Double Dragon: Difference between revisions

''Double Dragon'' was followed by two arcade sequels and numerous home versions for various platforms. The three NES versions (along with the first two Game Boy games and the SNES-exclusive installment) were actually developed by Technos themselves, while most of the other versions were licensed out and developed by other companies. The series died out after Technos went out of business in 1996 (long after the beat-'em-up boom ended), despite attempts to adapt it into a [[Fighting Game]] format. The series was revived when Million Corp., a company founded by former Technos staff members, bought the IP. While the series is nowhere near as prevalent as it was back in the day, it still gets an occasional new game once in a while.

 

 

Games include:

* ''Super Double Dragon'' (1992, SNES)

** Released in Japan as ''Return of Double Dragon''. It was based on a [[Bad Export for You|later build than the American version]], but was [[Obvious Beta|still far from finished]].

** Ported to the Game Boy, Sega Genesis, and SNES.

* ''Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls'' (1994, SNES) - A Tradewest-developed one-on-one fighting game based on the animated series. Once again, Technos had very little involvement with this one.

* [[An Axe to Grind]] - Added to the arsenal of the weapons in the GBA version.

* [[Back From the Dead]] - {{spoiler|Marian in the NES ''Double Dragon II''.}}

* [[Bald of Evil]] - Abobo in the original game.

* [[Barrier-Busting Blow]] - Abobos and Burnovs punch through walls. The Lee Brothers themselves do this in the intro of PC-Engine version of ''II''.

* [[Counter Attack]] - The SNES game features an armlock move that allows the player to grab an enemy's arm by blocking his punches and then use the opportunity for multiple punches and kicks or a throw (which only works on some enemies). The Chen brothers can do the same to the player's kicks, while Duke can counter the armlock. In ''Advance'' this returns in form of nerfed catch and throw combo.

* [[Critical Existence Failure]] - Subverted a little, weakened enemies will be more vulnerable to certain attacks (head grab, stomp etc, etc.)and will take more time to recover but otherwise will continue fighting like nothing happened until they're knocked to the ground.

* [[Damn You, Muscle Memory!]]

** All versions of ''Double Dragon II'' use a direction-based attack system where one button attacks to the left and the other to the right, which Technos previously employed with ''Renegade''. This takes awhile to get used to players more accustomed to the original game, since one button does the standard punch combo and the other a back kick depending on the direction the player character is facing.

* [[Demoted to Dragon]] - In the first NES game , Machine Gun Willy goes from being the main bad guy to being the last enemy Billy fights before the final battle with his brother Jimmy. He doesn't even appear at all in the second NES game. Likewise, he's just a lackey to the Shadow Boss (who is not Jimmy like in the NES version, but a completely made-up character who vaguely resembles Burnov) in ''Battletoads & Double Dragon'', where they didn't even get his name right (he is called "Roper" instead).

* [[Deus Ex Machina]] - {{spoiler|Hiruko's death while trying to enter Cleopatra's tomb with only three Sacred Stones}} in the third NES game.

** The Famicom version of ''Double Dragon II'' allows the entire game to be played at any difficulty level, while the NES version restricts the game's length depending on the setting (3 stages on Practice, 8 on Warrior, and 9 on Supreme Master). The NES version also requires the player to input a cheat codes after getting a Game Over in order to continue, whereas the Famicom version had no such requirement. There are other specific differences between the two versions as well: traps are much easier in the Famicom version on the normal setting than in the NES version's equivalent setting (especially the disappearing platforms in Mission 6), but enemies have more health on the Famicom version's hardest setting.

** The Famicom version of ''Double Dragon III'' starts the player off with more health than in the NES version (10 hit points per character) and there are less enemies to fight. On the other hand, the ending is affected depending on which characters survive the final battle, whereas the NES version always plays the full ending.

** ''Super Double Dragon'' has no adjustable difficulty settings, in contrast to its Super Famicom counterpart ''Return of Double Dragon'', which had three settings (Easy, Normal, and Hard). However the SNES version is harder than the SFC version set on Hard. The SNES version is missing some of the extra moves in the SFC version, like the ability to switch weapons or catch your boomerangs, while the Hurricane Kick only strikes an enemy once instead of the multiple hits it does in the SFC version. Moreover, dynamites and knives are more lethal in the SNES version, and the enemy placement is different, with more recycled boss characters than in the Super Famicom version. However, the SFC version adds two extra areas to the final stage, making it a bit longer.

* [[Direct Continuous Levels]]: The first two arcade games. Missions 1 throughout 3 are set one after the other, with no cut-aways in-between. It is isn't until reaching the entrance to the enemy's hideout that the game switches to a new level.

* [[Divergent Character Evolution]] - Billy and Jimmy in the SNES game, where not only their sprites are different (rather than just being palette swaps of each other like in previous games, they started sporting different hair styles), but their basic punches and kicks were different as well.

* [[Divorced Installment]]

* [[Elevator Action Sequence]] - ''Return of Double Dragon'' has one, as does the PC-Engine version of ''II''.

* [[Epic Flail]] - Lindas from ''II'' use these and Ropers use something that looks like a flail boomerang in the NES version. If the game has a nunchaku, then it's usually the most powerful weapon.

* [[Evil Counterpart]] - Chen Ron-Fu and Chen Ron-Pyo, the Double Dragons from Chinatown in ''Super Double Dragon'', as well as their [[Expy|expies]], Hong and Wong, the Two Tigers from ''Double Dragon Advance''

* [[Evolving Attack]] - The first NES game gives Billy new moves as he gains experience points from fighting enemies.

* [[The Great Politics Mess-Up]] - The back-story for the earlier games establishes that the reason why gangs have taken over New York is because of a nuclear war that occurred in [[Exty Years From Now|199X]], just like ''[[Fist of the North Star]]''.

** The PC-Engine version of ''II'', released in 1993, establishes that despite the end of the Cold War someone still launched a nuke, starting a war.

* [[Hammerspace]] - The Knife and explosive throwing mooks never run out of supplies.

* [[Head Swap]]

* [[Simple Staff]] - The staff in the SNES game.

* [[Sinister Shades]] - Abore in the Arcade and PC-Engine version of ''II'', Carlem in the SNES game and the Agent Smith-rendition of Steve in ''Advance''.

** Rowper, one of the enemy [[Mooks]], had his name spelled as "Lopar" in the translated manual for the NES version. However, the character's name is actually meant to be a reference to John Saxon's character "Roper" from ''[[Enter the Dragon]]''. The name "Roper" and "Lopar" are also used for two different enemies in ''Battletoads & Double Dragon'' and neither resemble the Rowper from the original game ([[Did Not Do the Research|one of them being a misnamed Machine Gun Willy]]).

** Linda's name is spelled "[[Japanese Ranguage|Rinda]]" in the promotional brochure for the Famicom version.

* [[Spiritual Successor]] - ''Rage of the Dragons'' was intended to actually be a sequel to the previous Neo-Geo game, but because Evoga (the developers) were unable to secure the rights to the ''Double Dragon'' franchise, the game is instead a loose [[Homage]], starring brothers Billy and Jimmy Lewis instead of Lee, plus an Abobo-like sub-boss named Abubo.

** ''Double Dragon'' itself was a spiritual successor to ''Renegade''.

* [[Stuff Blowing Up]] - Various explosives for everyone to throw at someone they don't like.

* [[Stuffed in The Fridge]] - The second arcade game begins exactly the same way as the first game... Only instead of being kidnapped, Marian is gunned down to death by Machine Gun Willy. Ouch!