7/25/2007 - Atari 2600 Double Dragon

If you were to play any Atari 2600 game right now, you'd probably wonder how anyone could play such a primitive game with such simple graphics and sound. Well, believe it or not, a lot of people did in the 80's as it was THE hot console of the day. What made it popular? Well, it basically pioneered the concept of having interchangeable games by using cartridges. Before then, you'd have game systems that played one or two games using dedicated hardware for unique controls. For example, there were shooting games that used a light gun and Pong-type games that used a paddle. The problem was that you'd have to pay a heft price for each kind of game because it was part of the hardware package, and you'd have to swap out one game on the TV for another each time you wanted to play something different. Having a central console with a universal controller that played swappable cartridge games changed all that, offering value and convenience.

What was the 2600 capable of? Well, if the programmers were clever, it could offer a fairly decent arcade translation. So many early arcade games made it over, such as Pac-Man and Space Invaders. Some 8-bit games made it over too, such as Donkey Kong and Pole Position. The big question is, can it handle a 16-bit game? Well, one attempt at it was the translation of the arcade hit, Double Dragon. How did it do? Surprisingly well:



As you can see, you can make out your fighter (Billy or Jimmy) against some of the classic Double Dragon foes. For example you can distinguish Williams (he wields the knife and bat) from Linda and Abobo, who can throw a barrel. Graphics aside, how do you change a game from having two attack buttons to only one button on the Atari controller? Take away the punch, of course... and I'm guessing you double tap the joystick and press attack to do a jump kick. Double Dragon was never the most complex game out there, but it's still pretty cool that the 2600 managed to get a port of it.