Most famous for its Double Dragon series, Technōs Japan is sadly no longer with us – but its property is owned by Arc System Works and continues to live on via a range of remakes and updates. Another way to celebrate the company's remarkable legacy is Technōs Arcade 1 on your Evercade, a pack which includes eight coin-op releases from the firm's back catalogue.
The Combatribes, Block Out, Battle Lane Vol 5., Double Dragon II: The Revenge, Double Dragon III: The Rosetta Stone, Mania Challenge, Minky Monkey and Mysterious Stones: Dr John's Adventure are the games on offer, and reading that list might immediately trigger some concerns – sure, there are some coin-guzzling classics on offer here, but they sit alongside an equal number of largely unknown releases.
Let's start with the familiar titles first. 1988's Double Dragon II is arguably one of the best side-scrolling fighters of the era, combining tight gameplay with excellent two-player action. Sure, it would be comprehensively outdone a year after its release by Capcom's stunning Final Fight, but it's still a good time, especially when played on the Evercade VS with a second person.
Double Dragon 3 is less well-regarded, largely because its development was handled by East Technology and not Technōs itself. The more realistic visuals are a step forward, but the sprites are still quite small when compared to those in Final Fight. Fans of the series – and fighting games in general – will still find plenty to enjoy, however.
The Combatribes is the third belt-scrolling brawler in this pack, and it's one of Technōs' most divisive additions to the genre. The large, cartoon-like sprites are appealing, but the action doesn't hang together as well as it does in rival games from the same time. We have a soft spot for it as it was one of the few arcade machines to be installed in our local leisure centre back in the day, but we wouldn't attempt to argue that it's amongst the best the genre has to offer.
The remaining titles are interesting to play from a historical viewpoint but can hardly be considered essential in Technōs' history – making this a cartridge which feels like something of a missed opportunity.
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Comments 10
Strange that its part 1 of a Technos collection, but includes Double Dragon II instead of the original game.
I think Evercade has done this before though, where the original game in a series comes in a later edition.
Weirdly, the arcade version of the original Double Dragon was in the VS announcement trailer, though it's not on any carts. After sending a faulty VS back at Christmas, I think I've decided to stick to the Switch and original hardware for retro gaming. I still have my hand held and a few carts though, the Oliver Twins and Data East (with Mega Drive Midnight Resistance), remain my favourites.
Personally, Double Dragon 2 arcade was a disappointment. I enjoy the first one still. The second one felt less balanced(aside from the elbow smash in the first game, which I try not to use much), and had major performance issues. The home ports were more fun for me. The NES version is pretty good and one of the best beat-em-up games on the system, probably. The PC Engine version is my favorite version of Double Dragon 2 and the best version in my opinion.
Still waiting for the neo geo super dodge ball and shadow force.
I've heard ARCADE Double Dragon II isn't that good. It's the NES Double Dragon II that is considered the definitive version.
Also, I've heard the Japanese version of Double Dragon III is just slightly less terrible than the English version if because it wasn't designed around microtransactions (well, true, that's less of a concern in a compilation with infinite virtual coins but that's kind of the challenge of these arcade. To try to win without just spamming the coin button.)
I've owned this cartridge since day one and I have to say -maybe it's my personal bias- that I enjoy discovering games that otherwise would be unknown to me. For me this is the beauty of the Evercade: a mix of well known gems and less known (and probably less good) games. And this cart delivers. Minky Monkey, for example, is a little addictive game in the vein of Donkey Kong Jr.
About Double Dragon: I also like the first one better, and feel like II is like an enhanced version of the first game, even recycling two stages, so it's not new enough to me. The third part is pretty awful. Aside from the microtransactions gimmick, the visuals, animations and story are far worse in my opinion.
I haven't played any Double Dragon on console yet, but people say DDII on the NES is top and III a little better than its arcade counterpart.
@Moroboshi876 Have you tried Double Dragon Advance? It's an outstanding scrolling beat 'em up that is one of my favourites within the genre, was also recently released as a digital game on Switch and other platforms, so finally more widely available. It never had an EU release at the time so I had to import a US copy.
The first two arcade games are pretty dated now, though I remember the first one really impressed me when I saw the arcade back in the 80s. Then I made the mistake of buying the C64 version.
Combatribes is an interesting one, the recently released Double Dragon Gaiden almost reminded me more of that game.
@Ristar24 No I haven't, the original was too expensive, and I look forward to getting it on Switch, because the Double Dragon Collection has too many games I already have, so it's great that you can pick them individually.
@Moroboshi876 Yes, the GBA cart got expensive quickly. I recall it was scheduled for an EU release but seemed to get cancelled at the last minute. I definitely recommend on Switch, its a really nicely emulated and presented version, even if stage 1 is missing the VW Beetle poster due to licensing!
Too bad double dragon 1 isn't included in this collection, I prefer the first game compared to the sequels.
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