Simplistic, short and even glitchy this portable Double Dragon stays true to the series and is still fun as ever.
The Bad: Short; glitchy at times; it's Double Dragon for real (and with that I mean simply... SIMPLE.)
Double Dragon is one of the most traditional beat'em up franchises to ever hit the gaming industry (in the guts) and you pretty much should know what to expect here already: punching and kicking your way through a selection of levels in order to rescue your girl.
What's nice about ANY Double Dragon game:
a) Having a good array of moves at your disposal such as flying kicks, knee blows, throwings, grab holds, and so on;
b) Using the enviroment against your enemies: pitfalls, barrels, crates, etc.
c) Taking weapons from your enemies and fighting back;
d) Having a good coop time with a friend just to face him in the end for the girl. (Seriously, that REALLY happens! I'm not making that. ~.~)
Does this Game Boy version have what it takes to be considered worthy of the series? Yes, sure. But let's make some considerations on the specifics of this port.
On the bright side the presentation is top-notch. The characters sprites and the backgrounds design are both crystal clear--for a black & white game, mind you--without being less detailed for that. Same goes for the 8-bit stereo chiptune renditions of the original soundtrack, the music is pure awesome and fits the action very well. On the other side...
Well, the game is short. Actually it can last quite a decent amount of time until you really manage to make it to the end, but nothing changes the fact it's short. And once it's over it's over--no extras, no new difficulty mode, call it a day. That and the worst part, it can be glitchy at times. Platform sections are tricky--after all you must jump with a flying kick, not only a regular jump lol--and that can be annoying when the screen flow doesn't keep up with your moves; or you may have to throw yourself into an abyss just because an enemy decided to FLOAT above it without falling--and you won't progress until you beat 'em all, so... (I've seen it happen with a damn Abobo. -.-)
Despite the flaws I still recommend it as a good, plain fun action game (and I'm not the one who usually overlooks flaws, trust me). This portable port is neat enough for what it is and in the end it's just good to have such a solid title like Double Dragon (as this one bears the name gracefully) to play on the go and punch your way out of real boring life sometimes.