Double Dragon 3: The Arcade Game Two-Player Playthrough (Game Boy Player Capture)

This is a capture of me and a friend playing through Double Dragon 3: The Arcade Game for the Game Boy. This is not an emulator. This footage was captured directly from my GameCube using my Game Boy Player with progressive scan mode enabled (you'll need the GameCube's component cables to do this and your model of GameCube must support component out as well). Drew is player one (light color) and I'm player two (dark color).

After posting a two-player playthrough of Double Dragon II for the Game Boy a few years ago, I knew that I would want to follow up with a two-player playthrough of Double Dragon 3 as well. Luckily, my friend Drew managed to help me with this, so I have now achieved what is probably an incredibly rare feat: beating this shitty game with two people.

I have loved the Double Dragon series ever since I was a kid. I received the original Double Dragon for the NES around Christmas of 1989, and a few years later I managed to rent both Double Dragon II and III for the NES. I absolutely loved the sequels on the NES, especially because of their cooperative two-player modes. Double Dragon III in particular was my favorite. However, I wasn't lucky enough to own the NES Double Dragon sequels as a kid.

In the early '90s my parents had a tradition going for a few years where they would take me to Toys R Us for my birthday (and perhaps another holiday) to pick out a gift. I would then select a toy or video game and return home overjoyed.

During one of these specific Toys R Us visits (probably around 1993), I decided to get a Game Boy game, possibly because I was given a dollar limit and Game Boy games were cheaper than home console game. I then spotted Double Dragon 3 for the Game Boy, which got me quite excited. Since I absolutely loved Double Dragon III for the NES, I decided to get the Game Boy version, thinking it would be similar. I was dead wrong.

When I got home and started playing Double Dragon 3, I was instantly disappointed. The game was almost nothing like the NES version. The enemies were imbalanced, the moves were limited and downright sucked, the music sucked, the bosses sucked, the shop system sucked... everything about the game sucked. I wondered what the hell had happened.

Little did I know that the game had been ported by a company outside of Technos, and had been based on the lackluster arcade game, not the improved NES game. Further, the game had been severely stripped down, removing the additional characters and moves featured in the original arcade version. If this game had actually been based on the NES version, it might have turned out much better. Sadly, this is one of the worst games I have ever owned. I only kept it all this time because it's a Double Dragon game.

Unfortunately, the enemies are imbalanced and the hit detection is kind of shoddy in this port, so most of the time jump kicks are the only effective means of attack. I've found that the most effective strategy is to simply jump kick as enemies approach you from below. Kicks and punches generally don't work that well.

Drew and I barely made it to the end, so we're quite happy to have beaten this turd of a game on our first and only attempt. I don't know how many people are interested in seeing this, but I hope you enjoy the footage.

Recorded with the Hauppauge HD PVR and the GameCube's component cables at 60 frames per second. I'm using an original model Game Boy Advance as a controller via the GameCube/Game Boy Advance Link Cable, and Drew is using a Game Boy Advance SP which is connected to the Game Boy Player through a third-party multiplayer link cable for the Game Boy Pocket/Game Boy Color.