| Official Blurb
Bond is back. In his biggest challenge yet he
must face all of his old adversaries, in a race
to save the world.
Mad Professor Gravemar has attacked a top
secret international satellite launch centre
on a remote island in the Caribbean. Having
taken control of the scientists he has set to
work building satellites which he plans to launch
into space on a shuttle, in order to take over
the world. To foil Bond's attempt to stop him,
the desperately mad Gravemar has built a cloning
machine which he's used to reproduce all of
Bond's old enemies.
Hostages are being held on the island as a
human shield, and the Professor has numerous
guards with instructions to shoot to kill. Never
before has Bond had to face such deadly opposition.
In this mission Bond must rescue the hostages
and destroy the mad Professor's establishment,
including the space shuttle launch centre, be
locating and planting bombs in strategic positions.
Q has managed to plant special weapons (Q Cases)
in various locations on the island, but Bond
will need all his skills to succeed this time...
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Above: Reverse box art
for the Sega Megadrive / Genesis version.
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History
"James Bond 007: The Duel" was released
on 14th August 1993 by a company named Domark - named
after it's founders whose names were Dominic and Mark.
The company no longer exists after it was bought
out along with United States Gold & Core design
and became part of the Eidos video game company which
still exists today.
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Sega
Megadrive / Genesis introduction screenshots |
MI6 Review
Domark published a number of James Bond 007 licensed
games during the late 1980's ("A View To A Kill"
(1985), "The Living Daylights" (1987), "Live
And Let Die" (1988), "Licence To Kill"
(1989)) and into the early 1990's with "The Spy
Who Loved Me" (1990). 1993's "James Bond:
The Duel" was Domark's first attempt at an original
story line for a 007 game, but the last James Bond
licenced game to be produced by the company, and the
last 007 game for four long years until "GoldenEye
64" by Rare in 1997 shook the world.
Above: Sega Master System
Box Art |
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The game is split into five
levels (despite the back of the box claiming
only four!): island docks, jungle, volcano,
space shuttle, and escape. "The Duel"
echoes the format of Domark's previous game,
the spin-off "James Bond Jnr" platform
romp released in 1992, with more of the same
jumping, ducking and shooting action. Although
this time with "The Duel", it's the
real 007 in a stylish tuxedo. This genre of
platform shoot-em-up would soon become a tired
format due to movie tie-in games of the era
often cashing in on the lazy development choice.
Top talent behind some of Domark's earlier
Bond games were back - Paul Margrave, Chris
West, Tony West and Matt Furniss creating the
music again.
The concept of using past villains from Bond
films, resurrected thanks to the villains cloning
device, would be echoed in the 2004 title "GoldenEye:
Rogue Agent" by EA Games - which also brought
back past favourites with a healthy dose of
creative licence. As with it's modern cousin,
"The Duel" fails to capitalise on
the idea and the likes of Jaws and Oddjob fail
to make a real impact.
It is the repetition of the objectives that
spoil "The Duel". Each level is comprised
of rescuing the Bond Girl hostages, finding
the bomb, arming the bomb, placing the bomb
and escaping the level. This is fine for the
first level, but by the fourth and penultimate
mission it becomes tiresome.
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The game is solid thought, with few noticeable glitches
and no bugs that spoil gameplay - a far cry from Domark's
first 007 outing "A View To A Kill".
Graphically, "The Duel" makes good use
of the Megadrive / Genesis palette and char maps,
with nice bright and bold scenery. This game is in
no terms meant to be realistic, and shades of "James
Bond Jnr" cartoon seep through with the comic
strip style adopted by the artists. Needless to say,
the game is far more impressive on the 16-bit Megadrive
/ Genesis platform compared to it's 8-bit Master System
predecessor.
Gameplay is relatively straight forward, and due
to the repetitive objectives, not that inspiring either.
Many enemies can be dispatched simply by running,
ducking and shooting. This is a far cry from the excellent
"Licence To Kill" produced by the same team
only four years earlier.
As usual for a Domark game, Matt Furniss makes listening
to the game a pleasurable experience, especially considering
the limitations of the technology, with faithful renditions
of familiar cues.
On the whole, the game works quite well within the
limitations of the platform shoot-em-up genre the
developers ring fenced their creativity within. The
game is quite polished, although lack of depth and
replay value detract from the positives including
the bold graphics and slick presentation.
Viewed within the era that "James Bond 007:
The Duel" was released, Domark ended their run
of 007 games on a slightly flat note, although it
is difficult to apportion much blame for the platform
genre on the developers, as it was the de facto style
for movie tie-in games of that era.
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Sega
Megadrive / Genesis screenshots |
Manual
| Level 1
The action beings as Bond jetpacks onto the
supply ship unloading at the islands docks.
You have to find and rescue the hostages, eliminate
the Professor's guards, locate and set the bomb
to destroy the ship's flight deck and face an
old enemy, Jaws, in order to escape. But be
careful, there's only a limited amount of time
until the bomb explodes, and if you're still
on the level, you will die.
Level 2
Having neutralized the Professor's supply ship
you must make your way through the jungle where
the satellite receiving station is hidden. The
evil voodoo doctor, Bones, will thwart your
attempts to storm the station. You must, of
course, free the hostages before you can set
the bomb and then find the entrance to level
3, the underground power plant.
Level 3
Inside the volcano the mad Professor Gravemar
has engineered a volcanic heat exchange reactor.
You must negotiate the corridors, avoiding the
molten lava, scale the outside of the reactor,
and reach the top to set the bomb and make your
way to level 4, the shuttle launch pad, beware
of Yoyo on your way.
Level 4
Your objective is to destroy the space shuttle,
in this most difficult level. Odd Job and the
guards are not your only obstacles as you must
negotiate the searing heat from the shuttle's
engines. Once the hostages are rescued and the
shuttle is destroyed, Bond's mission is complete...
almost... now you must escape from the island.
Level 5
Jaws, you arch enemy is back and makes a last
desperate attempt to kill you. Only if you manage
to defeat Jaws this time will you be able to
escape to safety.
Good luck James! |
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Above: Screenshots for the 8-bit Sega Master
System version.
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Sega
Megadrive / Genesis screenshots |
Controls
D-Button: Press LEFT or RIGHT to face Bond in different
directions. Press DOWN or UP to kneel or stand up.
Standby doorway and press UP to hide in doorway.
Button A: Press to jump - press A plus the directional
button (D-Button) to jump in another direction.
Button B: Press to shoot - hold down for automatic
shooting. Press B plus the directional button to shoot
in another direction.
Button C: Press to throw grenade (if you have one).
Start Button: Press to start the game. Press to pause
the game.
Scores
250 Bullet hit on enemy vehicle
250 Pick up ammo clip
2500 Kill enemy guard
5000 Kill Yoyo/Bones/Odd Job
10000 Collect Q Case
10000 Collect bomb
15000 Kill Jaws
25000 Traversing submarine
25000 Rescue hostage
25000 Place bomb
50000 Destroy enemy vehicle
50000 Blow up objective
Walk Through
Level 1
Bond Girls: Three
Boss: Jaws
Start off the level by going down the
ladder that Bond is currently blocking.
Once you are down the ladder, move across
the platform, kill the guard, and rescue
the Bond girl. One down, two to go. Go
back to where you started the level and
take the ladder up and kill the guard.
At the end of the platform, there is another
Bond girl. Two down, one to go. Go down
the ladder directly below you and kill
the guard. If there is not a guard there,
wait until he appears. He will probably
appear from the right. After he is killed,
proceed down the stairs. Continue to move
across the level until you come to a ladder
that goes downward. Go down the ladder
and kill the guard that patrols the place.
Move across the platform and go up the
ladder. Get used to down ladders, killing
a guard or two, and then going up another
one. It occurs throughout the entire game.
When you get to a second ladder that goes
downward, go down, and you will be on
a boat. Before you jump onto the next
boat, first kill the guard that is running
around on it. Move to the third boat and
climb the ladder up. Kill a guard if you
see one and then climb the ladder that
is directly to the right of the ladder
you just climbed. Kill the guard on top.
Move to the left until you come to a gap
between the platforms. Kill the guard
on the other side of the platform and
jump across. Like the boats, move to the
third platform and climb up the ladder.
Move across the platform and climb yet
another ladder. To the left, you will
see the last Bond girl you need to rescue.
However, do not rescue her yet. Kill the
guard that is patrolling the area and
move to the right of the screen. When
you see a ladder that moves down, climb
it down.
You will see the bomb, but you cannot
disarm it yet. To disarm it, you need
to find the last Bond girl who was mentioned
just a few sentences ago in this walkthrough.
Although, if you did rescue the Bond girl,
then disarm the bomb, you would have a
minute to kill Jaws (Which takes about
30 seconds) and the last 30 seconds to
get to your exit. (This takes about 40
seconds). Move across the platform, jump
onto another platform, and kill the guard.
Wait until a platform that moves up and
down to appear, and then jump on it. When
you get to the bottom, jump off. Now,
you are almost ready to face Jaws. Kill
the two guards that are patrolling the
area at the top of the stairs and you
will encounter Jaws. From your position
on the stairwell, shoot him as he comes
to you, and continue to do this until
he is dead. Jaws will only patrol the
top of the staircase and not move downward.
Jaws was kind of disappointing wasn't
he? Just a simple choking attack move...no
infamous bite to the neck. Now, move back
to where you found the last Bond girl.
Rescue the last Bond girl, go to the bomb,
and arm it by simply walking over it.
Go back to where you fought Jaws. Move
across the platform where Jaws used to
be and get on the platform that moves
up and down. When you get to the bottom,
kill the guard, and go into the submarine.
Level 2
Bond Girls: Seven
Boss: Baron Samedi & Tank
Start off the level by jumping across
the pit and walking right until you come
into the bunker complex. Climb the ladders
upward until you come to the top. Kill
the guard and get to Bond girl to the
left of the room. Now, exit the bunker
complex and go back to the pit you jumped
over when you started the level. To the
right of the pit, there are some branches.
Climb them. Whilst climbing them, stay
to the left of the screen. Eventually,
you will come to a vine that extends to
the left of the screen. Climb across the
vine but jumping on it, and continue to
the left of the screen. There will be
a Bond girl. As usual, rescue her. Now,
go back to the branches are and continue
to climb on the left side of the screen.
Eventually, you will see a ladder that
goes upward. Climb up the ladder, rescue
the Bond girl, and then climb back down.
Move slightly to the right until you are
on the right tree and climb upward. Go
to the right of the screen. If you see
a green ladder that goes upward, you are
going in the right direction. Continue
to the right of the screen and kill the
guard. Now, slowly proceed to the right.
When you see someone coming out of the
ground, duck by pressing down on your
control pad and press the fire button.
Shoot like crazy as Baron Samedi tries
to kill you but misses with all his saw-blades
because you're ducking down. Eventually,
he will explode. Continue to the right
side of the screen until the ground slowly
starts to go downward. When you see a
green ladder extending upward, go up the
ladder, and rescue yet another Bond girl.
Three to go. Climb down the ladder and
jump to the right side of the green. Slide
down the vine extending downward.
When you get to the end of the vine,
continue to the right side of the screen
and use the overhead log to cross the
pit. Continue to the right of the screen
and you will see a building-like place.
However, continue right and drop down
into the pit that you will see shortly.
To the left of this bunker is a Bond girl.
Rescue her. Now, go to the building-like
structure. Climb to the top and you will
face a tank-like vehicle. From a safe
position, fire upon the tank with your
pistol and grenades and eventually it
will retreat. However, it will come back
a few times before finally retreating
so be careful. When you get to the end
of the platform, you will see a machine
with green bubbles come out of it. Jump
onto the green bubbles and you will be
sent 10,000 feet into the air. Hopefully,
you will land on one of the branches.
If not, try again. Once you are on the
top branch, descend a bit and move slightly
to the right. Hopefully, you will see
the Bond girl with a patrolling guard.
Kill the guard and rescue her. Jump onto
the machine to the right of the Bond girl
and descend down. (Kneel and press the
jump button). Once you've finally descended
to the bottom move to the left (If you're
not near the hill, move to the right),
kill the guard, and rescue the girl. Now,
move to the right of the screen and climb
the hill. Eventually, you will come to
a pit. Wait for the moving platform and
move down. Do not bother climbing the
hill, it leads nowhere. When you get to
the bottom, go to the left to arm the
bomb. You only have fifteen seconds so
move fast. Quickly move to the right of
the screen killing guards as you go. Once
you kill about three guards and continue
moving, you will beat the level.
Level 3
Bond Girls: Four
Boss: Mayday
Use the platform to get to the bottom
floor. Rescue the Bond girl. Wait for
the platform to come back down and ride
it to the top. Go across the platform
until you come to another moving platform
that moves up and down. Use the platform
to go down to the bottom, go to the right
killing guards as you go, and at the very
end of the room, is another Bond girl.
Go back to the platform you saw when you
started the level and cross the pit and
move to the right until you come to a
river of lava. A moving platform will
move across the top of the screen, so
when it comes, jump onto it, and it will
carry you across the lava river. Once
you get to the other side, ride the moving
platform down to the bottom and continue
to the right side of the screen. Kill
the guard on the bottom and top platform
with grenades if you can - otherwise just
jump down to the bottom platform and kill
the guard. When you get there, on the
right edge of the platform there will
be another moving platform. Jump on it
and ride to the bottom. Here, you will
face Mayday. Like all the other bosses,
just shoot her a few times, she will die,
and collect the energy heart. Drop down
one level by crouching and pressing your
jump button. Move to the right and you
will see another moving platform at the
top. Grab onto it and ride it all the
way to the right. Kill the guard and descend
the ladder to find and rescue a Bond girl.
Ride the platform back to the left side
of the screen. Drop down one more level
and move to the left whilst jumping over
the holes. When you get to the platform
with the ladder descending, wait for the
moving platform at the top and ride it
to the top. As usual, rescue the Bond
girl. Run over to the left side of the
screen until you get to the elevator that
goes to about four different places. Ride
the platform up one level and you are
back where you first started the mission.
Go to the right side of the screen, cross
the lava river via the moving platform
at the top, move down the platform, move
to the right, and you will be back where
you saw the two ledges and the two guards
patrolling them. Move down to the bottom
platform the guard is patrolling and use
the pipes and ladders, and the moving
platform to get to the top of the structure
that looks like a tower. Guarding the
bomb, will be four or five rotating circle
things that will attack you if you get
on the platform that has the bomb on it.
From the left edge of your moving platform,
destroy the turrets using either your
pistol bullets or grenades if you have
any. Eventually, half of them will explode
and about three will be left.
Level 4
Bond Girls: Five
Boss: Odd job
Keep taking the straightforward path
collecting Bond girls as you go until
you get to the multiple rockets. Find
a path that goes to the left and eventually
leads to two Bond girls and the bomb for
the level. After getting the Bond girls,
arming the bomb, go up the ladder, and
prepare to fight the boss. This boss is
actually quite challenging compared to
Jaws or Odd job. Throw a few grenades
on it and fire a few bullets on it and
it'll eventually blow up. Continue running
to the exit, and you'll beat the level.
Level 5
Bond Girls: None
Boss: Jaws
This level is very quick. Here you are
fighting Jaws in a machine similar to
the one in Level 4. Get up on the ladder
and get to the top of the room. Shoot
Jaws' crane that attempts to hit you every
now and then and throw a few grenades
at it. When you have destroyed it with
enough pistol bullets and grenades go
down and meet the Bond girl.
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Cheats
Sega Master System - On Controller
2, hold in Up/Left, Button 1 and Button 2, and then
Press Button 1 on Controller 1 to open the cheat menu.
Many thanks to "Lethal Weapon"
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