Reviews for Double Dragon Advance GBA

A Great Remake of a Classic Game

Strengths: New levels, based off of the arcade version instead of the NES version, a variety of moves.

Weakness: Nerfed weapons, only 8 levels.

Double Dragon Advance is a game that does what a remake is supposed to do, which is taking the source material and enhancing it with new play features. Of course, I've only played the NES version of the game, so I can't comment on the Arcade version, but this remake is so much more than that game was. Your character, Billy or Jimmy Lee, has access to a wide variety of moves from the beginning of the game, which include cyclone kicks, headbutts, uppercuts, hyper-knees, and a stomp move for killing enemies knocked down on the ground. The game also has a few new levels in it taken from other games in the series, such as the Chinatown level and a battle on top of a semi-truck.

DDA also has a few new enemies: Men in suits that deliver fast kicks and punches, and also a karate guy who is also a fast mover. You can select the amount of challenge you want in the game, so that is not an issue. The things that are issues in the game are the weapons and the length of the game. Quite a few of the weapons are weaker from past installments: the knife no longer hits for a massive amount of damage, the bat swings slower than the NES version, and the whip also is somewhat slower. The game only has 8 levels in it, so one can possibly beat it in 30 minutes to an hour. Still, the game contains a survival mode where you have to defeat 100 enemies on one life, and a weird mode where you can control both the Lee brothers and can switch between them.

Overall, the flaws of this game do not negate the fact that it is fun to play through. If you are a fan of beat-em-ups, then you should buy this game, as you will have fun playing it.

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Final Fight who? Here's the real king of beat-em ups...

Strengths: Move list depth is amazing. Hard. Special weapons are really cool. Survival Mode. The music rocks.

Weakness: Hard. No customizable controls. Double Dragon mode not so great.

Everyone talks about Final Fight One on the GBA as being so awesome. Well it was until this gem came out.

I never played a Double Dragon game before seriously. So I can't compare them for you (sorry). I do know that this is a teriffic game that should be owned by all beat-em up fans.

The controls take some time to get used to (R for jump!?) but once you work around them it's a lot of fun.

You can block, parry when you block right at the moment of impact, do running jump kicks, uppercut launchers, throws, head butts, punch and kick combos, chest stomps into sitting on a downed enemy and punching them till they die or push your off. A lot of moves for one to experiment with to suit their play style. Most impressive. And the weapons each have their weaknesses and strengths and moves to figure out. There are some carbon copy weapons however (whip = morning star for instance).

The game is really difficult as enemies will swarm you and team up on you. It takes some time to get used to the AI which is unusually smart for this kind of game. Very nice.

Levels are actually really short. Like compared to FFO or Streets of Rage they are pretty short but numerous. I have yet to beat the game but got pretty far and they all go by rather quickly.

Survial mode is a great way to train yourself for the real game. Double Dragon mode is silly. Billy and Jimmy are both playbable instead of it just being Billy. You tap select to switch between the two but at sacrifice of leaving the other guy as a sitting duck. Why couldn't they just let the CPU control the deselected character, I don't know.

Never got to play with a friend but I imagine that it works well.

This is an amazing beat-em up and needs to be remembered right along with Final Fight One.

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Double Dragon for GBA!

Strengths: Lots of fighting! A Classic!

Weakness: Sort of difficult at first.

This is a great addition to the GBA family. Here we have a classic NES/Arcade beat-em-up game on a portable system. This game is a load of fun and is rather hard to put down. However, I found this game a little difficult to beat but after awhile I got the hang of it. A must own for fighting game fans a like!

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A classic with a touch of new

Strengths: New enemies, moves & a survival mode

Weakness: nearly no replay

If your a long time gamer in your mid 20s or older then much like me you probably have put your fair share of quarters into a Double Dragon arcade machine way back when it hit the arcades. Double Dragon Advance does a good job of retaining what made Double Dragon the arcade brawler that started brawlers and throwing in some new stuff to help out. While playing the game everything will be familiar to the original arcade Double Dragon but will have touches of new all over the game. New animations, weapons, attack moves, enemies, improved backrounds, revamped music & even new cutscenes help make the game a new experience all the while being a trip down memory lane. As good as the game is it really doesn't have alot of replay outside of a survival mode. You only have afew continues which means you probably will have to try afew times before being able to go though the entire game without running out of continues but besides that you really don't have any incentive to play though the game once you beat it. I would still recommend Double Dragon Advance to fans of the old arcade game or brawlers & would have scored it higher if it had more to do as while it's alot of fun while it last it really doesn't offer up alot of replay compared to most games of today.

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good game for those people like to play "old games"

Strengths: keep the spirit of old game back to 80's

Weakness: only eight level and easy to finish

This games in my opinion, keep the spirit of older version back to 80's, with some additional characters, such as man in suit with lighing fast kick and punch etc. if you are an old NES lover, you will like this game.
but like initial game, too short, and easy to finish.

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By member: undyingforce - Dec 28, 2005

Double Dragon is Reborn

Strengths: Straight Old- School Beat'em Up

Weakness: Too Short

Yes this is a remake & no it doesnt suck. if you loved double dragon back in the NES days then you must pick the game up!!!!! Very Very Highly Recomended

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A Classic Reborn

Strengths: Classic 2-player arcade gameplay beat-em-up action combined with a few new extras.

Weakness: Kind of short; Some cheap enemies; Looks dated by today's standards

Double Dragon is the grandfather of the side-scrolling beat-em-up genre. It was so popular in the arcades back in the day, that it spawned countless clones and every fighting game after it was compared to it as "like Double Dragon". Fast forward to today, and Atlus brings us the classic remake "Double Dragon Advance". I say "classic remake" because it retains most of the original arcade game along with new stages, enemies, weapons, and moves. If you've played the original, you'll get an instant nostalgia flashback the moment you start playing. The premise is as simple as it gets: go from left to right kicking & punching any enemy that gets in your way. In addition to your bare fists, you can wallop foes with whips, nunchuks, tonfas, knives, and even dynamite! There have been a few new moves added as well to even the odds. You'll need everything you've got too, as the game gets pretty tough later on and the enemies are relentless, mercilessly pounding your life bar to zero before you know it. Master the block and counter moves, and hang on to any weapons you find, or you'll quickly find yourself out of the limited number of continues provided.


The graphics have not aged as well, but it is still a fun brawler to pick up and play. Actually, the graphics are still better than many rushed or sloppy GBA titles that are frequently shoveled out. Thankfully, the 2-player mode the original made famous has been retained, although you will need two Game Boy Advances to play. There is also a very unusual 1-player mode where you control both Dragons at once by switching between the two, but it is flawed in that the uncontrolled played stays motionless which leads to them typically being beaten to a pulp. An A.I. on the second player would have helped immensely. There is also a new survival mode where you take on endless enemies with one life.


If you loved Double Dragon back in the arcades or just want a fighting game to bust a few heads, this is a great GBA game to buy. Forget the poorly translated NES version or the terrible sequels that tarnished the Double Dragon namesake; this is the original and the best that helped make Double Dragon a household name. This game had a very small production run, so I highly advise you buy it now before it's gone and the price skyrockets. A must buy!

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Double Dragon

Strengths: Classic beat em up gameplay, a true remake instead of a sloppy port.

Weakness: Not everything changed for the better.

If you loved the old school Double Dragon in the arcades, it's safe to say you'll like this one too.

Instead of this simply being a port, Double Dragon received the full remake treatment for it's GBA arrival. You'll fight new enemies in new locations with a revised control scheme trying to save your girl from the shadow warriors. The fighting engine is solid for sure but I was a little disappointed with the new enemies, some of them were pretty boring and killed the nostalgic mood just a little but since you'll be too busy kicking their butts you won't be caught up too much on that.

I'm not sure but some of the new material might have been lifted from the arcade version of Double Dragon II but I've never played it so I can't be sure.

Double Dragon can be pretty tough to find, especially new. Hunt down a copy and hold on tight to it!

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Double Dragon Advance

Double Dragon Advance receives an overall TopTenREVIEWS rating of 2.9 out of 4.00. It is ranked the #3,175 game of all time, #43 game of 2003 for the Game Boy Advance and #172 Game Boy Advance game of all time. The rating and ranking is based on an average of 28 critic scores, awards and other criteria. To see a breakdown of the game ranking, read individual critic reviews, or see how other games...

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