Showing posts with label Double Dragon & Super Off Road for Genesis print ad (1992). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Double Dragon & Super Off Road for Genesis print ad (1992). Show all posts

Monday, January 26, 2015

Double Dragon & Super Off Road for Genesis (1992)

Double Dragon & Super Off Road advertisment
Original ad published in the March 1992 edition of GamePro. 
Press to view or download image in higher resolution.

Super Off Road and Double Dragon where two very popular arcade games during the late 80's that were ported to different home consoles, most famously the NES. The Sega Genesis versions of these two carts, published by Ballistic (an Accolade label) came out much later to little fanfare.

The problem with these games was that slightly inferior versions had been widely played by kids with their Nintendo consoles. Double Dragon had been mashing buttons on the 8-bit console since 1988. Yes, it featured no co-op mode and inferior graphics compared to the arcades, but the experience was there, right in your living room (Double Dragon II. The Revenge [1990] would address these issues and become equally famous on the NES). 

The Genesis version, available  four years after the NES cartridge was a more faithful port in both the graphical and gameplay departments, but little else. 

This time-period coincided with big Hollywood flicks starring ultra macho representations of men, like Stallone, Arnie, Van Damme and Chuck Norris. Video game publishers took note of this tendency and released lots of beat-em-ups to ride the wave. Off the top of my head, I'm thinking of Bad Dukes, Streets of Rage and, of course, Final Fight. 



Super Off Road had been playable one year prior on the NES and there was little if no advantage on the Genesis version of the game. It was a solid arcade game, most famous for the steering wheel and gas pedal combo you had to master to achieve any sort of success. On home consoles, this experience was lost. Radio controlled cars were very popular at the time, so maybe Accolade figured they'd find some tangential market if they released it on Sega's machine. 

The print ad itself is very generic. Its only redeemable feature is that it represents a tendency of the era: more than one game advertised on the same page. Taxan and other companies would do the same in these pre multi-million budget era of gaming. 




And here's Super Off Road on the Genesis.




Double Dragon & Super Off Road for Genesis copy:

Rock ’n Roll 
Rock around a dirt track with Super Off-Road! 
Roll with the villains’ punches in Double Dragon! You’ll find all the action you can handle when you bring these two Arcade Blockbusters home to play on your Sega Genesis!
  • Super Off Road separates the men from the boys. And the boys from their lunch. These babies burn nitro. And rubber. And other computer off-roaders if you’re good enough. This Blockbuster game has 32 course configurations. Plus big-time obstacles like oil pits, sand hills, pot holes and rock pillars.

  • Double Dragon is a chilling challenge. Rat infested slums. Your girl kidnapped. And that’s not Mom heading your way. Meet the Shadow Boss. Evil. Tough. Hangs around with a gang of Ninja warrior. They’ve got a hobby. Terminating you. Tor survive you must master special Ninja fighting techniques. Like four types of kicks and three types of punches.

Arcade Blockbusters 
They’re the only way to Rock ’n Roll