Double Dungeons
System: TG-16
Release Date: July 1990
Developer: NCS
Publisher: NEC
Genre: RPG
Dive into the dungeons to solve many quests in Double Dungeons! Have you ever played a game that you really didn’t care for, then turned around and played another game in the same category that hit all the buttons that had been missed? That’s what has happened here. Delve into the dungeon to solve 21 scenarios to unlock the final test. And if you want to bring a friend, do it!
You start be choosing any one of the 21 different scenarios available. They all follow the same format. Go into the dungeon, walk around, fight enemies, level up, upgrade your weapons, find a key, fight the boss. Your time will be spent mapping the dungeon and finding what enemies you’re not going to be able to kill. Then you run around fighting slimes and greater enemies as you get stronger. Enemies respawn based on the amount of time that has passed and stay in their specific square.
At first, I tried fighting stronger enemies by walking up to them, pressing Button I to attack, and backing off before they could hit me. I was expecting I needed the combat waltz to win. After hacking at a snake for a really long time, I realized they regenerate when you walk away and come back. Therefore, if you’re only doing one damage and they’re doing twenty, you’re not strong enough, yet. Weaker enemies aren’t of any consequence and they sometimes drop a healing item.
Dying dumps you back at the beginning of the dungeon. You get to keep your level, but your gold is reset back to zero and you only have 24 HP. If you get too low on HP, you can find an Inn to rest at for the steep price of 100 gold. Or you can fight off weak enemies until you get enough apples or bread to refuel, or even a level up will restore most of your health.
There is a little prologue to each dungeon, giving you the reason for being there. There are two steps to defeating every scenario. First, you need to find the unicorn key. This opens up the way to the boss of the level. Bosses hit hard and have a lot of HP, so it’s best to be ready for them. Charging in with a refresh potion or two is probably a great idea. Winning the battle gives you the epilogue and a character for the password to unlock the final dungeon. Choosing the next scenario starts you back off at level one and has you run the process all over again.
Graphics: 2.0
The graphics are adequate. The actual dungeon crawling is kept to one quarter of the screen and doesn’t look bad.
Sound: 2.0
Music is subdued and sound effects give you feedback on whether you’ve hit or missed.
Gameplay: 2.5
It’s speedy and you are given multiple styles of feedback to keep you interested.
Difficulty: 2.0
You build your strength by fighting through the dungeon, but you have to start over every new scenario you start, so it’s a lot of the same.
Fun Factor: 2.0
I enjoyed myself. This is more of what I want from a dungeon crawler.
Overall Rating: 2.1
Double Dungeons earns a C. I liked this game enough to play through a couple dungeons. I don’t know if I could stick through all 22, but maybe I would have in 1990.