Yeah, having a run ruined by the platforming can be pretty frustrating.

I  had a run yesterday where I made it to the end (in terms of "combat deaths") and all my deaths were just stupid platformer errors.

Haven't quite repeated that since, though, and for some reason I just can't get consistent execution out of the spin kick (even though I know how it works)... beating the game with all uppercuts is really going to hurt my score


(and then, of course, there is the Level 7 Burnov on the disappearing floor... I prefer to give him one good knee slam to launch him onto the spikes... doing so "costs" 2500 possible points, though, I'm not convinced there is enough time to cyclone kick him to death, even if you could under other circumstances)

I'd really like to see a scoring table. I've been making mental checkpoints at the end of each level to make sure that I'm on pace to have a shot at the TG record, but I haven't actually wrote anything down relating to the potential max score for each level.

That sounds pretty good to me, especially for the first full day of playing!  I'm not that great at combat yet so I have some catching up to do, which I figured on anyway given both my lack of experience and lack of prowess on beat-em-ups.

I have problems consistently doing the spin kick too.  Most of the time just isn't good enough!    Uppercuts are way easier for me and I'm still figuring out when I can do them so that it doesn't hurt my score.

Also I believe the platforming errors will go away later in the week just due to repetition.

I get the feeling that I am going to have to try the hardest this week in our Tier just to stay out of last place, haha.

I'm definitely going to be interested how the final scoring shakes out.

CLAYB1RD's score from the last time the contest happens, is around the pace for a "pure uppercuts" game, so no telling what special move distribution he actually used.

At some level, I'm going to be happy if I can make it to the clone in 1 life, since that is no joke, on its own.
But I also realize that may not be good enough, since we have no idea what BriGuy's skills are on this one (and it is REALLY hard to judge from past beat-em-ups), and if you click with it, at my current level of play I might be screwed


Definitely going to be an exciting week.
(and kind of an amusing one from the standpoint that the DD2 MONSTERS are clearly in the lower tiers -- at least we showed 'em who was boss on pinball)

^^^ Hahaha, you got that right!

I'm as dedicated as anyone to get the best possible score I can this week. So even if I'm just purely not as good as everyone else on DD2 I'm not planning on making it easy for anyone either.

And because I like making excuses, I played last night on my Retro Duo Portable hooked up to the upstairs TV, so perhaps I will be even better off when I start playing on the actual NES.

My best game so far was actually on an emulator, since i think I was getting more precise key presses than with the controller.

After I map out the scoring chart, I'm going to go console-only though, since I think it is hurting my timing on the real-deal.

Yeah I think emulator would be in between for me. I have a USB-modded SNES controller for my PC that I imagine would help with precision.

Once you adapt to using a mechanical keyboard, that is about as tight as it gets.

Haha yeah this happened to me a couple times during some practice runs, I forget how close the water really is

Any idea what your typical score is at the end of Mission 4?

Just want to see how accurate my score table is, so far.

Not off hand. I normally use the mansion of terror as my benchmark since I need to have a little over 100k by the end of the level to have a shot at finishing with a 160k+ score. I'll probably play a few times this evening so I'll try to remember to write it down.

OK.

Based on my score tables, I am seeing 161k as a "100% Cyclone-kick" game top score.
Anything above that number means some extra kicks and punches were thrown in.

Pure uppercuts will give you 133k total
Pure flying knees will give you just under 94k total.


By the end of Level 6, a "perfect" cyclone game is 105k, based on my calculations.

Score Table (for those interested in when it is safe to do uppercuts and knees):

Enemy Quantities
Level	Williams	Ropers	Ropers (b)	Ropers ©	Roper(d)	Linda	Boxers	Boxers(b)	ChinTai	Burnov	Burnov(2)	Ninja	Abobo	Simon	Clone	Master
1	13	6				6				1	1
2	2	4	4			2	2					2
3	3						2						2
4	3	3				6	2						1	1
5		3	4	3	1	6	2		2				2	1
6							3		3
7	3		4	3			1	2	2	1	1			1
8							3		3			4	2	1	1	1

		Cyclones ONLY
Level	TOTAL	Subtotal	Williams	Ropers	Ropers (b)	Ropers ©	Roper(d)	Linda	Boxers	Boxers(b)	ChinTai	Burnov	Burnov(2)	Ninja	Abobo	Simon	Clone	Master
1	25000	25000	13000	6000				3000				2000	1000
2	42000	17000	2000	4000	4000			2000	2000					3000
3	50000	8000	3000						2000						3000
4	69500	19500	4500	3000				6000	2000						2000	2000
5	97500	28000		3000	4000	3000	500	6000	2000		4000				3000	2500
6	105000	7500							4500		3000
7	130000	25000	4500		6000				1000	5000	2000	2000	1000			3500
8	161000	31000							4500		3000			6000	3000	2000	4500	8000

		Uppercuts ONLY
Level		TOTAL	Williams	Ropers	Ropers (b)	Ropers ©	Roper(d)	Linda	Boxers	Boxers(b)	ChinTai	Burnov	Burnov(2)	Ninja	Abobo	Simon	Clone	Master
1	17500	17500	6500	6000				3000				1500	500
2	32500	15000	1000	4000	4000			2000	2000					2000
3	40500	8000	3000						2000						3000
4	58500	18000	3000	3000				6000	2000						2000	2000
5	83000	24500		3000	4000	3000	500	3000	2000		4000				3000	2000
6	89000	6000							3000		3000
7	108000	19000	3000		4000				1000	4000	2000	1500	500			3000
8	133000	25000							3000		3000			4000	3000	2000	3500	6500

		Knees ONLY
Level		TOTAL	Williams	Ropers	Ropers (b)	Ropers ©	Roper(d)	Linda	Boxers	Boxers(b)	ChinTai	Burnov	Burnov(2)	Ninja	Abobo	Simon	Clone	Master
1	14000	14000	6500	3000				3000				1000	500
2	23000	9000	1000	2000	2000			1000	1000					2000
3	27500	4500	1500						1000						2000
4	39000	11500	3000	1500				3000	1000						1500	1500
5	55000	16000		1500	2000	1500	500	3000	1000		3000				2000	1500
6	59500	4500							3000		1500
7	74500	15000	3000		4000				500	3000	1000	1000	500			2000
8	93500	19000							3000		1500			4000	2000	1500	2500	4500

The numbers in bold represent where the uppercuts are worth the same amount as killing with cyclone kicks. (didn't bother to highlight the knees since there are only two places where they "pay" the same as cyclones, and maybe 6 or 8 places where they score as well as uppercuts)


The "subtotal" column is how much each level is worth.

The "total" column is a running total at the end of the level, for pacing purposes.

That sounds about right. I had 104k at the end of Level 6 during my second run yesterday and I would have finished with 160k if I hadn't died during the Shadow Boss fight.

I'll keep that chart handy when I play later and see if I find any differences, but based on the bolded enemies, I'm pretty sure it's 100% correct. Thanks for posting it, that's some great research!

Wow.  This might be the most informative post ever seen on NA.

The table could use visible borders and consistent alignment for better clarity.  Without trying it I imagine this would copy nicely into Excel though.

It copied FROM Excel in the first place.

I didn't have table boundaries set to solid in the spreadsheet.
I will update the original post with a cleaner set.


EDIT:  well, looks like it won't import the table lines, just like it didn't import the color-coding or text properties.

I could take a set of screenshots, instead, I guess.

It's way easier to follow than the enemy HP chart on GameFAQs for sure. Having the enemies bolded where the cyclone kicks/uppercuts do the same damage is a huge help.

Went back and updated the table.

The flying knee table now has the two bold blocks, and all of the parts where knees and uppercuts are worth the same are "plain" text, with the places knees are worth least in italics.

This was my favorite beat 'em up as a kid. I owned 2 copies of this game back then, one I kept at my mom's house and one I kept at my dad's house. I clearly remember beating this game and was proud because I hadn't been able to beat Double Dragon 1 to that point. With that being said, I haven't played this game in any depth in about 20 years. Plus, I sure as hell wasn't playing for a high score back then either. Kicking mofos off buildings and through helicopter doors was the way to go. So we'll see what happens...  

Yup... it is definitely a big change of tactics to try and keep guys ON the ledge and IN the helicopter :/

That scoring table is pretty cool, thanks for posting that Arch. I really liked your analysis of Rollerball as well, I thought it was spot on. Good luck to you and everyone else this week!

I've been staring at this table all day trying to figure out how I came up with a max score (assuming all cyclone kicks) of 162k-163k when the table says 161k. Apparently I counted an extra cyclone kick for the two Chintai on level 5 (I wasn't sure about that one) and the two boxers on level 7 (I thought I had that one right). I'm getting ready to play so I'll use the chart and see how my scores match up.

Score updated, new record. I think I'm done for the week.