Double Dragon
Double Dragon (双截龍, Daburu Doragon – Sō Setsu Ryū) is a beat ’em up video game series originally developed and published by Technōs Japan. It began with the release of the arcade game Double Dragon in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight against various adversaries and rivals.
The original Double Dragon was a hit arcade video game, ushering in a “Golden Age” for the beat ’em up genre, resulting in a flood of beat ’em ups during the late 1980s to 1990s that followed the conventions set by Double Dragon. A 1993 animated series and 1994 live-action film adaptation were produced; these adaptations were widely-panned by critics and audiences.
In June 2015, Arc System Works acquired the rights to all former Technōs IPs, including the Double Dragon series. Arc System Works had previously ported the original Double Dragon to the Master System console in 1988.
| Double Dragon | |
|---|---|
 iOS/Android version logo | |
| Genre(s) | Beat-’em-up |
| Developer(s) | Technōs Japan WayForward Technologies Arc System Works Yuke’s |
| Publisher(s) | Technōs Japan Taito SNK Million Corp. Atlus Arc System Works |
| Creator(s) | Yoshihisa Kishimoto |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, NES, Master System, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Game Boy, Mega Drive/Genesis, Lynx, Game Gear, Super NES, Jaguar, Neo Geo, Neo Geo CD, PlayStation, PlayStation 3, Game Boy Advance, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, iOS, Android, DOS, Windows, Amiga, Commodore 64, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Zeebo, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, iiRcade |
| First release | Double Dragon 1987 |
| Latest release | Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons 2023 |
Game series
The first game, Double Dragon, was released in the arcades in 1987. A Nintendo Entertainment System version produced by Technōs was released in 1988, followed by a Game Boy version in 1990. Various licensed versions were also produced by other developers for gaming platforms such as the Master System, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Genesis, Atari Lynx and for home computers.
Two Double Dragon sequels were released for the arcade: Double Dragon II: The Revenge in 1988 and Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone in 1990. Like the original, Technōs produced versions for the NES (Double Dragon II: The Revenge in 1989 and Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones in 1991, respectively).
In 1991, a game titled Double Dragon II, unrelated to its arcade and NES counterpart, was released for the Game Boy.
A fourth game in the main series was released exclusively for the Super NES in 1992, titled Super Double Dragon. It was the last game produced by the original team at Technōs.
The Game Gear game Double Dragon is not a port of the original arcade game, but is instead an entirely new entry in the series that has gameplay elements that are more similar to Streets of Rage.
In 1994, Tradewest released Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls for the Super NES and Genesis in North America and Europe, a fighting game developed by Leland Interactive based on the Double Dragon animated TV series by Bohbot Entertainment. A Jaguar version was released by Telegames as well.
Another fighting game produced by Technōs, simply titled Double Dragon, was released for the Neo Geo arcade and home console in 1995. A Neo Geo CD version was also released, as well as a PlayStation version by Urban Plant. It was the last Double Dragon game produced by Technōs before the company went out of business.
In 2003, a remake of the original Double Dragon, titled Double Dragon Advance, was produced by Atlus and Million (the copyrights holder of the Double Dragon series at the time) for the Game Boy Advance.
In 2009, a remake was released for the Zeebo, developed by Brizo Interactive and published by Tectoy.
In 2011, another remake was released for the iPhone, developed by Brizo Interactive and published by Aksys Games.
WayForward Technologies developed Double Dragon Neon, a self-parody of the series. The game was released on September 11, 2012, for the PlayStation 3 on PlayStation Network, one day later for the Xbox 360 on Xbox Live, and for PC in the first quarter of 2014.
Double Dragon II: Wander of the Dragons, a 3D remake of the original Double Dragon II, was released on the Xbox Live Arcade by game developer Gravity in April 2013.
A compilation of the three arcade titles, titled Double Dragon Trilogy, was released by DotEmu in 2013 for iOS, Android, GOG and Steam platforms.
In 2017, Double Dragon IV (not to be confused with Super Double Dragon) was released in January 2017, for the PlayStation 4 and PC, respectively, and September 7 for the Nintendo Switch. It takes place shortly after Double Dragon II: The Revenge and uses an 8-bit artstyle, similar to the NES ports of the earlier entries of the series. The title was developed by Arc System Works and former Technōs staff such as producer Takaomi Kaneko, director Yoshihisa Kishimoto, character designer Koji Ogata, composer Kazunaka Yamane and programmer Kei Oyama.
In 2023, a spin-off of the franchise, titled Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons, was announced for Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, and was released on July 27, 2023.
