever for them to get in a position to be knocked off the edge.
  • The final boss has no weapon and is the same character model as any other foe (Abobo excluded), he just takes more knock downs to KO. Further movement after his demise is necessary to complete the level and trigger endgame scene.
  • ABOBO WEARS SUNGLASSES!!

Final Thought

This port definitely does not live up to the quality of other systems ports. It is what it is.

feos: Judging...
drd2k9: Cancelling due to anticipated significant improvements.


TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #5552: DrD2k9's C64 Double Dragon "OCEAN Port" in 13:36.97
Spikestuff
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So people can compare. Melbourne House: Link to video I accidentally linked the Atari ST version cause they look similar.
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Disables Comments and Ratings for the YouTube account. Something better for yourself and also others.
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PCachu
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It's good to know that one of the great constants of the universe is "Double Dragon's back-elbow attack is stupid OP."
DrD2k9
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PCachu wrote:
It's good to know that one of the great constants of the universe is "Double Dragon's back-elbow attack is stupid OP."
And thankfully for this version it's available from the start of the game. This would have been so much more tedious without it.
mklip2001
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Wow... I was hoping this version would be less crappy. Unfortunately, that was not to be. The perpetual elbow juggling gets old really fast. And on top of a dumb final boss fight which doesn't look like a boss fight, you only get a silly kissing scene in the credits. Good job playing this, but this has to be a No vote from me.
Used to be a frequent submissions commenter. My new computer has had some issues running emulators, so I've been here more sporadically. Still haven't gotten around to actually TASing yet... I was going to improve Kid Dracula for GB. It seems I was beaten to it, though, with a recent awesome run by Hetfield90 and StarvinStruthers. (http://tasvideos.org/2928M.html.) Thanks to goofydylan8 for running Gargoyle's Quest 2 because I mentioned the game! (http://tasvideos.org/2001M.html) Thanks to feos and MESHUGGAH for taking up runs of Duck Tales 2 because of my old signature! Thanks also to Samsara for finishing a Treasure Master run. From the submission comments:
Shoutouts and thanks to mklip2001 for arguably being the nicest and most supportive person on the forums.
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Hé, hé, music is good and game is very good. I had started an run on GBA in extra difficulty, I used a cheat code for this, you gave me motivation for finish this later! At 9.40, i seen your character have more horizontal speed or is it simply attracted by the loading screen? Great job, funny yes vote!
GAW sms... Totally destroyed
DrD2k9
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zoboner wrote:
At 9.40, i seen your character have more horizontal speed or is it simply attracted by the loading screen?
The increased speed only seems to occur while the background is also moving. It happens multiple times in the run. These are also the times when lag frames are most present. I couldn't otherwise reproduce this horizontal speed.
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If I'm not glitched out, you're wasting at least 337 frames on Abobo. http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/40073301407240161
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
DrD2k9
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feos wrote:
If I'm not glitched out, you're wasting at least 337 frames on Abobo. http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/40073301407240161
Whoa...I didn't even think of drawing him into the room more. Its weird how we sometimes don't even realize we're not trying all possibilities. There are multiple Abobo fights where your strategy could be applied. If it saves that many frames each time, it will significantly shorten the submission. It will take some time to re-work. I suggest a delayed decision. Or I could just cancel this submission. Or you could reject it. Any of those will suffice.
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It will be significantly different, and almost entirely redone, so delaying it won't make sense. I don't care whether it's canceled or rejected either. Just note that you also need to line up with Abobo vertically, because he takes extra time to align with you otherwise. And I'm not even sure my strat is fully optimal. So take your time and always think of other approaches. You can cancel it now.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
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om, nom, nom... juicy!
DrD2k9
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feos wrote:
And I'm not even sure my strat is fully optimal.
In working through this game using your strat of luring Abobo further to the left before attacking, I discovered a glitch. It's possible to control Abobo's flight with controller inputs from the 13th through 26th frames after the attack button press. This allows you to position Abobo close by for the next attack almost immediately as soon as he stands up. It will save over 600 frames per Abobo fight if it works for all of them. Unfortunately this doesn't work for all the regular enemies.
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Haha, awesome! I only noticed that he won't drop farther ahead if you stop walking at some point, but this one is just awesome. Post a short vid or a gif.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
DrD2k9
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