Double Dungeons
Reviewed by Michael LoCascio
I must admit that I can occasionally be a sucker for good
box art. Now, this generally wasn't a concern when it came
to buying Turbografx-16 titles (ever see Cosmic Fantasy 2's
box art? Ick. .). But Double Dungeons was one game that lured
me in from the first look. The front picture displayed a
warrior with sword in hand, confronting a wolf in a serpent,
inside of a some sort of bleak passageway that had a
skeleton chained up against its wall. Seemed like my kind of
game, especially considering how few role playing games
there were for the TG-16. Thankfully, I did end up getting
my money's worth from Double Dungeons.
Although NEC officially labeled this title a role-playing
game, Double Dungeons is really a very simple and
straightforward game at heart. You play a nameless warrior
who must conquer the evil that dwells within twenty-two
humongous labyrinths. The first twenty-one dungeons can be
conquered in any order that you wish, but the final maze can
only be accessed after all the others have been completed.
There is a specific 'mission' that the game assigns to
each dungeon, but your goal is basically the same in every
level: find the boss and defeat it.
You play the game from a first-person perspective. The bleak
walls of the dungeons smoothly scroll towards you as you
roam about the seemingly never-ending mazes in search of the
bosses' chambers. There are dozens of bizarre creatures that
you'll meet up with during your journeys; defeat them and
you receive experience points and gold. Combat is extremely
simple: press a button, the enemy flashes, and text appears
on the screen telling you how much damage you did. Then it's
the enemies turn. Some of these monstrosities can be pretty
tough, but engaging them in combat is the only way to
strengthen your character up sufficiently and to acquire
money to use in item shops. Along with the shops, you may
occasionally stumble upon an inn, where you can rest and
regain your energy.
The scrolling in Double Dungeons is nice, but the enemy
characters are poorly-drawn. Also, every single wall in
every single dungeon looks exactly the same. With some of
these mazes taking well over a dozen hours to complete, you
can imagine how tedious the game can become (there is a
password feature so that you can record your progress). Not
only does every maze look the same, but the repetitive music
always remains the same, the monsters from one maze to
another rarely ever vary, and the same items and weapons
reappear over and over again. You don't even get to keep any
experience or weapons after you beat a dungeon; when a new
stage commences, you must start saving up all over again.
The monotony of the game can be somewhat alleviated by
getting a friend to tackle the dungeons with you. Double
Dungeons is a two-player game, and I've spent many late
nights with friends of mine trying to solve these maddening
mazes. Two-player mode can make the game a lot more
enjoyable - but make sure you're playing with a person who
can tolerate the repetitiveness of the dungeons.
As mentioned before, the music that plays while you're
exploring the dungeons can get on your nerves very quickly.
However, the theme that plays during the title screen is
incredible: very powerful and daunting. It sets the mood for
Double Dungeons perfectly - I just wish that the tracks
played throughout the rest of the game could live up to it.
NEC probably tried to add some variety to the game with the
little 'quests' that you're supposed to tackle in each
dungeon, but the quests mean absolutely nothing to the game
play until you reach the level bosses (for instance, if your
mission is to destroy an evil dragon, you'll play through a
ten-hour dungeon that is exactly like the previous level
that required you to find a hidden treasure chest - except
that you'll fight a dragon at the end of it). The game
begins each dungeon with a 'prologue' and concludes them
with 'epilogues'. These little text snippets are usually
so poorly translated that the only purpose that they serve
is to give the gamer a good laugh. For example, one dungeon
demanded that you kill a demon that has possessed a young
girl (or something like that). The epilogue to the dungeon
went something like this:
'The demon had possessed the girl. The warrior cannot
forgive the demon. '
That's not an exact quote (my version is far more eloquent),
but I didn't feel like playing through a ten-hour dungeon
just to see it. Besides, I think you get the point.
As monotonous as it can be, Double Dungeons can be a pretty
addictive experience, especially when a friend tags along in
two-player mode. As long as you both have enough patience to
take your time with the game, you'll probably have plenty of
fun with it. Besides, you'll have those wonderful epilogue
texts just in case you need some extra incentive.
Overall: 7 out of 10
OR
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