Double Dragon III: The Rosetta Stone is the third instalment in the arcade beat ‘em up series. This game was released in 1992 two years after its last predecessor and picks up the story of the Lee brothers, without the drama that Marian brought to the scene.
The first game in the series was a rescue mission, and the second focused on avenging the murder of Jimmy Lee’s girlfriend Marian (who was kidnapped in the first adventure). In Double Dragon III: The Rosetta Stone, the Lee brothers are back and have just returned home from an advanced martial arts course where they finally completed their training in a secret style of fighting.
Upon their return, they meet Hiruko, a strange fortune-teller who charges the Double Dragons with the task of travelling to Egypt to retrieve the three Rosetta Stones. These ancient artefacts are the keys to defeating a mysterious new enemy that is threatening the world.
There are some extreme differences in DD3, the most noticeable being the addition of a possible third dragon, previously unseen brother Sonny. The game is similar to the Capcom game of Forgotten Worlds, which allows the gamer to enter shops and purchase a new fighter. The other most noticeable change is the advance in graphics. The characters are much more realistic than cartoonish and the special effects and fight sequences are more fluid and less pixelated.
The game play itself, including the controls,
is very similar to the previous instalments. Characters can kick, punch, jump and perform combinations of kicking and jumping. The jump kick is the most easily executed and devastating move. Players can also ricochet their characters off a wall after a jump and come back upon their opponents. This is a new move and is a bit hard to master, as are all the jumping sequences in this series.
The previously mentioned shops are available on most levels (of which there are five, starting in America and ending in Egypt) and offer an added dimension to the game play. Within the shops, players can purchase a variety of items, including weapons, power, tricks and the extra characters. Tricks are special attacks such as the whirlwind kick or overhead attack.
The enemies have changed in DD3 and sport some new looks. Both in Egypt and America, the Double Dragons will have to knock enemies from oncoming motorcycles with well-timed attacks. The bosses, however, look cool but are not notably difficult, having no special moves.
As a side scrolling beat ‘em up, DD3 is not a bad call. It has a little bit more depth than the first two instalments of the series and sports the typical monotonous game play of the scroller. If you enjoyed either of the first two, this game will not disappoint you, but if you are looking to wrap your brain around a complex game with deep detail and complex goals, this isn’t the way to go.
