Hart Deer's: DOUBLE DRAGON for the Atari 2600 walkthrough/FAQ! XXX XXX X X XXX X XXXX X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X XXX X XXXX X X X X X X X X X X XXX XXX XXX XXX XXXXX XXXX DRAGON. You can visit me on the web at http://www.hartdeer.net Table of Contents: 1. Riveting Predlude 2. Gripping Meta Strategy -- Martial Arts and THE SWEET SPOT 3. More Techniques Beyond the Gripping Meta Strategy 4. Walkthrough 5. Tips & Secrets 6. Frequently Ask Questions 7. Immodesty 1. Riveting Prelude This game is, without question, the HARDEST game in the Double Dragon series. I'm not kidding. This game is so hard that I am the only person who has ever beaten it, and that includes the programmers. After beating the game, I ate my own hand, which was much easier. This game has many fun and unique challenges. The first challenge is that many of the enemies can jump kick you at will, which will set them up to combo you, which will randomly eat some or all of your life. The second challenge is that the collision detection is based on an imaginary box extending a couple of pixels in front of you and your enemy's sprites, so to effectively attack your enemy, you need to aim for the air he's breathing. The third challenge is that even if you overcome the first two difficulties, once you run into the Abobos in Mission Two, they will pound you like fresh meat in the county pen. I'm not kidding. The character on the TV screen will die, but in real life, it will hurt you to sit down. There are many theories as to how a game this mind breakingly bad came to be. One theory is that the programmers thought the idea of a 2600 version of Double Dragon was absurd, and they released it to prove themselves right. If so, mission accomplished. Another theory is that God has sent this game to punish humanity for our sins, but since not everyone has committed multiple genocide while making fetish videos of it, I don't think humanity has done anything bad enough to deserve this game. Anyway, I stuck it out and beat this nasty little varmint. I am proud of doing something absolutely nobody has ever done before, and I can only imagine how many millions of hours people have spent trying. With my sage advice, you too can climb to top of the mighty mountain of madness which is... the 2600 Double Dragon. 2. Gripping Meta Strategy -- Martial Arts and THE SWEET SPOT The first thing you must do is master your arsenal of deadly martial arts techniques. To throw a punch, just hit the fire button. To throw a kick, hold down on the joystick and press fire. The jump kick is up and fire. The elbow is diagonally up and fire, and it aims in the opposite direction of the diagonal. This is so that you can't cheat by walking around and fighting at the same time. When real men fight, they stand perfectly still like brick walls. If a real man ever throws an elbow, he apologizes by making sure the elbow fires in the most useless direction possible. Such is the way of Double Dragon. Fortunately, the only way to victory involves staying put. You may notice that the enemies do not want to approach you if you are on the far left side of the screen. There is a sweet spot where you are close enough to the side so the enemies will not attack, but over just enough that your own attacks can hit the enemies as they wander back and forth nearby. To find the sweet spot, walk your guy to the bottom left of the screen and face right. Tip-toe right one pixel at a time, and punch after each step. When in your post-punching position, you want the two rightmost pixels of the bottom of your feet to be directly over the two leftmost pixel columns of the hat icon of your remaining lives. That's it! Just get there, and hit people as they wander barely into range. Don't get cocky and think you can beat this game without exploiting this glitch. Just suck it up and hide in your sweet spot like the tragic fool you are. Trust me, deviate from the master plan, and the computer is more than able to cheat you into an unmarked shallow grave by the railroad tracks quicker than you can say, "I'm going to personally hunt down the people who made this game and sell their dripping innards to witches on the black market." (You will say this a lot.) Even when standing in the sweet spot, you're not invincible. Enemies can eventually wander up to you and attack. Standing in the sweet spot just causes the enemies to want to wander back and forth in front of you for a long time before committing to an attack. Also, the sweet spot makes enemies refrain from jump kicking you at a distance, but if you mindlessly let them creep in on you, they can still do it. So, don't put down the controller and go make popcorn because you think you're safe. Stick in there and keep up your attack. There's a sort of rhythm where an enemy will wander close, wander far, etc. Once you get the rhythm of striking every time the enemy moves in your direction, you'll kick ass with great speed. 3. More Techniques Beyond the Gripping Meta Strategy There's only a few minor polishing points you need to be the toughest bopper in a world of pixels so big, Mario can't jump them. Pixels so big, Simon Belmont flees in fear. Pixels so big, Dolly Parton is jealous. * For maximum damage, you need to start with kicks and end with punches for each knockdown. For the normal guys, it's two kicks, then punch. For the ladies, it's just one kick and one punch. For the Abobos, give three kicks, then a punch. Now, the first two enemies on each screen will often have an odd number of kicks and punches to most efficiently knock them down the first time, but after they get up, they will conform to the pattern above. It's important to only kick the enemy as many times as needed and finish with a punch, because you will save yourself one or more times of having to knock the enemy down before he dies. By starting with kicks and finishing with a single punch, you even seem to do a little extra damage. This is absolutely crucial because you need to learn to kill quickly. From Mission Three on, the game's clock is a brutal mistress. She will slowly and subtly rape your eyes out and leave your festering corpse for the worms, just like time does in real life. * If an enemy approaches from the far side of the screen with a weapon to throw, stay at the bottom until the enemy is just past the halfway point of the screen, then wander straight up. He will throw and miss. If the projectile hits you, it means you waited too long to start moving. Once your foe has spent his weapon, wait for him to wander into range and punish him as usual. If an Abobo throws a box in this scenario, you can pick it up and chuck it at him if you want, but you might want to think about leaving the box on the screen behind you as this will prevent future Abobos from coming armed. * If any enemy approaches from behind you with a knife, stay off center below them and just kick like a madman until you get the knockdown. Then, wander down and to the right so they will chase you without picking up the knife. (If they get the knife anyway and throw it, walk up or down to dodge.) When you can, cut up and left then down and left to get around the enemy and back to the sweet spot. Attack as usual, and they will die soon. Then, retrieve the knife and wander out into the middle of the screen, and you can line up horizonatally with the next enemy and throw the knife for an instant kill. * If an Abobo approaches from behind with a box, stay below his horizon line and gradually inch down the screen as you kick him repeatedly on the way. Once you get near the bottom, haul ass to the middle of the screen before Abobo clocks you. Then cut diagonally up and to the left as you jumpkick through the pursuing Abobo. Now run back to your sweet spot and fight like normal. * If an unarmed Abobo comes out behind you while there's already an earlier Abobo near the top of the screen, just wander out a ways to the right, then turn and jump kick straight through the new Abobo's head, then haul tail back to the left side of the screen to get back into your sweet spot. You might get hit once, but you'll live and prevail. A variation of this strategy starts with kicking the new Abobo on the left repeatedly as you walk him down the left edge of the screen staying well below his horizontal axis, then taking off for the center of the screen once you get near the bottom, much like fighting a left-spawning Abobo with a box. * Kill an enemy with a bat the same way you would any other enemy, and take the bat. When you have the bat, the next enemy can be fun. Knock him down first by just barely connecting with the outer pixels of his hit box as he wanders into range. Then, keep walking in on him as you swing whenever he tries to stand up. The right timing will give you equal times for the bat swinging sound and the enemy crumpling sound. It's a pretty peppy pace. You need to learn to exploit the bat like this to save time on the later levels. * If an enemy comes up behind you on the left with the bat, stay a little below him and kick like a madman. He will be so busy trying to pick the bat up, he will let you keep kicking him until he dies. You can do the same thing with a knife wielding enemy from the left, but make extra sure you stay well below his horizontal level so that he can't knife you. * Save time with the girls by just walking out of the sweet spot and fighting in the middle of the room. Once you have the feel for clipping enemies as they wander into your attack range, the girls are no problem. They don't jump kick. They don't combo. They don't counter attack. As long as you're patient and don't walk in on them but just stand still and let them walk into your foot/fist, they will drop easily. On later missions, you'll need every second you can get. Make up time on the girls. * When you come to a new screen, two enemies will spawn immediately. One of these enemies will be further up the screen. After you kill an enemy or two from your sweet spot, the higher enemy will start walking down to you. Walk up a few pixels to meet him, then stay well below him as you back him off with kicks as he approaches. Knock him down with a punch whenever the First Two, First Knockdown (see below) strategy calls to do so. This is all you need to know. No kidding. Every last stinking bit of it. The walkthrough is merely an application of these principles combined with knowing the weird first knockdown patterns of the first two enemies of each screen. Oh... and I explain how to beat the final boss. 4. The Walkthrough This walkthrough assumes you have studied the two previous sections of this FAQ. Don't come whining to me if you haven't mastered the sweet spot technique or you don't know how to not get hit with a knife. Each screen of the game will start with an attack pattern called FTFK. This stands for First Two, First Knockdown. You usually have to get your first knockdown on each of the first two enemies of each screen differently than you knock every other enemy down for the rest of the screen. I describe in section 3 how tonormally knock down each of the enemy types-- only deviate for the first knockdown of the first two enemies of each screen! This is very important for killing foes as fast as possible to beat the clock. I refer to enemies as William, Linda, Abobo, and Willy. William is one of the generic enemies with the stocking cap. Linda is one of the hookers. Abobo is one of the big growly shirtless guys that sort of looks like a painted meatball. Willy is the last enemy of the game with the machine gun. I'm taking these names from the NES version of the game. ** Mission 1 ** Three easy screens. Learn the timing of tagging enemies as they barely walk into hitting range, and also get the timing of keeping enemies down with the bat. The purple hookers at the end of the stage are a deceptively pathetic boss fight. Screen 1: 2 Williams FTFK: Kick, kick No problem. Kill them. Screen 2: 4 Williams FTFK: Kick, kick, punch Third William has the bat. Practice using the above strategies to take the bat and incinerate the fourth William. Screen 3: 6 Lindas FTFK: Kick, kick, punch If you just wait for them to come into your striking range, they are so easy. This is a very easy boss fight, so enjoy it. Remember the cool ladders you could climb in the arcade version and the open doors you could enter in the NES version? Ladders and doors are just taunting useless props in the 2600 version. Don't bother, it's like trying to climb the wallpaper. ** Mission 2 ** Abobos come out on the second screen. Despite my excellent advice, they still might smear you into paste the first time you encounter them. However, I guarantee, get past them and you've pretty much got the whole game licked. Screen 1: 4 Williams FTFK: Kick, kick, punch Watch out for the sneaky fucker coming from the left with the knife. Keep below him and kick like a fiend to keep him from getting close enough to knife you. Screen 2: 4 Abobos FTFK: Kick, kick, punch You will only prevail if you have mastered the sweet spot technique, or if you are really lucky. Watch out for the higher of the first two Abobos. Back him off with kicks as soon as he moves in on you, lest your die. Screen 3: 6 Williams FTFK: Kick, kick, kick, punch Since the first knockdowns of the first two guys take more effort, and since you are at the end of Mission Two, and since these guys are green, I think they may actually be Chin Tai. Since they act exactly like all the other generic looking dudes in stocking caps, we'll never know. There's not much more to say about them. ** Mission 3a ** More of the same. Annoying. The only new challenge is that the programmers have decided to give you just-barely-not-enough-time. Cheap. Use the techniques I have revealed to you for fast wins. Screen 1: 4 Lindas FTFK: Kick, kick, punch Do the FTFK right and just use a kick, punch combo for every other knockdown, and you will flatten these hoes. Do it fast. You think this screen is easy and therefor you might slack off and relax. No. Speed is really important now. I can't stress that enough. Screen 2: 6 Williams FTFK: Kick, kick, punch 3rd William has the bat. Have fun destroying! Screen 3: 6 Abobos FTFK: Kick, kick, punch If the higher of the first two Abobos starts too far to the left for your safe spot to be safe, use punches instead of kicks to back him off. I'm not sure why, but this particular Abobo seems more susceptible to punches for the first knockdown. Odd. Screen 4: 6 Lindas FTFK: Kick, kick, kick, punch Toughest Lindas yet, in that their FTFK takes an extra kick. Otherwise, they are easy, so tear through them like a chainsaw on crack to make haste. Screen 5: 4 Abobos FTFK: Kick, punch At least these Abobos fall relatively easily, because the timer will scare you much more than the meatheads. ** Mission 3b ** Yawn. This mission is boring and has nothing new to offer. However, don't complain. The clock resets, and that's mana in the Sinai desert for you. The Abobos at the end require one more knockdown than before to die. Maybe they are super Abobos, like the green Incredible Hulk Abobo from the arcade. Screen 1: 4 Williams FTFK: Kick, kick, kick, punch 3rd William has the bat. Watch out because the Williams are subtly stronger now. You'll need an extra bat hit to kill them, and if you're too used to the old rhythm, you might slack off before a William is dead and get punished. The Williams generally get stronger as the game progresses, so always keep swinging until their cold, dead bodies are blinking off the screen. Screen 2: 4 Lindas FTFK: Kick, kick, punch There's really not much to say. Just hurry. Screen 3: 6 Williams FTFK: Kick, punch These guys seem to require an extra knockdown to kill, and they're green. Again, I wonder if they are actually Chin Tai. This part of the game is so boring in its tedious rehashing, there's not much more to think about than what might be a Chin Tai. Screen 4: 6 Abobos FTFK: Kick, kick, punch The third Abobo spawns from the left... watch out! ** Mission 4** Never before has the timer been so brutal. In the last room, you have to fight a whole bunch of yellow guys who are quite ordinary except they take a lot of knockdowns to kill, and they are great in number. You will likely be eyeing the clock with anxiety, but don't get so distracted that you let a bunch of wimpy yellow guys with long lifebars kill you. Hopefully you have all three lives left, because you can expect to lose a life to the timer even if your try to fight very efficiently, and the last boss is easy, yet cheap, and he might well get lucky and take a life too. Screen 1: 6 Williams FTFK: Kick, kick, kick, punch You can probably just catch the last (6th) one as he enters from the left with kicks and walk him down the screen like you a would a weapon wielding enemy. Screen 2: 4 Williams FTFK: Kick, kick, punch Once you get the bat and knock someone down, keep swinging! These guys take a lot of bat strikes to kill! Screen 3: 6 Abobos FTFK: Kick, kick, punch The third one is a sneaky fucker coming in from the left. Run! The sixth one enters from the left too, but he'll probably be alone by then, so if you like, you can walk him down the left edge of the screen with kicks before fleeing like a little girl. Screen 4a: 7 Williams FTFK: Kick, kick, kick, punch The fourth and seventh of these guys enter from the left, and they seem supernaturally predisposed to fuck you sideways if you don't immediately run away to the middle of the room, so don't try to walk them down with kicks. Once you get away from these left-spawning menaces, jump kick through them well above their horizontal axi to get back to your sweet spot on the left. You'll likely die from running out of time here. Sorry. Screen 4b: Willy Don't even worry about the FTFK. Remember that he will spawn on the left. That's good news if you're already in your sweet spot (and you should be). As he walks down the left edge of the screen, you can make your way down with him, kicking him over repeatedly as you go. Once you hit the bottom, immediately head straight up. You will have to cross his horizontal axis, so if he tags you with his cheap ass machine gun, I'm sorry. You may take a little damage. Once you're sufficiently above him, start rapidly jumping kicking as you make your way up. Again, you'll tag him over and over. Once you reach the top of your walkable area, you'll have to head straight back down and cross the dangerous horizontal line of Willy once again, and once again you may take damage, and once again you will be free to rapidly kick him over and over as you walk on down. Repeat the pattern until he dies and you have won the whole freakin' game, you sick bastard. The nice thing about Willy is that he wants to always back away from you so he can get room to fire his gun. For this reason, he is very easy to pin down on the edge of the screen once you get him there, and if you are fighting from the sweet spot on the left, Willy will spawn trapped against the left edge! Winning this game is an exercise in futility, but as Dilbert's boss once countered to this very same objection, exercise is good for you. Hang in their. Your reward is a kiss from your girlfriend, and she is simply marvelous, despite looking exactly like all the purple hookers you've been killing throughout the game. Congratulations! 5. Tips & Secrets There is a way to unlock a secret new mode of gameplay. Take your Double Dragon cartridge, run it through your washing machine three times, run it over with your car twice, soak it in vinegar overnight, let it dry, and shoot it with a shotgun four times while holding left on the player two joystick. When you put the game back in your Atari, you will notice it's a lot more fun to play. 6. Frequently Ask Questions Who the hell thought this would be a good idea for a game? >> Your mom. How do you deal with the pain? >> Crack, self-mutilation, incontinency... the usual. 7. Immodesty Well, that's my FAQ. If you weren't awesome enough to come up with such a strategy yourself, don't worry. You could very well be a genius and never even start to fathom the sort of intelligence it required of me to put this all together. You're welcome, humankind. You're welcome.