A Long Time Ago
♫Oof! Got a
Double Dragon II [AC] No Miss. Tough game! And a surprisingly enjoyable one, after the rough-as-hell DDI AC. Intensity/runtime ratio is just how I like my arcade games, ala Saigo - a single, short, tough-as-nails loop (~13min 1LC). While not entirely free of DDI's jank - some of the combo enders feel a bit temperamental - this is a more than sufficient upgrade, with crisper handling, sharper moves, and the same walloping violence. GREAT sound effects, as to be expected of Technos.
Too different from the superb Famicom interpretation for direct comparisons, but it does have one absolute victory -
no turnaround input drops. When going for a stunning boot to an enemy's gut, you can hit [away] and [back attack] on the same frame, and nail it every time - the kick lashing out so quickly, an observer might never know it's using the Kunio system.
Your hillbilly cartwheels won't escape my shoe! (■`W´■)
On FC, without a learned delay, the code will lag behind - causing you to turn and punch thin air while your would-be target backstabs you. It's a damn good thing the AC's command intepreter is airtight, as the boot is integral here.
No idea what the "Easy" Tatsumaki DIP setting is like, but I wouldn't go near it. Timing on the default setting is great. As an aside, I like how the PCE interpretation bases its Hyper Knee sprite on the arcade's badass anti-wakeup knee (which is actually in the FC version too! not the most important move in any of the three incarnations, but it's gratifying as all hell slamming recovering enemies to a halt with it).
Johnny, do you know if there was ever a "red blood" AC release of DDII? Couldn't seem to find one from a quick google, nor anything in the DIP switches. The game is so intense it's hard to care much, and it's hardly bloody enough to cause a Metal Slug-esque "milk gusher" fiasco - but it does lead to embarrassing scenes like this
I SWEAR ITS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE LINDA-CHAN (■`ω´■)
Slowdown: I suspect MAME et al get it wrong, at least in the footage I've seen on YT. Lots of chugging with only a couple enemies onscreen, even worse than AC DDI. The ACA version only starts struggling with four, or three and a giant (end of Mission 2 is a trouble spot, if you don't clear the elevator thugs out pronto). PCB footage looks a lot nearer to ACA than MAME. Anyway, I'm happy with the ACA's performance, however accurate it is.
Although this is a decisive cut above DDI AC, there are still a few nicks:
*Like seemingly all Technos brawlers, AC and console alike, it suffers from screen edge riding - only here, enemies are lightning-quick, and HP is cruelly limited. Hard memo needed in a couple spots, to avoid instant knives and shovels to the face. The shovel-wielding Williams immediately after the Mission 3 harvester is the biggie.
*I've no idea how the Mission 4 wall works. Come to think of it, I don't know if my edge-walking strategy is even needed. That whole section, mercifully brief as it may be, irks me more than all of FC DDI, DDII and DDIII's platforming combined. 80% of the time I get through unscathed, but HP is critically important in that stage, and getting hit feels like being pickpocketed.
*Evading the Doppelganger's ridiculously powerful Shun Goku Satsu (~50% HP) seemed a total lottery at first. I
seem to have happened upon a reliable dodge - staying on your line as he teleports away, waiting a split-second, then executing neutral Tatsumakis seems to work consistently for me. Even now though, I'm not certain. At a few points in this replay, I whiff the Tatsu but escape anyway... maybe the jump timing is more important. It's a shame we couldn't get something better-designed, like DDIII FC's tense final duel, with these much sharper controls.
I'll always love this fight on a conceptual level. One of the most intense yet bitterly un-celebratory final duels I've seen in an action game, complemented by a black-ice rendition of perennial Technos standout Kazunaka Yamane's
"WICKED GOD."
"DOUBLE DRAGON AGAIN!!" Hell yeah.

An encore to surpass what went before.
A few run notes:
*Enemy wave design is very much left up to the player. There's nothing stopping you from fighting Mission 4's collective gangs all-in, instead of dismantling them as shown. I don't know how viable it would be, though. HP and time are both cruelly tight in this stage, and Willy plus a pair of Chins seems like a total clusterfuck. I'm going to experiment with more aggressive play, maybe it's something for more expert players. Slowdown also becomes an issue with two Abores onscreen.
*My Willy takedown is typically a lot cleaner

Usually he doesn't get any hits in, though they're at least relatively weak. Real danger is letting him back up and shoot you for ~90% HP.
*Linda's lack of "stagger" state make her the most annoying regular enemy in the game. Like herding cats, if a pair gets loose at the M2 boss.
Randorama wrote:
I have come to the conclusion that Double Dragon II is a much more varied game than the first chapter (OK, OK, advance is much better, but it was published 16 years afterwards). It makes sense to actually use the full move set, rather than only the elbow attack. What is the consensus, 30 years onwards?
Sorry this took so long, Rando.

Definitely a lot more variety and technique in DDII. Even the handful of occasions where the Elbow comes into play, it's strictly as a precision poke (Mission 2 & 4 Abore, Mission 3's double Burnovs).
I would also say DDII retains its own niche in the series, even alongside DD Advance. It's got a vicious arcade difficulty and terseness that'll keep me coming back.
The K -> followup combo is itself very dominant in DDII, and the deadliest enemies are best dealt with by its safe shutdowns - but there's enough technique that it never feels stale. It's absolutely critical to master "late" kicks, versus Burnovs, Abores and the Doppelganger - executed early from off-axis, so you'll hit them with the absolute last frames, freeing up time to connect the Tatsumaki. If the former two duck the Tatsu, you're in a world of shit (~50% HP off the latter's shoulder charge

). If the latter teleports away, you've just needlessly extended a mortally dangerous final battle.
I tried out AC DDI briefly, and was surprised at how stubby your basic moves are - even the kick, something the FC version turned into a respectable poke (while instituting a cool pointblanking game for Chins and Bobos). To be honest, the Elbow Cheese seems almost legitimate, given the apparent lack of reliable alternatives. I'm gonna stick with it a bit, though - I already managed to get some fun out of it. That KO sample, goddamn - the zenith of digitised brawling pain.