For the remainder of this comparison I'm going to assume you have some familiarity with the Duo version of this game, but even if you haven't played it, you should still be able to follow along. The first thing you'll notice upon booting up Sega Lords is the removal of the intro cut-scene. The cinema was beautifully animated and it established the story of the game. Why they chose to delete this scene and keep the other ones in (all two of them) is puzzling. Upon further examinination of the game, as in progressing pass the start screen, you'll be instantly startled by a British twanged woman's voice asking, "Can I help you." This is the shopkeeper who is now voice-enhanced unlike its Duo counterpart. A small plus I suppose. This, however, is a false sense of security before the floor gives away. After choosing your armor type and metriculating into battle, you'll notice the luscious graphics featured in the Duo version have been downgraded. The Sega CD was apparently hindered by its smaller color pallete, which is disappointing, especially since the bosses in the Duo version would shimmer like a fresh coat of paint glistening in the sun. The backgrounds are likewise drab and terribly undetailed. To accompany the setback in graphics, the music has also been degraded. Not only do the tracks not rock your TV's speakers with the same clarity and bounce but many of them sound "remixed". Some of these remixes are actually pretty good, but the original soundtrack was perfect, so the change was unnecesssary, though not completely unwelcome I suppose if you own both games need a reason to justify keeping the Sega version. Having a somewhat inferior version of one of the best soundtracks ever isn't the worst thing that could happen, but the sound effects that coincide with it could be.
Every blast of your weapon is now emphasized with a loud, unecessary noise that drowns out the soundtrack's wailing guitars. Very, very bad. Each armor type features its own distinct sound with some being more grating that others, but all are equally useless. I never understood why companies felt it necessary to add sound to weapon fire, especially when it's awkward and intrusive. Though no sound effect could be more akward than the "fart-simulation" sound that occurs whenever Landis blasts from the end of the level to the bosses' chamber. I hadn't heard a sound this egregious since enemy explosions in El Veinto. Thankfully it's brief, though the sensation tends to linger. If the other degradations weren't bad enough, the game's difficulty has also taken a knock. Duo Lords wasn't very challenging in it's own right, but Sega Lords is almost embarassing. If you're not going to turn up the game's difficulty to "hard" or "super" then you might as well not even waste your time. The lack of challenge is also facilitated by the temporary paralyzation of your character whenever your hit, which minimizes potential damage and allows enemies to fly by. Just another rung on the awkward, unstable ladder that is Sega Lords.
For all the criticism Sega Lords has endured there is one aspect that was actually improved, the bombs. In Duo Lords, when a bomb was executed a revolving, circular blast extended from Landis outward. No matter what armor type you possessed, this was the case. In Sega Lords, each armor type sports it's own distinct type of bomb, some of which are quite cool and more practical. This, however, is a small amends for everything that Sega Lords does wrong and surely is nothing to make owners of the Duo version jealous. There have been worse debalces than Sega Lords (Hudson's Dungeon Explorer for Sega CD comes to mind) but given the fact the game is rarer and more expensive than the Duo version, there really is no reason to obtain a copy unless you're a Sega CD owner that refuses to purchase a Turbo Duo (which would be deplorable in itself).