An acid trip through the most unhinged side of game development. A project that seems to have come out of a feverish night of beers among friends, which somehow managed to become a reality. It's the most insane fighting game of all time, and its name is "Dong Dong Never Die". Get ready to be surprised.
I don't know how the story went, but I imagine it something like this: a bunch of Chinese friends partying, quite drunk and having a blast. At some point, one puts his tie on as a headband and starts shouting "Hadouken, Hadouken" while making Ryu's classic gesture. Another crazy guy gets excited, puts on some black glasses he had in his pocket and the first hat he finds, and starts fighting him as a joke, shouting some war cry. The other friends, who were watching, laughing out loud, drunk as they were, see in that ridiculous scene the perfect idea for the most delirious fighting game in the world. They promise to get to work the next day and keep drinking beers. Then, the unimaginable happened: that game was developed.
The translation of the original name "Dong Dong Never Die" would be "Dong Dong: The Immortal Legend", but - following the tradition of the Chinese bootleg - it was poorly translated and ended up sticking. The game's story is as schizophrenic as the rest and defies description. Suffice it to say that it all begins when Skynet sends Sheng Hua Nan, a super powerful Terminator, back in time to destroy the leader of the resistance. But Dong Dong, the John Connor of this fable, without wasting time, sends another reprogrammed Terminator to protect himself. Everything happens at the same moment a championship is about to decide the best fighter in all of China. FIGHT!
With 24 fighters in total, each crazier than the last, "Dong Dong Never Die" is a mix of Mortal Kombat (for its photorealistic pre-rendered graphics) and Street Fighter 2 (for its control scheme, stages, and characters). And there are fighters for all tastes, all deranged no matter how you look at them. Each character is modeled after one of the friends from the development team, dressed up with things you can find in any home and which, in context, make this game a true visual hallucination.
For the rest, and contrary to what you might expect, "Dong Dong Never Die" is a game with unusual polish, especially for an independent, free-distribution production (possibly developed in M.U.G.E.N). The stages are animated and parodic, built with a charming collage of moving photographs; many of the songs that accompany the action are remixes of all-time classics (and those that aren't are completely insane), and the controls are fluid and super responsive, making controlling the characters a pleasure. Also, there's a good balance between fighters, each with several specials (very crazy) and two super powers to execute when the power bar allows.
For all that has been said, "Dong Dong Never Die" is the best example of not judging a book by its cover. If you just think these guys are delusional, you'll miss out. Because yes, clearly the ones who made this game are unhinged, as unhinged as they are talented and persevering. Because "Dong Dong Never Die" is an excellent fighting game that breaks the mold in presentation, but keeps the spirit and mechanics of the genre intact. Anyone who has touched any game of the style before can get a handle on the controls in seconds and start honing their skills match after match. It has an online mode, but configuring it can be a headache. Good luck with that! In any case, you can play with a friend on the same PC, so better to encourage human presence.
You want to play it, right? And yes! Click here to download the full package (or here if you're scared to go to UptoDown, though this version reports errors). Then you just need to unzip it, go into the GAME folder and click on "GAME.exe". The move list is in a giant JPG in the root folder, with many Chinese characters. Enjoy it!
