Bad Dudes is a 1988 arcade game by Data East. The full official name of the game is Bad Dudes Vs. Dragon Ninja, but the latter part is almost always dropped since the marquee and title screen for the game de-emphasized it (it was in a much smaller font). The game was simply known as Dragon Ninja in Japan. The game is a scrolling fighter typical of the genre and era.

Overview

"Rampant ninja related crimes these days... Whitehouse is not the exception..." Thus started the game's ominous intro.

Bad Dudes puts players in the shoes of two street smart brawlers bent on saving "President Ronnie" (Ronald Reagan) from a notorious gang of "Dragon ninjas." The player must battle their way past hordes of ninjas who have kidnapped the President. The game is separated into levels, each of which contains a boss to be defeated.

Description

The game is typical of the genre, with up to two heroes featured at once. The player uses a combination of kicks, punches and jumping to defeat the enemies. Each level contains a boss that needs to be defeated to progress to the next level. At the successful completion of each level, the dude(s) strike a "bad" pose and proclaim, "I'm bad!"

Along the way, the player will come across several power-ups. Some are weapons, such as nunchaku and knives. Some recharge a player's health, such as a soda. Yet others add a few seconds to the remaining time.

The various types of enemies encountered in the game have their own special means of attack. The normal ninjas directly charge the player, while some jump, throw star-darts or appear out of thin air and drop on the player. A few of them set themselves on fire and charge the Bad Dudes. The level bosses also have special attacks. One, for example, can breath fire at the player.

This game allows for two players to play cooperatively simultaneously.

The cabinet for this game is a standard upright. The controls consist of an 8-way joystick and two buttons. One button is used for jumping, the other for attacking (sometimes just taking action, like picking up a power-up).

After saving the President, Reagan appears in the Oval Office and delivers this line:

"Hey Dudes Thanks, for rescuing me, Lets go for a burger... Ha ha ha ha!"

Ports

The game was ported to several home systems for personal use. Bad Dudes was ported to the Apple II, Atari ST, Amiga, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and DOS in 1988. In 1989 it was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System.

The NES version of the game used the compact name "Bad Dudes" without the "Dragon Ninja" addition, while the home computer versions were named the other way around ("Dragon Ninja" only).

The 8-bit versions (including the NES one) lacked the 2-player cooperative mode; if the players started a 2-player game, both players would take turns playing, switching when one lost a life.

The NES introduction to the game was phrased slightly differently:

"The President has been kidnapped by Ninjas. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the President?"

Also, in that version, the President did not resemble Reagan at all.

The home computer versions lacked the intro from either the arcade or the NES versions.

Trivia

• The game acquired cult status based on its tongue-in-cheek scenario, including a zany introduction by a Secret Service agent:

"President Ronnie has been kidnapped by the Ninjas. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue Ronnie?"

External links

• The KLOV entry on the game
• MobyGames' entry on the home versions of the game