When I first heard of this release into the XBLA library, I was pumped. I played this game for hours when I got the arcade equivalent for the NES. This game’s beauty was its simplicity. The controls were easy, and there was no real upgrades or special moves, just a good old fashioned button smashing brawler. Upon playing this game this afternoon, I was thoroughly disappointed. Here is the breakdown of some of the facets of Double Dragon:

Presentation and Graphics: The game looks polished and was impressed with the new graphics. The mullets looked good as well. The level designs were still simple and still side scrolling at that is what is expected. The enemies as well as the “dragons” had defined outlines. The menus were pretty standard for a Live Arcade Game as well as the in-game screen with the dragon theme around it. 4 of 5

Sound and Music: The music was classic and straight from the 80’s. I booted up an emulated version of the NES game and it sounds almost exact, but obviously better on my surround sound system. The in-game sounds when fighting are par for the course. Not much going on here, but there were distinct sound bytes for when getting punched, kicked, or hit with a barrel. Nothing special, but all around very good. 3 of 5

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Double Dragon is a microcosm of the eighties. Grown men clad in denim, with red mullets. Other men in chain mail vests, like the villain in Commando. To call this an arcade classic is an understatement, but the game is scheduled to be available at the usual time of 2:00 AM Pacific time on Wednesday, May 9th. There will be a classic and enhanced versions of the games with the latter having newer music and updated graphics. There will also be acheivements totalling 200 points. The game will cost 400 microsoft points and is rated E. There will also be a leaderboard as well as in game tips in case you get stuck. This looks to be one of the best Live Arcade games to date.