Double Dragon
- Technōs Japan Corp./Tradewest, 1988 -

[REVIEW|+ VS. -|IF YOU LIKE...|SECRETS & TIPS|FINAL SCORE|BREAKDOWN|MISCELLANEA]

Double Or Nothing

Technōs Japan Corporation's arcade hit would, almost, single-handedly establish the beat-'em-up genre as a tour de force and inspire a gang of games to follow. For its conversion to the NES, however, a number of features were reimagined. For the gamer, would these updates to Double Dragon, double their pleasure or be double-trouble?

𝒜 young student named Yoshihisa Kishimoto frequently found himself getting into fights at school. Fast-forward some years later and that same Kishimoto—now an adult in the workforce—is a part of the Japanese video game industry. Drawing upon his youthful, turbulent days of fisticuffs, he feels compelled to pitch an idea for a game.

In 1986, under his direction—Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun/Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (also to be known as Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-kun)—would go on to generate a franchise that would span decades, spawning some 30+ games—all connected in varying degrees. Some of these games, like River City Ransom (Famicom/NES - 1989, 1990), would become favorites enjoying worldwide renown. Lead character, Kunio-kun, would go on to become a key figure for Technōs Japan Corporation—so much so, that he would become the video game company's mascot.

By the time Renegade (or Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun's/Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun's renaming and reintroduction internationally) would reach the West, it would have a cultural makeover: gone would be the Japanese school culture that red-blooded, American kids and teens could not fully relate to.

In its stead, enter the visceral, more relatable transformation and inspiration of a different kind of youth violence... one that was depicted in the 1979 cult film, The Warriors. Subway platforms and trains defaced (or decorated... depending upon your point-of-view); desolate, delapidated and derelict urban landscapes by night; scary gangs besieging the streets...

Now, too, Enter The Dragon! Martial arts legend, Bruce Lee, and this 1973 action flick would kick and stamp its footprints all over the game's DNA.

With such an interesting and combustible mixture flavoring its makeup, Renegade brought street-brawling action and innovative style of play to video games.

It added fresh elements, like:

• the ability to freely move in eight directions across semi-isometric planes ("belt-scroll");
• a variety of fighting moves and attacks—some advanced beyond typical kicks, punches and jumps, like "sit-on punches", "kneeing your enemy" and "shoulder throws" (PLUS fighting maneuvers while riding on a motorcycle!); and
• stronger, basic enemies that took many hits to knock out.

These playing points drew fans in, packing the arcades in Japan. Renegade's success was so alluring that Technōs Japan wanted a repeat from Kishimoto the following year.

So, in 1987, he doubled-down with Double Dragon, a semi-sequel to Renegade that would, ultimately, establish the rules to the fight club that would become formally known as the beat-'em-up genre.

Eschewing the formal school uniforms for the more in-your-face, statement-setting, ripped, denim vests and worn blue jeans, our formerly single, street warrior could now, tag in a partner to double-team the dastardly delinquents ahead.

Double-fisted (and douled-booted) beatdowns were delivered with the ferocity of another inspiration: the ultimate fighter, Kenshiro. He was the central figure from the ultraviolent, post-apocalyptic tales of Fist Of The North Star, the impactful, best-selling manga (originally published from 1983 to 1988) that would crossover into anime, television, film and, even, video games. (As an aside, the original plot from Fist Of The North Star is mirrored in Double Dragon: both main protagonists are on the hunt for the beloved women in their lives, taken by adversaries: Marian, girlfriend and damsel-in-distress for Billy Lee, and Yuria, the fiancée of Kenshiro, respectively.)

Double Dragon would assume the role of sensei, or master teacher, opening the doors to its dojo so that many students-in-training could take their learning and understanding of its arts to the crime-ridden streets of their own video games to replicate and fan out across to the arcade seekers and gamers worldwide.

Double Dragon would far exceed the success of Renegade, becoming a money magnet with its wildly-popular, coin-operated cabinet. It held a chokehold on the arcade crowds for a few years. (You do not have to look any further for proof than the box cover art for the Nintendo Entertainment System's (NES) soon-to-be-ported version of the game: it says it right there on the bottom left corner... proudly adorned with a bright, yellow sash that prominently declared itself “#1 ARCADE SMASH” in bold, red text!)

Technōs Japan Corp. had a bonafide hit on its hands. So, while the fervent fires were still raging, it struck fast, releasing a cascade of ports across various home consoles and computers. This was followed up by a mad march of merchandising to cash in on the phenomenon—with varying degrees of consistency and quality. (More about this later.)

While many of these ports emulated the arcade's gameplay and design, Technōs Japan with its American publisher, Tradewest, decided to experiment and reformulate the game's conversion for the exceedingly-popular NES at the time.

It was telling to see a company take a hands-on approach to add quality-control to something so successful already. It was a refreshing move—made partially out of necessity—for compromises had to be made in order to retrofit, or make the game backward compatible from 16-Bit, arcade quality down to 8-Bit ready. But, the opportunity costs for some of the console's shortcomings and/or the developers' lack of familiarity with programming for the NES, proved serendipitous, as the team was able to improvise creatively and add some fresh content and ideas.

And now, some general background on Double Dragon before turning our focus onto some of those alterations found in the NES conversion.

Ironically—probably not intentional, but by pure coincidence of timing—the NES release of Double Dragon would correspond with an appropriate year in the Chinese zodiac. 1988 was the Year Of The Dragon... and the year of the Double Dragon for the NES.

From the outset, gamers knew that they were in for something unique. Without the game using a single word of dialogue, a brief, animated sequence says everything: a beautiful woman in a red dress takes a vicious sucker punch to the stomach from a male ruffian and is then thrown over his shoulder and abducted after the assault by a knot of nefarious nasties on a barren, city street.

Similarly, this opening would deliver a gut punch to the gamer of the day and make her/him take notice. Not many games at that time delivered such a surprisingly, violent depiction (especially of a male character striking a female in that manner). The dastardly deed would serve as a spark, amping the gamer up to assist Billy Lee, as he hot-steps the streets in hot pursuit, leaving a trail of bruised and broken bodies vigilante-style.

The plot is pretty simple, but with such addictive gameplay, not much else was needed. There is not even a formal introduction of the thugs or a clearly-stated reason for why the heinous action is taken. Thankfully, the game's instruction manual takes the time for such frivolities:

"But now Billy is faced with his greatest challenge: his girlfriend, Marian, has been kidnapped by the Black Warriors, the savage street gang of the mysterious Shadow Boss!"

As was previously-stated, Technōs Japan Corp's Renegade felt like a pseudo-prequel. Double Dragon used Renegade as a kind of rough-around-the-edges, rudimentary training grounds.

In both games, challenge was a real issue with rogue students and gang members alike, not being concerned or bothered with the nuances of fighting like gentlemen (or ladies, in some cases... More about this shortly.). There was no honor among hoodlums, as it was not uncommon for three ruffians with sticks to gleefully triple-team the player in Renegade. While in the NES' Double Dragon, two at a time would double-team Billy Lee... albeit, still a formidable and foul number to have to tussle with!

Although their actions were similar, the roles and types of enemies were handled differently in each game. Renegade featured a decidedly-more exploratory look into the underbelly of Japanese subcultures. Besides the juvenile delinquents of Kishimoto's schooldays memories, Renegade featured motorcycle or biker gangs (bōsōzoku), all-girl gangs (sukeban) and ultimately, the yakuza masterminds at the top of the food chain. (Its North American, NES instruction booklet labeled these as "outlaw bikers", "killer Kung Fu females" and "blood hungry hoods", respectively.)

In stark contrast, Double Dragon is overrun by one gang alone. The Black Warriors are a loyal bunch of illicit lackeys. (As an aside: it is not really clear why the gang is called the "Black Warriors"—it doesn't seem to be a unifying color that they all wear.)

The Shadow Boss recruits any wayward souls lost enough in life to join his gang... not discriminating by ethnicity, skin color (even green!) or sex (an early example of a game with a diverse cast of characters—good or evil).

Chivalry is dead, as knuckle sandwiches are served up to both male and female gangbangers equally. Lindas—who are bold enough to walk the streets with whips—are not oversexualized, and are as ruthless as their male counterparts. Regardless, Billy Lee is quick to add bruising blues to the black, making them the "Black (and blue) Warriors".

Many gangs arm themselves to intimidate and enforce their tyranny on victims. Besides the sticks and deadly handgun that Renegade’s main boss behind the scenes used, the attackers in Double Dragon improvise with items lying about the environment. Discarded, oil drums; wooden crates or boxes and large boulders can be heaved and hurled at Billy. This action is reciprocal, however, as stunned foes can have these items jarred free from their grasps and used against themselves instead. And if any of these objects remain on screen, they can be repeatedly lifted and weaponized.

One final note on this: some foes carry actual weapons (like Lindas and their whips or Williams, primarily, with baseball bats, knives and even, sticks of dynamite!). Our hero can use these, as well, until a screen is cleared and the thumb icon flashes, unlocking the screen to scroll forward once again. [Click here to learn more about how to get a special kind of glitched weapon that can appear when the thumb icon blinks on-screen.]

As for the knives, a well-timed drop kick can safely deflect the sharp projectile to the ground, at which time, Lee can grab it and fling it for a brutal, instant death and a flash of red blood. [Click here to learn about potential issues with blood and censorship with Nintendo.]

By dodging the dynamite and not letting it hit you mid-air, you can retrieve it and throw it back for an explosive end to a gang member... so long as you grab it before it starts flashing and toss it from a distance—not up-close.

Unfortunately, weapons are not always conveniently at the ready; so it is particularly handy that Billy Lee is nice with his hands and feet in street combat:

"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."

The programmers developed an innovative way to have our "formidable fighting machine" earn points and build up experience—an inventive system not found in any other version of the game. Points are rewarded for every hit that Lee lands on an opponent: 30 points per whiplash, 25 points per bat swing, 20 points per punch, 15 per kick, 12 points per headbutt or jump kick, 10 per uppercut and so on.

The reward? For every 1,000 points, a new, specialized attack will be learned and added to his fighting repertoire. This RPG-inspired (Role-Playing Game) leveling-up can build up seven times; adding a Heart (♥) icon per upgrade to the bottom-left section of the status bar. (See the table to the right (→) for more details.) This system is referred to as "Technical Levels".

Armed with these flashy, fighting techniques, Billy Lee takes to the streets and has four "missions" to complete; that is, four stages to get through, in order to rescue Marian. According to the instruction manual, the four areas are the City Slum, Industrial Area, Forest and Hideout of the Boss.

The action begins at the City Slum. After Marian's savage abduction in the middle of the street, Billy Lee emerges from a garage. (Missing is the stylish, sports car parked inside that was found in the arcade and other versions of the game... assuming that this vehicle is his, Billy could have saved a lot of time and body aches by just speeding off to find Marian faster!)

Beneath the unhealthy, greenish smog of the city sky and some distance away from its faraway skyscrapers, he passes brick walls adorned with posted bills and a stockpile of large, oil drums, taking his lonesome pursuit center lane with no sidewalks, pedestrians or cars in sight in this gang-ridden space.

Inside the final building lies an ambush and a conveyor belt that carries its cargo to oblivion, dumping whatever (or whomever) standing atop it, into a freefall to death. Abobo—an imposing, muscular "Middle Boss" and eventual popular character in the series—makes his grand entrance.

It will take more than a hard hat and fluorescent, safety vest to protect Lee at the Industrial Area. This location appears to be a construction site that has unceremoniously been left with its project unfinished indefinitely. A particularly-large sinkhole or excavation area, precariously, divides this short stage.

Amongst the girders and chainlink fencing, Billy fights Black Warriors with deadlier weapons: baseball bats for smashing skulls and bones, and dynamite—perhaps pilfered from the abandoned worksite... before climbing the skeletal exterior of an uncompleted building to battle the NES-exclusive Chintai, a potent practitioner of the martial arts. (Whether intentional or not, this climactic scene conjures up another arcade hit: Donkey Kong.)

Leaving the big city behind, Billy Lee takes a nature walk through what should be a serene, picturesque forest. But, don't let the scenic mountains, stream or trees lull you into your happy space—the Black Warriors come fast and often, breaking up this pastoral scene.

They spring surprise attacks; one is even perched up in the trees. The bridge at the beautiful, but deadly, body of water has been purposefully dismantled to make crossing difficult. Abobos crash through walls of stone to deliver a crushing blow to Billy.

And this is only the first section of this surprisingly-long stage. Billy creeps into the manmade entrance that Abobo created when he burst through the face of the rocky wall... only to find an entirely-new, exclusive area that does not exist in any of the other versions or ports... not even in the original arcade!

Billy Lee's path gets diverted into a spelunking trip. Inside this cave, the game takes an adventurous foray into platforming. These dark caverns form a deadly area of falling stalactites, tumbling boulders and molten pools of lava. The jumping segments are tense; missing any of the levitating platforms can lead to a fatal fall.

Once emerging from the maze-like network of cave passages, Lee quickly discovers the entrance that leads to where the Shadow Boss runs his evil organization... and more importantly, where the lovely Marian has been imprisoned.

The Hideout of the Boss pulls no punches. This final stage is as deadly as it is mysterious.

Cryptic symbols of mysticism and other esoteric subjects are everywhere: stone, eyeball statues rest atop tall columns (or are those cyclops or strange, one-eyed creatures?); massive, cracked, human skull and Buddha-like head carvings; braziers with torches of roaring flames lighting some of the darkened passageways; ornamental, dragon-styled bones peering on from a final set of archways; a door or portal with the uneasy appearance of a man or creature's face, jaws gaping wide with sharpened teeth, daring one to step into the uninviting belly of some fantastical beast!

Of course, Lee may never see any of these perplexing sights. As soon as he enters this lair, he is met with, perhaps, gaming's most frustrating trap!—a pair of booby-trapped walls that trigger massive, stone slabs that unpredictably slide in and out... seemingly without pattern. [Click here for a potential way to avoid contact with the wall traps.]

If he is not knocked senseless by the stoned attack, waves of the Black Warriors do their best to knock him out once and for all. Upon reaching the final story of the hideout, a room reminiscent of the Roman Colosseum leads to a final red-carpeted chamber where the blood sport climaxes. New foe and "Big Boss", Willy, comes out with machine gun in hand, guns-ablazing... to a level of unfairness, not seen yet, even in this bruiser of a title. [Click here for some help against Willy's bullet barrage.]

When he falls, one remains standing between Billy and his beloved Marian... the Shadow Boss, himself. But, just who is this gang leader? ... Wait, no… it can't be. . .

A full playthrough of Double Dragon may clock in at between 15 and 25 minutes. On paper, this may seem short; but in practice, the game’s four stages provide a singular, satisfactory sitting of play... except for the fairly-slow, in-game speed and processing.

(Bear in mind that this genre and style of game—the beat-’em-up—tends to be a type that doesn’t waste its gamer’s time. Also, consider that in this era, original design for arcade play tended to focus on shorter bursts of play with addictive gameplay and challenge to attract several, new gamers and to encourage replay... enticing those anxious, excited gamers to empty their full pockets of all of those jangling, shiny coins.)

From a technical point-of-view, the game retained some of its lag (which surprisingly, the arcade original also had, but which some of its ports did not, like the Sega Master System and Sega Genesis/Mega Drive). It made the game feel sluggish at times, but where it may have been most detrimental was in the platform-heavy sections of the game—especially the cave region of the Forest.

The delayed walk and sense of timing of knowing when to actually press the buttons to jump were hard to pinpoint at times, resulting in Billy stumbling off of a cliff or into water or lava or spikes, at times.

Trying to dodge or change positions quickly—by turning left-to-right and back again or vice versa—was an issue, too. Oftentimes, the special, Head Butt move would activate accidentally, causing our hero to get skewered by falling rock or pummeled by sliding, stone traps.

And speaking of those infamous, sliding, stone traps... Nothing was more self-defeating or demoralizing—or crushing (literally!)—than struggling to reach the Shadow Boss' hideout, only to have such a randomized, lethal obstacle cut your effort short.

If the programmers wanted the gamer to feel how it felt to walk about in the worn boots of Billy Lee with all of his worries weighing heavy... internalizing all of that anguish and frustration from what a vicious, unscrupulous, crime lord—who would stop at nothing—might do to keep a beautiful, kidnap victim held hostage, they succeeded.

The game frolics in fighting the fight of the Shadow Boss extra dirty. You do not have to look any further than the end: Willy posits, “Why bring a knife to a fist fight, when a machine gun would be much more effective?”

But, despite all of these qualms, the NES' Double Dragon was saddled with a bigger, critical issue from the get-go: its lack of 2-player cooperative play. One of this popular title's biggest draws at the arcade (and on other consoles and computers) was the ability to play with a friend, co-operating and coordinating attacks on the Black Warriors together at the same time. (It was so vital that it was a key directive for the game's creation by Kishimoto’s higher-ups. They wanted a 2 Player co-op to build on the success of Renegade... and to double the profits!)

Converting an arcade title—especially a 16-Bit or higher—down to the 8-Bit NES would always present a problem (as other troubled ports have proven: Karate Champ (Data East, 1986), Bad Dudes (Data East, 1989), Dragon's Lair (CSG Imagesoft, 1990)) to name a few). There would always be certain liberties that must be exercised, certain features stripped or scaled back, but Technōs and Tradewest seemed up for the challenge.

Technical limitations ensured that some things had to be subtracted, but those unavoidable, imposed limits in the backwards-compatibility actually necessitated innovation and inspired amazing additions elsewhere. (To see some of the in-game differences and similarities between the NES version and its contemporary, rival consoles' ports plus the arcade, check out our table below (↓):)

Not all of the little details from the arcade were present. For example, from the City Slum stage, the hot rod car in the garage; detailed images and advertisements slapped up on the brick walls; and the cute cat, coolly resting on a trash can, taking in all of the violence from a safe distance were missing, but these absences made room for sweeping improvements that elevated Double Dragon in other, more meaningful, non-graphical ways.

Some of these included:

• The City Slum stage pushed past the arcade's piles of oil drums to extend the area to a new dead end that forced the player to enter a building. Inside, there was a new boss room that resembled the end section of the arcade's Industrial Area;
• The Industrial Area tacked on a towering skyscraper's unfinished framework... with the penthouse or top floor presenting a brand-new, boss character exclusive to the NES: Chintai!
• The Forest should have been called the Forest and Cave. It was, essentially, increased to more than double in size with a subterranean staging of stone, stalactites and stacked numbers of Shadow Boss soldiers to contend with. The cave shimmered in flashes of bold color (reminiscent of some of the bright, clashing colors found in Battletoads a few years later... another Tradewest-entrusted work that would actually collaborate with Double Dragon in a future project); and
• The Hideout of the Boss dropped the original, bull-like statues that used spears; also, there is a twist ending with the Shadow Boss.

Some concepts were thoroughly developed with sound decision-making that felt fair (for instance, the ability to take weapons away from the ruffians and use them against them instead or how the 199-second timer that every stage begins with, is refreshed whenever Billy Lee enters a new section or room via door or cave opening - the complete opposite of the poor design of a contemporary arcade-turned-NES-port, Ghosts 'N Goblins (Capcom - 1986) [To learn more about that, read our Scary—But For All The Wrong Reasons!" review here.]).

Other fresh, thinking-outside-of-the-box ideas truly excelled, like incorporating the Technical Skills experience levels that charged up Billy Lee's attack options with awesome, bonecrushing, finishing moves.

But, unfortunately, not everything worked or was programmed in properly. There were some gaffes and major omissions that left behind graphical artifacts; occasional, broken mechanics; and lag.

For instance, only two enemies could appear per screen—which actually benefitted Billy Lee.

A number of strange glitches could be exploited to help even the odds. These included using an "invisible enemy" that could be beaten up to boost Technical Skills rapidly [Click here to discover how to use this trick to quickly learn advanced, fighting moves safely.] and the odd effect or ability of picking up weapons and swinging or using them at just the right moment to transform them into a jumbled, pixelated "weapon" that could be carried or used in areas where no weapons were normally obtainable or intended to be. [Click here to learn about this glitch.]

Aside from coding abnormalities, the unfair ratcheting-up of challenge on Stage 4 with the unpredictable and nearly unavoidable, sliding stone traps and the bullets from Willy's machine gun—both of which can quickly decimate Billy Lee in only a few hits... paired with the game's lack of energy refills AND absence of 1UPs and continues (both of which are available in other versions)—make for an experience filled with feelings of fruitless futility and frustration that the gamer in many cases cannot overcome—not due to lack of skills necessarily—but because of harsh, punitive programming and development decisions.

Still—revisiting this pressing topic once again—perhaps the most flagrant strike against the NES conversion is the fact that Double Dragon only allowed single player action. But, to their credit, Technōs Japan Corp. and Tradewest tried to dream up a creative work-around: MODE B!

To quench that two player thirst, couches and living room floors were filled with friends, duking it out against one another in the NES’ exclusive MODE B game. This was a simple fighting game, in which the gamer—if playing alone, competing versus the CPU (computer or game’s internal AI opponent)—or gamers could choose from six, different characters from the game to battle one another. (Note that whichever character you chose to fight with in MODE B, that both you and your opponent would use the same character; the game does not allow for two, unique characters to fight each other like in later, fighting games.)

The Technōs team should receive praise for the extra effort. A fresh arena-like backdrop was designed and each of the six, fighting characters received portraits; new larger, more detailed bodies and the add-on of new weapons (nunchuku and baton/tonfa) and even a new, running, dash attack with the option of a punch, knee-bash or jump kick. (On a side note: these dashing moves feel like they were borrowed from a similar attack from Renegade.)

Although the fighting aspect was not as engaging as MODE A (the original, arcade beat-’em-up style), it served as an early attempt and possible inspiration for some of the wave of historic, fighting titles that would forever change and essentially start that newer genre in the next few years with first, Capcom’s juggernaut, Street Fighter II, then Fatal Fury, Mortal Kombat, Samurai Shodown and later expansion into three-dimensions with lasting series, Tekken, Soul Calibur and more.

(One final note on the inclusion of two-player action on the NES: the game designers tried to make another temporary fix, a patch to fill the 2P dilemma. MODE A 2PLAYER allowed for two players to assume the role of Billy in the regular campaign, but gameplay would alternate à la Super Mario Bros. - that is, when Player 1 (or Mario) died, Player 2 (Luigi) would begin... When Player 2 perished, Player 1 would pick up the action from where she/he left off, and so on. Double Dragon adopted this, but with no "Luigi" in this case—just Billy Lee for both players to use.)

From its inception, Double Dragon brought the dogfight to the arcades and inspired a gang of copycats. Had Kishimoto's vision not been so refined, we may never had seen other valiant, early entries in the genre. Strong, upright cabinets standing shoulder-to-shoulder above the crowded arcades included: Final Fight (Capcom, 1989), Golden Axe (Sega, 1989), Streets Of Rage (Bare Knuckle in Japan) (Sega, 1991) and so on.

And another wave with licensed IPs (intellectual properties) would follow, lending their characters and likenesses for a beat-'em-up, multiplayer makeover: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Konami, 1989) (up to four players at once), The Simpsons (Konami, 1991) (up to four players at once), X-Men (Konami, 1992) (up to six players at once!), being some of the brightest.

Not everything was perfect, but for its time, Double Dragon laid out the schematics for the beat-'em-up genre... a formula so tried-and-true that modern games—some three-plus decades later—are still borrowing from it (The Takeover, Fight 'N Rage, Final Vendetta, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game, Mayhem Brawler, etc. and undoubtedly, more to come).

This is a true testament to Kishimoto and Technōs Japan Corporation's revolutionary approach and solid execution. The Double Dragon trademark has spawned a number of sequels and other titles. It has been animated, shot on film with live actors and printed in comics and on cards.

Its enduring appeal over all of these years has been attractive enough to have it pass through the hands of a number of rights holders... and as of the publication of this review, its current company—Arc System Works—is planning for Double Dragon Revive to be released later in 2025!

This is living proof of its lasting charm and fun. Even today, its exciting setting; fun, street-brawling mechanics; and heart-pulsing, foot-tapping soundtrack still entertains the gamer, and its unrelenting (and arguably, increasingly unfair) challenge draws them back for revenge.

And with Kishimoto, Technōs Japan Corporation and Tradewest's desire to not just settle on past glory, but to keep pushing the envelope to more genre-defying heights for the NES and beyond, the game has grown its legacy into a thriving series.

One thing is for certain: anytime there is a need to clean up some troubled, street corner or terrorized, city block, anywhere across the gaming sphere, rest assured that the spirit of the twin, Lee brothers and of the Double Dragon will always be there... ready to deliver their brand of addictive, tag-team beatdown to any good, old-fashioned beat-'em-up.

b. jones © 2025

RETURN TO TOP

1UP Ratings Scale for Double Dragon
Presentation: 8	Double Dragon could be found all over the toy stores, computer shops and arcades with various different covers... the design for the NES showed one that appeared less martial arts-oriented and more gang-related with the set of twin brothers standing in a curiously combative, face-to-face pose... one holding a dagger (with sticks of dynamite subtly tucked in his vest pocket), the other a whip - maybe not the expected pose for a pair of siblings. The bottom section of the cover art shows an awkwardly-posed, fighting scene with the brothers having stiff, marionette-like limbs; strange boots and weird, facial expressions... The title screen showed a flaming or glowing frame surrounding the title and stylized kanji characters... prominently missing were the two, intertwined dragons that several versions of the game displayed. Booklet was very well-organized and informative; proofread with minimal, grammatical errors; characters, items and actions were well-illustrated in the manual; however, there were some discrepancies with character names and game stages. One other unusual and unfortunate aspect to the presentation: the game's ending is spoiled on both the rear box art and within the manual.
Originality: 10	Although earlier games like Renegade and Kung-Fu Master / Spartan X chipped away to shape the action, fighting style of game, Double Dragon is recognized as truly opening the way for the beat-'em-up as a bonafide genre and force to reckon with at the arcades. Its two-player action (in other gaming outlets) across a belt-scrolling environment with items to freely pick up and use as weapons can still be experienced in similar games decades later. Its influences from Bruce Lee and his legendary, martial arts technique and films to street gangs in an urban setting to ideas in a post-apocalyptic world have been passed on to various, later, brawling/action titles. Additionally, the game's developers went above-and-beyond adding a sizable amount of original content to the NES conversion to ensure that it would be well-received by the home market.
Creativity: 10	The NES version of Double Dragon receives bonus acknowledgment since Technōs Japan and Tradewest actually thought of creative alternatives to include to help compensate for the NES' limitations. Technical Levels and the MODE B game (although somewhat simplistic) were strong additions, while the new cave section of Mission 3 and a number of other improvements for NES play were brilliant solutions in the face of limits. Creative ideas from the still shots that introduced each Mission to the flashing colors in the cave to the climb to the top of the unfinished building to fight the brand-new foe, Chintai, were great touches.
Programming/Debugging: 4	Although by no means unplayable, there were several instances of game glitches with odd occurrences, like characters falling through or being able to be pushed through solid areas (although manipulation of some of these proved especially useful). Some other issues included: screen artifacts, lag and slow, on-screen responses to controller input (especially when jumping in platforming sections). Trying to quickly stop and start running again while dodging, felt buggy as stalactites divebombed Billy—the actions unwittingly triggered the Head Butt move or would cause Billy to be stuck in place momentarily. Lack of energy refills (though, not present in the arcade or other ports either), but especially removal of 1UPs and continues were extreme choices for the gamer to overcome. Perhaps a lack of technical know-how or hardware restrictions caused the biggest complaint, though: the lack of Double Dragons fighting together in co-op action like in the arcade and other conversions. Not all of the programming choices were negative: no respawning foes, the RPG-lite building up of Technical Levels and the addition of the MODE B gameplay were positives. And, of course, several secrets, techniques and strategies to advance through the game came about as a result of all of those glitches in the game code.
Challenge/Fairness: 3	Overall, the game's level of challenge felt unbalanced. In fighting the typical members of the Black Warriors and the bosses across the first two and a half missions, things felt fair overall. There was a nice progression of the Technical Levels to help improve your attacking abilities accordingly. However, the obstacles in the platforming sections proved too fast and too lethal for our hero to respond to: slow, stalled movements; delayed jumping; and forced head butt attacks when trying to rapidly dodge and move back and forth proved frustrating... especially against the stalactites, sliding stones and machine gun bullets. At least, none of those were instant deaths like the frustrating jumps over water, lava pools, spikes and bottomless pits. (Interestingly enough, long falls in some areas did not affect your energy negatively.) Once the thumb icon flashed, the game forced any weapons on-screen or in Billy's hands to disappear... taking away more opportunities for fair and equal play. By removing the ability to gain 1UPS and continues, coupled with the disappearance of instant respawning in the same place you lost a life, the challenge felt unduly steep... and especially frustrating.
Replayability: 7	Despite having the challenge ramp up on Missions 3 and 4 (to some unfair levels that may be able to be overcome with some of the tips provided in our "Secrets & Tips" section) and some platforming and control frustrations, the game still feels addictive and is fun to replay and retry. Its short time of play doesn't let it overstay its welcome... and MODE B's basic fighting game adds variety and a nice respite from the grueling battle against the Black Warriors.
Controls: 7	Overall, the controls were fairly responsive (except in the platforming, at times) with a plethora of attacks available from the Technical Skills and the freedom to roam in eight directions across the belt-scrolling field of play. The mapping of the controls felt intuitive and easy to remember. However, Billy Lee felt stiff and inflexible in his jumping and having the ability to choose when and where you could use some of the special attacks (especially the Head Butt and Spin Kick) would have alleviated much anguish... especially in areas where fast movements and dodging were essential for survival. MODE B was almost like a button-mashing affair, but there were some new weapons to use and a new sprinting attack in place of the Head Butt.
Graphics: 8	Downgrading the arcade resolution and colors to the NES was a challenge that the artists met with great success. Their work was highlighted by creating new characters (Chintai) and entirely-new background sections (like the building in Mission 2 and Cave in Mission 3)... furthermore, MODE B had them drawing detailed portraits and larger, new sprites of six of the game's characters with new animations (some even with new weapons, like the nunchuku) over a fresh, new backdrop. The fighting animations, like the hair pull, were detailed and added a lot of visual variety... as did facial expressions of stunned enemies with their mouths wide open. The backgrounds were illustrated well. Some favorites included the cave's flashing colors and detailed textures, and the nature on display in the forest... bonus points go to the creepy statues and decor of the castle-like Hideout of the Boss stage.
Music/Sound FX: 9	The uncredited composer (Kazunaka Yamane or "KAZU YAMANE", as listed in the arcade ending credits) did an excellent job delivering a rich, energetic soundtrack that ideally choreographed emotions and tone with the urgent, serious mission of an action-filled fight-fest in a lawless, dangerous setting. There was a dynamic variance in the songs from the triumphant, title screen that proudly announces the game's arrival to the scene to the track playing in the City Slum with its almost implied metal-like strings soaring in an improv-like, jazz solo to the Eastern flavors of the Forest Mission with its unusual time signatures, rhythms and unexpected movements ... this soundtrack doesn't waste musical space with simple loops! The composer even added new songs to the soundtrack, exclusive to the NES. The song that plays in the first part of the cave section of Mission 3 has a cool scuttle of a bassline with brisk call-and-response. The song playing in the second, cave section is made up of an alarm-like phrase of crescendoing notes that open the piece, that then settles into a frantic, choppy, staticky staccato that is filled with urgency (a personal favorite of the reviewer!). The Game Over theme is a short tune that somehow conveys disappointment and despair in its brevity. Sound effects layer well over the musical backdrop: the shuffling, white noise of footsteps; the soft hiss of splashing water; the percussive, heavy slapping bringing heft and force to landed punches and kicks.
Ending: 6	A tune of celebration and relief plays as the brave Billy is reunited with his lovely girlfriend, Marian, in a fully-furnished room. There are a few, nice details included. Unfortunately, there are no ending credits to acknowledge all of the hard work of the staff.
FINAL SCORE:	72 's out of a possible 100 Double Dragon was already a successful hit in the arcades when Technōs Japan Corp. and Tradewest ported it to the NES. The developers did more than just merely copy and paste the landmark, beat-'em-up brawler to the home console; they went above-and-beyond by creating original content with level design, mechanics, music, bosses and a whole, new, fighting game mode to compensate for the NES' inability to allow for two-player co-op. Despite some difficulty and frustration spikes, programming bugs and the missing two-player action, the title's availability and affordable cost—along with its place in gaming history—makes it a good addition for a retro collection.

RETURN TO TOP

© 2025 (mmxxv)
b. jones