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Double Dragon

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Story & Game Mechanics: Double Dragon is the story of Billy and Jimmy Lee, twin brothers trained in the fighting style of Sou-Setsu-Ken. Together, they manage a small martial arts training school, teaching their students in self-defense. One day, Billy's girlfriend, Marian, is kidnapped off the ...

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Developer
Technōs Japan

Released on
1987

Size
1–2 Players

Version
Arcade

Requirements
Arcade

Downloads
Beat 'em Up

Publisher
Taito

ESRB Rating
Not Rated

Cooperative
Yes

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Description

Story & Game Mechanics:

Double Dragon is the story of Billy and Jimmy Lee, twin brothers trained in the fighting style of Sou-Setsu-Ken. Together, they manage a small martial arts training school, teaching their students in self-defense. One day, Billy’s girlfriend, Marian, is kidnapped off the street by the “Black Warriors”, a savage street gang led by a man named Willy. The Black Warriors demand the Lee brothers disclose their martial arts secrets in exchange for Marian’s freedom. The Lee brothers set out on a rescue mission to crush the Black Warriors and save Marian.

The game was the spiritual sequel of the earlier Technos game, Renegade (Nekketsu Kouha Kunko-kun), and featured similar game mechanics. The player controls a fighter(s) that travels from left to right, vanquishing enemies with punches and kicks, and can actually maneuver around them due to a an isometric playing field. Both games were primarily developed by Yoshihisa Kishimoto and were inspired by films like ‘Enter the Dragon’ and ‘The Warriors’.

Hardware & Cultural Significance:

Double Dragon’s arcade hardware was complex as a cost saving measure. During development in late ’86, use of 16-bit CPUs was cost prohibitive (adjusted for inflation, over 300 USD for a 68000). Instead, Technos utilized a low cost clone of the 6809, the Hitachi 8-bit/16-bit hybrid 6309 (adjusted for inflation, about 50 USD) and an embedded Hitachi 63701 micro-controller. A Yamaha YM2151 FM and an OKI MSM5205 were used for sound and voices. In the early days of MAME, this complexity made emulation of the hardware sluggish.

Double Dragon quickly became a ubiquitous sight in shopping mall arcades and the lobbies of theaters and departments stores throughout North America. It can sometimes be seen in the background of films made in the late 1980s when characters travel through a shopping mall or amusement park setting. When the Nintendo & Sega versions were released, they were major sellers for those platforms.

Double Dragon

Overview & History

Released by Technōs Japan in 1987, Double Dragon revolutionized the arcade beat-'em-up genre, directly inspiring countless scrolling street brawlers of the late 80s and 90s. Crafted by mastermind Yoshihisa Kishida—who sought to blend cinematic storytelling with co-operative martial arts action—the game drops players into a grim, post-apocalyptic New York City overrun by the vicious Black Warriors gang. The narrative kicks off with a punch to the gut: Billy Lee's girlfriend, Marian, is ruthlessly punched in the stomach and kidnapped right before his eyes. Alongside his twin brother Jimmy, Billy must fight his way through treacherous slums, industrial factories, and a shadowy forest hideout to rescue her. Originally utilizing dual CPUs and running on custom hardware, the arcade cabinet became an instant cultural phenomenon, spawning numerous home ports, sequels, and firmly establishing the conventions of cooperative arcade brawling.

Gameplay Features & Mechanics

Unlike earlier fighting games, Double Dragon introduced an expansive offensive repertoire that gave players unprecedented tactical choices. Armed with a standard 3-button layout—Punch, Kick, and Jump—Billy and Jimmy could execute devastating combos, hair-pull knees, and flying drop kicks. A defining mechanic was weapon interaction: players could disarm enemies or scavenge the environment to pick up baseball bats, knives, whips, and heavy oil drums to hurl across the screen. Furthermore, if an enemy grabbed you from behind, you could retaliate with a swift back elbow, or perform a hair-grab to pummel them with relentless knee strikes. The climax introduces a surprising narrative twist in a two-player cooperative playthrough, where brothers must fight each other to the death to win Marian's affection, adding a layer of bitter rivalry to the triumph.