Double Dare (NES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

A playthrough of Gametek's 1990 license-based game show game for the NES, Double Dare.
In this video I play two games against the CPU. The first is at difficulty level two, and the second, beginning at 17:17, is played on level three.
Double Dare was a popular game show for kids that ran on Nickelodeon back in the late 80s, and it was a regular go-to show for my sister and I for several years. It was part of a run of shows that seemed to celebrate making a big mess - remember Wild and Crazy Kids, You Can't Do That On Television, and What Would You Do? They were are staples of the weird fad.
The Double Dare adaptation for the NES is a fun game that has been ported over from the PC version. Like the show, it pits two pairs of kids against one another in a trivia contest. If you don't know the answer, or if you think that the other team doesn't, you can dare them. They can either answer it (for double points) or double dare you to answer. At this point, if you don't answer the question you'll take part in a physical challenge. After this back-and-forth, the game will eventually end with the winning team running an obstacle course for prizes.
The physical challenges include things like golfing with eggs, throwing bananas at gorillas, and catching pies in your pants. They all rely on a simple power gauge (like you'd find in a golf game) to fire something at something else, and they're mildly amusing distractions between questions.
(I do wish that they had included the nose picking game, though. I loved that one!)
The final round gives you a minute to clear eight obstacles. These events feel a bit like Track & Field style challenges with the heavy button-mashing that's required.
Though it's based on the old CGA DOS game (which is actually the one I played as a kid), Rare gave the game some nice cosmetic upgrades in the port to the NES. The graphics are bright and lively (not to mention the impressive bit of parallax scrolling at the start of the obstacle course round), and the soundtrack is yet another example of Dave Wise's talent for composing chiptunes.
True to the show, there's not a lot of substance here, Double Dare is fun. It would've been great rental fodder back in its day.
(And if you'd like to see something thoroughly random, here's a game show game that actually starred Marc Sommers in FMV form! • The Joker's Wild Jr. (... )
*This video is a newly recorded replacement for the 240p one that I uploaded about six years ago.
_____________
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (www.nintendocom...) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!

[@NintendoComplete]

Who else loved the show as a kid? This Rare-made port of the old PC title is pretty fun, too - it's nothing deep, but it's certainly good for a twenty minute shot of entertainment.

[@Dorian_Scott]

I'm sorry, NC. I have to disagree with you on this one. While I like the graphics (despite them not being *_too_* in depth for the NES), the incredibly goofy avatars, David Wise's music, and the gameplay manages to come as close to the TV show as possible for the NES... Good. *GOD* , the controls in the Obstacle Course and Physical Challenges blow! To me, it is the example of just *ONE* F-Up *completely* killing an otherwise bearable experience. Had no idea that this was on PCs. Was it on *_MS-DOS_* ?

[@NintendoComplete]

@@Dorian_Scott Really? I thought the controls were just fine. Yeah it was Dos and C64. I had the PC version. I remember it came on a single 5.25" disk and the graphics were all red and yellow.

[@Dorian_Scott]

@@NintendoComplete 😑 _Oh, dude..._ I played this game *SO* many times in my childhood and thought that the controls were so... *SO* unresponsive. I'm talking *_"California Games"_* levels of unresponsive, here. You just mash buttons and hope your character executes them smoothly. Now,... is the *_MS-DOS_* version better?... And can you *actually* _control_ it in the Obstacle Course/Physical Challenges?

[@NintendoComplete]

@@Dorian_Scott It plays about the same as far as I remember, just with a keyboard. Did you ever read the manual for the game? The setup is a bit weird, but it's pretty responsive when you're hitting the right button.

[@NintendoComplete]

@matt fahringer No, just the old ones that are only 30fps or

[@IKEMENOsakaman]

1988! It's when my dad was born!!!

[@ryanmalin]

Omg I'm so old. Born in 1985. I used to watch this show when I was 5 yrs old.

[@britneyspearsvillarosa]

I'm older than your dad by 3 years

[@justinlaboy6837]

Double Dare, Nick Arcade, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Guts, Wild and Crazy Kids, What Would You Do?, Figure It Out, Think Fast... man, those were the days!

[@danalong1237]

And now, thanks to the magic and power of streaming media, they can be shown on Paramount-owned Pluto TV and Paramount+, for a whole new generation of kids who watched Nickelodeon in the 1980’s and 1990’s to enjoy together!

[@VahanNisanian]

@@danalong1237 They still don't have the other Summers versions of Double Dare, Finders Keepers, Think Fast, Make the Grade, Get the Picture and Global GUTS yet. Wonder when are those gonna be added?

[@britneyspearsvillarosa]

You forgot Salute Your Shorts.

[@VahanNisanian]

Double Dare is my favorite Nickelodeon game show ever. Favorite kids game show ever, too.

[@danalong1237]

Double Dare, Finders Keepers, Think Fast, Wild & Crazy Kids, Nick Arcade, Get the Picture, Nickelodeon GUTS, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Figure it Out and Brainsurge are all my favorite Nickelodeon game shows!

[@Rattlor]

The way that music hits and with Marc Summers standing like that, it’s shocking!

[@danalong1237]

9:02: “Don’t get slimed! Family Double Dare will be right back!”-Wendell Craig (1940-2020). “You’re watching Nickelodeon, and now, back to Family Double Dare!’-Wendell Craig (1940-2020).

[@jonathanturbide2232]

2:30 - A shout out to André the giant, nice!

[@lilduderob1]

Double dare had WWE episodes

[@Scottwilkie18]

18:03 And now here’s your double dare host Mark Summers Marc-hi there thank you Harvey Welcome to double dare The show where you can win a mess of cash and prizes by going through our obstacle course We got a good show for you today

[@wwetnabamafan194]

This is your announcer, Harvey, saying join us back here next time for the most mess around right here on Double Dare, see ya!

[@danalong1237]

“30 minutes from now, Bull makes a deal with the devil on Night Court, but, in the meantime, stay tuned as Jo and Blair get tickets to see a rodeo on The Facts of Life, coming up next, right here on TV-41!”-Ray Foushee.

[@danalong1237]

1:15: “On your mark… get set… GO!!!!!!!!!”-Marc Summers. “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, our circus clowns are hungry and these two families are feeding them. The first family to toss 3 eggs into the clown’s mouth gets $25 and control of Round 1 on the show where even YOU get to run away to the circus!”-Doc Holliday. “We’re even at two! Who’s it gonna be? It is… (bell dinging) …THE BLUE SIDE DID IT! THEY GET $25! STOP RIGHT THERE! Come on over here and let’s play some Family Double Dare!”-Summers. “It’s Family Double Dare! And now, here’s the host of Family Double Dare… MARC SUMMERS!!!!!!!!!”-Holliday. “Thank you! Thank you, Doc! What a wonderful audience we have! Nice to see you! And nice to see you at home too! You picked a great time to join us on Family Double Dare, as always, coming to you from Nickelodeon Studios in Orlando, where we dare our families to run through our crazy obstacle course and, in the process, win 8 fabulous prizes.”-Summers.

[@MarioMcFly]

16:30 - One of the Obstacle Course's prizes is an NES, which is the exact game console this game is being played on! 😄 Nice touch, I love it! 😎

[@danalong1237]

17:49: “On your mark… get set… GO!!!!!!!!!”-Marc Summers. “This ain’t no zoo, but these two teams love that Double Dare gorilla, who just loves to catch bananas, and the first team to toss 7 bananas into the gorilla’s hand wins $20 and control of the show where it’s a jungle out there: Double Dare!”-Harvey. “Team two did it! $20! Stop right there! Come on out here and let’s play some Double Dare!”-Summers. “And now, here’s your Double Dare host, MARC SUMMERS!!!!!!!!!”-Harvey. “Thank you, once again, Harvey! Thanks, everybody, and welcome to Double Dare, the show that dares you to run through our crazy obstacle course, and, in the process, win 8 fabulous prizes!”-Summers.

[@susanfit47]

The NES game of Double Dare is a port of the PC title, itself was based on the Nickelodeon game show Double Dare. The release date on this was April 1990, despite an in-game copyright date of 1988. What they were doing since then!? The setup is near-idential to GameTek & Rare's other game show-based titles.

[@CaptainFoufeu]

3:40 God bless Paul Reubens, aka Pee Wee Herman. He just died a few days ago, on July 30, 2023 of cancer. May he rest in peace. 😢

[@anandguruji83]

DOUBLE DARE PHYSICAL CHALLENGE WIN 12:26 21:06 26:28 DOUBLE DARE OBSTACLE COURSE WIN 15:13 16:25 27:13 28:27

[@chokchaisuna6187]

80's fans retro version is really awesome

[@VahanNisanian]

The obstacle courses look like they're based on The 1-Ton Human Hamster Wheel, Monkey Bars, The Tank, Sundae Slide, and Fireman's Flag-Pull.

[@luciebureau6815]

I discovered the show on KZbin. It was really wild. This is something we wouldn’t dare(no pun intended) to do in my country. The NES version looks OK.

[@NintendoComplete]

I loved this show! :) There were a lot of weird things for kids on American TV back then. Especially Nickelodeon.

[@luciebureau6815]

@@NintendoComplete like Nick Arcade ?

[@NintendoComplete]

@@luciebureau6815 Stuff like Weinerville and You Can't Do That On Television. They also were playing Ren and Stimpy at the time.

[@luciebureau6815]

@@NintendoComplete oh i know Ren and Stimpy. It’s a kid’s show but it feels like a adult cartoon.

[@VahanNisanian]

Some of these questions were definitely actually used on Double Dare. I definitely remember the Pee-wee Herman one, as well as the choices.

[@danalong1237]

14:43: “That’s the end of the game, and Legendary Guardians, you’re going to the Double Dare Obstacle Course with $1200! You’ve done it! Congratulations, Legendary Guardians, you’re heading onto the Double Dare Obstacle Course in just a moment. We have to say goodbye to the Prisoners of War. You came charging right back until that heartbreaking wrong answer did you in, but you do get to keep the $550 plus these great prizes that Doc Holliday’s gonna tell you all about right now.”-Marc Summers. “I sure will, Marc. Marvel Comics’ #1 tough guy The Punisher explodes onto Game Boy in The Ultimate Payback. Non-stop shoot-‘em-up arcade action and a special appearance by Spider-Man, from Acclaim! And Turtle Power explodes onto the Nintendo Entertainment System in the all-new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project, onto the Super NES in the arcade hit Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time, and onto the Sega Genesis in the all-new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist, from Konami! And also, Walt Disney Pictures’ 30th full-length animated classic Beauty and the Beast on videocassette! It’s the perfect holiday gift, from Walt Disney Home Video! Stay tuned as the Legendary Guardians take on the Double Dare Obstacle Course, next on Family Double Dare!”-Doc Holliday.

[@ThunderFist1978]

I’m going to ask you a question. If you don’t know the answer or think the other team hasn’t got a clue, you can dare them to answer it for double the dollars. But be careful because they can always double dare you back for four times the amount, and then you either have to answer that question or take the physical challenge.

[@benitosierrajr3958]

It surprises me that Rare was involved with a Nickelodeon property when they ported this game to the NES.

[@mohamadfaiz6935]

Double Dare (1986-93) is sporadically on TeenNick’s block NickRewind since 2018.

[@GardevoirBoy]

Congratulations for mastering the Obstacle Courses! It must have been difficult completing the Obstacle Cources due to the awkward controls which was this game's disadvantages. I'd rather not play this game because of the bad controls for the Obstacle Courses. Rare did a nice job with importing game show games to the NES despite being developed by Gametek.

[@rainbowapplexd4142]

Woah!A Nick Game On An NES?Cool!

[@Dorian_Scott]

This isn't the *_only_* Nickelodeon licensed NES game. There's also *_"Ren & Stimpy: Buckaroo$"_* ... It's a horrible game. Disappointed me as a kid playing it.

[@Dorian_Scott]

@matt fahringer *_"git gud"_* at *_WHAT!?_*

[@MarcBarkyMarta]

You didn’t know the shortest Beatle? Haha! I never played this one back in the day; looks pretty decent for a GameTek-Rare title.

[@HarlemHyena]

Now I wonder how an NES version of sister show Finders Keepers would've turned out. I guess just use the D-pad to hover over parts of the room and press the action button to trash it. Would be pretty tricky to render the more fantastic rooms in the house (Tarzan's treehouse, General Store, Sherlock's Study, etc.) And just like that, I'm wishing Nick GAS still exists today!

[@danalong1237]

28:40: “THEY DID IT! THEY DID IT!!! THEY DID IT!!!!! THEY DID IT WITH ONE SECOND LEFT!!!!!! HARVEY, TELL ‘EM WHAT THEY’VE WON!”-Marc Summers. “Marc, the kids have won it all! The watch, the stereo, the pool table, the Schwinn bike, the camping gear, the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Zenith TV set, and, as you said, with one second to spare, they’re going to Walt Disney World in Orlando! A prize package totaling $3000!”-Harvey. “Yeah, Porkins! Way to go! That means you’re going home with $3,420 in cash and prizes! I’m proud of you! We’re outta time! We gotta go! We’re on every weekday at 5:30/4:30 Central right here on Nickelodeon! I’m Marc Summers, see ya next time! Bye-bye!”-Summers. (Harvey mentions the fee plugs) “This is your announcer, Harvey, saying join us back here next time, as long we got each other, for another rumble in the jungle right here on Double Dare! See ya!”-Harvey. “Tomorrow on Heathcliff, our favorite orange cat gets canned… (Insert soundclip) …while Riff-Raff falls for the Whacko Bird! (Insert soundclip) Don’t miss the misadventures of Heathcliff, tomorrow afternoon right here on Nickelodeon! Now, stay tuned for Dennis the Menace, coming up next on The First Kids’ Network!”-Joe Piesak.

[@danalong1237]

16:26: “YES! THEY DID IT! WITH 3 SECONDS REMAINING! UNBELIEVABLE! WHAT A STORY! Listen closely! Doc Holliday’s gonna tell you what you’ve won!”-Marc Summers. “Marc, they’ve got it all, including the Acclaim Grand Slam package and the trip to Club Med in Mexico! It’s a prize package worth $5000!”-Doc Holliday. “Good luck with everything, Legendary Guardians! Don’t spend it all in one place! We gotta go! We’re outta time! I hope you’ve had fun on Family Double Dare! Join us every weekend at 6:00/5:00 Central right here on Nickelodeon! I’m Marc Summers! Hope to see you soon! Bye-bye!”-Summers. “And this is your announcer Doc Holliday! We’ll see you next time on Family Double Dare!”-Holliday. “Tomorrow on Welcome Freshmen, Tara and Alex decide to run away to the circus, despite Mr. Lippman’s warnings… (insert soundclip) …then, on Nick Arcade, it’s the evil Mongo in the wizard level, trying to eat one of our teams alive! (Insert soundclip) Don’t miss Welcome Freshmen and Nick Arcade, tomorrow in Nickelodeon’s O-Zone! Now, stay tuned for Wild & Crazy Kids, coming up next in the O-Zone: Get It Together!”-Joe Piesak. “Family Double Dare was produced before a live audience in Nickelodeon Studios at Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida!”-Holliday.

[@mets2128]

I never got better than six obstacles in the course

[@Googlesucksballs]

I like how they just recycle the same Jeopardy timer sounds for this game.

[@Dorian_Scott]

*_"Double Dare"_* on NES... Don't play this one. It *_has_* decent graphics, good music, those silly-looking avatars, and is very faithful to the TV show despite hardware limitations. But, it just *HAD* to have some of the *WORST* controls on the NES I've ever come across on both the *_"Physicall Challenges"_* & *_"Obstacle Courses"_* (Y'know, the best parts of the TV show?). It could've worked, but those controls *_really_* ruin the most fun part of the game. Don't let childhood nostalgia blind you here. This game is probably a Nickelodeon fanboy's worst 8-bit nightmare.

[@Dorian_Scott]

* *_"...Physical..."_* [Spelling Correction]

[@Dorian_Scott]

Anyone else think that the guy on the rightmost side of the title screen looks like *_Otto_* from *_"The Simpsons"_* ? That's what he always looked like to me.

[@NintendoComplete]

Sure. That dithered grey pattern above his head is probably from him smoking mad blunts. Marc looks a little wacky there, too, and he is squinting the entire game, so... 😉

[@karlinhosmax]

O clássico "Passa ou Repassa" no Nintendinho. Nossa! Por essa, não esperava. Apareceu como sugestão no KZbin. Nunca joguei no console real, mas a característica do game fez lembrar do programa que ainda passa no Brasil, no SBT. Não assisto mais, mas desde criança acompanhava.

[@Scottwilkie18]

3:02 We brought the outback with us today and you were gonna be wearing This pouch It’s jumping practice for the baby kangaroos or Joeys What you gonna do when I say goes you’re gonna catch the Joeys as they go flying by your partner you can move anywhere but do not go past that line cant use your hands to catch them it has to go in the pouch however you can use your hands But you can use them to open up the pouch so they can get in You need to catch three of these Joeys in 20 seconds and I will give you $40 and you will keep control

[@zackajin_0]

Part: 0:00:10 99%: is a good game show! me: the host with mario's face lol

[@cjones3710]

I. Loved this game

[@waymonboyer5969]

If I only won 2 prizes does that count as beat the game?

[@waynemacfarland1546]

Is it just me or does that guy on the rightmost side of the title screen look like Otto the bus driver from The Simpsons?

[@Dorian_Scott]

That's exactly what I said! He looks just like Otto.

[@YTWarrior100]

How do you not know the Treasure Island and Mary Poppins questions? Those were 2 of the easiest questions asked in this game.

[@NintendoComplete]

Apparently my knowledge of such topics is somewhat less compendious than yours. I meant no offense ;)

[@user-bf6uc8ck5v]

Nice

[@Scottwilkie18]

25:43 They are going for the physical challenge Growing pains was the one

[@thesniffler5]

X

[@bryantrichardson7913]

I'm soooooooo old

[@Scottwilkie18]

22:33 There’s two Just one left who is going to get it