Clarifying the Abobo and Bolo mix-up
Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 1:22 am
I know it's strange to bring this up after all this time, but I really never found an official source confirming the names of the enemy characters in the arcade version of the first Double Dragon outside the KLOV entry for the game and as some of you may know, KLOV features mostly user-submitted information, so the accuracy of any info they may have is often debatable without a source to back it up (essentially KLOV is the IMDB of arcade games). As a result, I've never been able to confirm the name of the black mohawked head swap of Abobo featured exclusively in that version.
The flyers for the arcade version don't mention any of the enemy characters' names, so unless they were published in a Japanese gaming mag (such as Gamest or Famitsu) back during the game's release, I doubt Technos actually even released an enemy list for the arcade version. The earliest known instance of Technos publishing the names of the characters was in the cassette version of the arranged soundtrack Original Sound of Double Dragon released on February 1988 (two months prior to the Famicom version). The cassette included a fold-out poster that has a commentary by Mr. Kishimoto, along with the game's plot and character descriptions. The strange thing is that even though the soundtrack is based on the arcade version (and the plot blurb is written to reflect this), the character descriptions are the same ones (more or less) that were featured in the promotional flyer for the Famicom version (as well as in the actual game's manual). It lacked the head-swapped bosses from the arcade version, but it lists Chin Taimei an enemy made up for the Famicom version (with the same illustrations for all the characters). The only difference is that it describes Jimmy Lee as a good guy, taking into account his role as Player 2 in the arcade version. It seems Apollon was never given any character descriptions for the arcade version and used the Famicom version for reference.
To add more confusion, the game's boss theme (a tune from the arcade version that never made it to the Famicom version) is listed in the track list under the title "Abobo the Giant Appears" (大男アボボ登場), implying that "Abobo" is one of the bosses. Either way, it's an odd title to choose, since the tune is also played when the player confronts Jeff at the end of Mission 2. Speaking of which, since the fold-out poster doesn't accurately reflect the enemy roster from the arcade version, the first time the name "Jeff" was ever mentioned was in the manual for the Sega Mark III version (released on October 1988). Since this port was published by Sega and not Technos, it's possible the name "Jeff" may had been made up by them to cover up any discrepancies. The Mark III version doesn't feature the Mr. T-like giant though, and instead the game simply recolors the bald Abobo in different skin colors.
Either way, the name "Bolo" never appears in any version of the first Double Dragon. It was only given to the hippie-haired version of Abobo who appears in Double Dragon II: The Revenge, at least according to the Famicom version's manual (released on December 1989). The Mega Drive port of the arcade version (released on December 1991) lists Bolo as "Abobo", but I don't know if this is a reflection of the arcade version's original intention (since the Famicom version might as well had be a different game) or a screw-up by Pal Soft (the game's publisher). Bolo's head-swap in the game is referred as "Oharra" in the manual and "Oharra" goes better with "Bolo" than "Abobo" (since they're both names of Mr. Han's henchmen in Enter the Dragon). Coincidentally, "Jeff" is the only enemy from the arcade version not in the Mega Drive port.
The confusion was likely caused by the Apollon soundtrack's track listing and by the enemy list in the Mega Drive port of II. While Bolo does fit in with the Enter the Dragon naming pattern of the characters better than Abobo, Kishimoto makes no mention of "Bolo" when he speaks about the original game (he only speaks about Lee, Williams and Roper). Either way, the head-swapped enemies were never officially named by Technos and it's possible that the other characters were only named while the Famicom version was being developed.
The flyers for the arcade version don't mention any of the enemy characters' names, so unless they were published in a Japanese gaming mag (such as Gamest or Famitsu) back during the game's release, I doubt Technos actually even released an enemy list for the arcade version. The earliest known instance of Technos publishing the names of the characters was in the cassette version of the arranged soundtrack Original Sound of Double Dragon released on February 1988 (two months prior to the Famicom version). The cassette included a fold-out poster that has a commentary by Mr. Kishimoto, along with the game's plot and character descriptions. The strange thing is that even though the soundtrack is based on the arcade version (and the plot blurb is written to reflect this), the character descriptions are the same ones (more or less) that were featured in the promotional flyer for the Famicom version (as well as in the actual game's manual). It lacked the head-swapped bosses from the arcade version, but it lists Chin Taimei an enemy made up for the Famicom version (with the same illustrations for all the characters). The only difference is that it describes Jimmy Lee as a good guy, taking into account his role as Player 2 in the arcade version. It seems Apollon was never given any character descriptions for the arcade version and used the Famicom version for reference.
To add more confusion, the game's boss theme (a tune from the arcade version that never made it to the Famicom version) is listed in the track list under the title "Abobo the Giant Appears" (大男アボボ登場), implying that "Abobo" is one of the bosses. Either way, it's an odd title to choose, since the tune is also played when the player confronts Jeff at the end of Mission 2. Speaking of which, since the fold-out poster doesn't accurately reflect the enemy roster from the arcade version, the first time the name "Jeff" was ever mentioned was in the manual for the Sega Mark III version (released on October 1988). Since this port was published by Sega and not Technos, it's possible the name "Jeff" may had been made up by them to cover up any discrepancies. The Mark III version doesn't feature the Mr. T-like giant though, and instead the game simply recolors the bald Abobo in different skin colors.
Either way, the name "Bolo" never appears in any version of the first Double Dragon. It was only given to the hippie-haired version of Abobo who appears in Double Dragon II: The Revenge, at least according to the Famicom version's manual (released on December 1989). The Mega Drive port of the arcade version (released on December 1991) lists Bolo as "Abobo", but I don't know if this is a reflection of the arcade version's original intention (since the Famicom version might as well had be a different game) or a screw-up by Pal Soft (the game's publisher). Bolo's head-swap in the game is referred as "Oharra" in the manual and "Oharra" goes better with "Bolo" than "Abobo" (since they're both names of Mr. Han's henchmen in Enter the Dragon). Coincidentally, "Jeff" is the only enemy from the arcade version not in the Mega Drive port.
The confusion was likely caused by the Apollon soundtrack's track listing and by the enemy list in the Mega Drive port of II. While Bolo does fit in with the Enter the Dragon naming pattern of the characters better than Abobo, Kishimoto makes no mention of "Bolo" when he speaks about the original game (he only speaks about Lee, Williams and Roper). Either way, the head-swapped enemies were never officially named by Technos and it's possible that the other characters were only named while the Famicom version was being developed.