DOUBLE DRAGON

DOUBLE DRAGON

1

K-A

8.2

1992-03-10

2018-07-03 12:14:33

Double Dragon is a 1987 beat ’em up video game developed by Technōs Japan and distributed by Taito for arcades across Asia, North America and Europe. It is the first title in the Double Dragon franchise. The game’s development was led by Yoshihisa Kishimoto, and it is a spiritual and technological successor to Technos’ earlier beat ’em up, Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (1986), released outside of Japan by Taito as Renegade; Kishimoto originally envisioned it as a direct sequel and part of the Kunio-kun series, before making it a new game with a different cast and setting.

Double Dragon introduced several additions to the Kunio-kun belt scroll beat ’em up formula, such as a continuous side-scrolling world adding a sense of progression, two-player cooperative gameplay, the ability to arm oneself with an enemy’s weapon after disarming them, and the use of cut scenes to give it a cinematic look and feel. The game’s title is a reference to the two-player gameplay and Bruce Lee’s martial arts film Enter the Dragon (1973), which was a major inspiration behind Kunio-kun and Double Dragon, while the game’s art style and setting were influenced by the Mad Max films and Fist of the North Star manga and anime series.

Double Dragon was one of the first successful beat ’em up games, becoming Japan’s third highest-grossing table arcade game of 1987 before becoming America’s highest-grossing dedicated arcade game for two years in a row, in 1988 and 1989. It also received critical acclaim, with Electronic Gaming Monthly awarding it 1988 Game of the Year. Its success resulted in the creation of the Double Dragon franchise, including two arcade sequels and several spinoffs, and it ushered in a ”Golden Age” for the beat ’em up genre, establishing the conventions for a wave of beat ’em ups from other companies during the late 1980s to 1990s. Originally an arcade game, home versions were released for the NES, Master System, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari ST, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Game Boy, Genesis/Mega Drive, and Atari Lynx, among other platforms during the series’ height of popularity. A remake titled Double Dragon Advance was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2003.

Description:

Double Dragon is the story of Billy and Jimmy Lee, twin brothers who learned to fight on the cold, tough streets of the city. Their expert knowledge of the martial arts combined with their street smarts, has made them both formidable fighting machines. But now Billy is faced with his greatest challenge. Marian has been kidnapped by the Black Warriors, the savage street gang of the mysterious Shadow Boss! Using whatever weapons come to hand - knives, whips, bats, rocks, oil drums, even dynamite - Billy must pursue the gang through the slums, factories, and wooded outskirts of the city to reach the hideout for his final confrontation with the Shadow Boss... his brother Jimmy!

Gameplay:

The game is displayed in a belt scroll format, like Kunio-kun. In contrast to the arena-like levels in Kunio-kun, Double Dragon takes place in a continuously side-scrolling world.

The player takes control of martial artist Billy Lee, or his twin brother Jimmy (also known as Hammer and Spike in the supplementary materials for the American arcade release), as they fight their way into the turf of the Black Warriors gang in order to rescue Billy’s girlfriend, Marian. The player character has a repertoire of martial arts techniques which they can perform by using the joystick and three action buttons (kick, jump, and punch) individually or in combination. Techniques range from basic punches and kicks to more elaborate attacks such as throws and elbow strikes. When playing with another player, one can grab an opponent from behind, allowing the other to attack unimpeded; some enemies are able to do the same thing to the players. The player begins the game with a certain number of extra lives and a life gauge which depletes as the player takes hits, and must complete each stage within a time limit. One life is lost if either the life gauge or timer reaches zero, or if the player character falls off the bottom of the screen or into a hole, river, or bed of spikes.

Certain enemies carry melee weapons, which can be knocked out of their hands and picked up to use against them. Available weapons include baseball bats, whips, throwing knives, and dynamite; in addition, rocks, oil drums, and boxes can be found in certain places.

The Black Warriors gang consists of six recurring members and their gang leader. Williams and Rowper serves as the common bad guys throughout the game. Williams wears a tank top, while Rowper wears a shirtless vest matching the color of his pants. The two will occasionally appear wielding a weapon such as a baseball bat, a throwing knife or a dynamite stick, with Rowper also having the ability to lift and throw heavy objects such as oil drums and boxes. Linda is the sole female member of the gang and wears a purple leotard. Sometimes she will appear armed with a whip. There are two types of tall strongman enemies: a bald strongman who appears as a recurring sub-boss and a mohawked strongman who serves as end-boss of Mission 1 (with dark skin) and Mission 3 (with green skin). At the time of the arcade version’s release, the bald strongman version was named Zack, while the dark mohawked version was named Jack, with Abobo being the green version, although these names felt into disuse in later console versions that only include the bald strongman (who would end up being renamed Abobo). Jeff is a head swap of the Lee brothers who first appears as the end-boss of the second stage and later appears as a recurring underling in the final two stages. Willy is the gang’s leader and final boss of the game. He is armed with a machine gun that is capable dealing great damage to the player.

The game is divided into four different stages or ”missions”, which consist of a city slum, a factory, a forest, and the gang’s hideout. The first three levels takes place in a single long map, with the change in background music indicating the presence of a boss character. When a boss is defeated, the remaining underlings will retreat and the player character will enter an automatic transition sequence where he will walk into the next stage. There’s also another transmission sequence near the end of the third stage just as the player reaches the entrance of the gang’s hideout. The fourth and final stage is set inside the hideout on a separate map as the player fight their way through numerous traps until reaching the main hall where Willy awaits. The Double Dragon title theme plays during this period. The game normally ends if Willy is defeated by a single player, but if both Lee brothers manage to complete the game together, they will be forced to fight each other in order to determine who will win Marian’s affections. Both life gauges are refilled, any extra lives are taken away, and the timer is reset for this fight.

• Mega Drive / Genesis

In 1992, Accolade released a Mega Drive/Genesis port of the game in North America and Europe under the Ballistic Software label. This version was released as an unlicensed third-party cartridge. Although the Mega Drive/Genesis has a smaller color palette than the arcade original, due to the more powerful 16-bit hardware it actually fixes all of the slow down problems from the original arcade game. In contrast, it had a number of deficiencies (especially in sound quality) because Ballistic Software were forced to use a small 512 Kilobyte (4 Megabit) cartridge ROM for cost reasons. This version came closest to the arcade game at the time.

Sega Genesis (Mega Drive)

Ballistic

015605031120

1-2

United States

16-bit

Cartridge

1

Cardboard Box

~$29.15

2026-02-15

2018-07-03 12:14:33