Double Dragon

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Double Dragon (ダブルドラゴン or 双截龍 in kanji) is a classic beat 'em up video game series initially developed by Technos Japan Corporation, who also developed the Nekketsu Koha Kunio-kun series. The original game was designed by Yoshihisa Kishimoto, who originally conceived the game as a Kunio-kun sequel using the localized version (Renegade) as a basis. The game was heavily influenced by martial arts films, especially those of Bruce Lee's such as Enter the Dragon, with the post apocalyptic setting based on the popular anime Hokuto No Ken. The recently released Double Dragon Advance was planned by Muneki Ebinuma, who previously designed Super Double Dragon and was also involved in Double Dragon '95 as a fight choreographer.

The series stars twin brothers, Billy and Jimmy Lee, who are masters of a fictional martial art called Sou-Setsu-Ken (双截拳), as they fight against various adversaries and rivals. Double Dragon has had several sequels and has been ported to several different platforms. Due to the popularity of the game series, an animated series and live-action film adaptation have also been produced.

Contents 1 Overview 1.1 The original arcade trilogy 1.2 Home versions 1.3 Later sequels 1.4 Complete game list 2 Other appearances 3 Characters 4 Adaptations to other media 4.1 Comic Book 4.2 Animated Series 4.3 Live-action movie 5 Trivia 6 External links

[edit] Overview

[edit] The original arcade trilogy

The series made its debut at the arcades with the original Double Dragon in 1987. The game was distributed by Technos themselves in Japan and by Taito in North America and Europe. It was the first beat-em-up to feature two-player co-op gameplay and weapons that could be taken from the enemy and used on its own. In addition, some stages were filled with traps and obstacles that the player had to overcome.

Its success led Technos to create a sequel titled Double Dragon II: The Revenge in 1989, which was essentially an updated version of the original. Improvements include updated graphics character designs, new bosses for each stage and a two-way attacking system.

The third arcade installment was Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone, released in 1990. Although it was distributed by Technos, the actual game was developed externally by a companny called East Technology (Operation Wolf 3, Silent Dragon). Two distinct versions were made. The version released in American and Europe feature a Forgotten Worlds-style shopping system where player could purchase new characters and other power-ups by inserting additional tokens, while the later Japanese version removed this feature and allowed players to choose their character from the start. Despite being the only three-player Double Dragon game, this version was not as well-received as the first two installments.

[edit] Home versions

The popularity of the Double Dragon games at the arcades naturally led Technos to develop their own home versions of the games for the Nintendo Entertainment System the years following their arcade release, including Double Dragon III (which unlike the arcade version, was actually developed in-house by Technos). These home versions were not direct ports of the arcade games, but were more like adaptations, taking a few liberties with the gameplay, stage designs, enemy rosters and even plot elements. For example, the first Double Dragon was single-player only and featured a learning system where player could only perform certain moves by earning experience points and increasing in level. Technos also developed a Game Boy version of the first Double Dragon.

Technos also granted the Double Dragon license to other developers. Some of the most notable versions include the Sega Master System version of the first game (which has often been compared favorably to its NES counterpart) and the PC Engine version of Double Dragon II (essentially an enhanced port of the NES version).

In North America and Europe, the NES and Game Boy versions of the first game was published by Tradewest, giving them the worldwide licensing rights to produce other home versions and merchandise based on the first game. However, with the second and third games, the international publishing rights outside Japan went to Acclaim. Tradewest still produced computer versions of the two sequels.

[edit] Later sequels

The fourth game in the series, Super Double Dragon (aka Return of Double Dragon), was made directly for the SNES and was developed in-house by Technos. It was released in 1992. Unlike the NES sequels, the North American and European versions were published by Tradewest once again. It would also be the last Double Dragon to remain true to the series' beat-em-up roots for awhile.

Tradewest, the publisher of the Double Dragon series in North America, would go on to produce a Double Dragon sequel on their own titled Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls without Technos' involvement. It was a competitive fighting game based on the Double Dragon animated series airing at the time. It was published 1994 and released for the SNES, Sega Mega Drive and Atari Jaguar.

Technos later developed their own one-on-one fighting game version based on the franchise, simply titled Double Dragon, which was loosely based on the movie. It was published in 1995 and released for the Neo Geo and later PlayStation.

Technos would go out of business in 1996 and a company named Million Corp eventually picked up the rights to the company's intellectual properties in 2002. Million would develop an enhanced remake of the original arcade game titled Double Dragon Advance for the Game Boy Advance, released in 2003 by Atlus, giving the series a brief revival. The original arcade game is being ported to Xbox Live Arcade soon, but it remains to be seen whether the company plans to publish future installments.

[edit] Complete game list

• Double Dragon
• Double Dragon II: The Revenge
• Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone (aka Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones)
• Super Double Dragon (aka Return of Double Dragon)
• Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls (unofficial sequel)
• Double Dragon (Neo Geo)
• Double Dragon Advance

[edit] Other appearances

Billy and Jimmy Lee appeared as playable characters in the beach volleyball game Super Spike V'Ball, an NES version of Technos U.S. Championship V'Ball. As beach ball players, they have the best defense in the game, but relatively weak power.

Billy Lee also made a cameo appearance as a crowd member in the Technos arcade game WWF Superstars.

In Technos' River City Ransom, two characters clearly patterned after Billy and Jimmy, named Randy and Andy, appeared as bosses and they utilized the same fighting techniques as the Lee brothers. In the Japanese version (Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari), they were known as Ryuichi and Ryuji Hattori and would become recurring characters thorough many Kunio-kun games.

The Lee brothers also appeared in the Rare-developed crossover game Battletoads & Double Dragon. However, like Double Dragon V, Technos were not involved in the production and there are several inconsistancies with how the Double Dragon cast were represented.

The Neo-Geo game Rage of the Dragons was developed as a spin-off to the Double Dragon games, but is not a direct sequel.

[edit] Characters

• Billy Lee - The hero of the series and younger half of the titular duo. Billy began his martial arts training along with his brother at an early age, mastering several fighting styles and techniques as he grew up until he reached adulthood, when he became the Sou-Setsu-Ken succesor. Since he is the main character, Billy's role is often assigned to the first player and usually wears a blue outfit. He had blond hair in the original Arcade versions, but was subsequently changed to brown hair in the main home versions. According to the instruction manual in the Japanese version of Super Double Dragon, Billy is a master of the Northern-style of Sou-Setsu-Ken, which teaches flexible techniques. Billy's favorite weapon is the nunchaku.

• Jimmy Lee - Billy's older brother and the assistant instructor of their dojo, where they teach the Sou-Setsu-Ken art form to students. In the original Double Dragon, Jimmy was secretly in love with Billy's girlfriend, Marian, a rivalry which would lead to a battle between the brothers at the end of the game. Jimmy's role in the series is usually that of the second player and wears a red outfit. He originally had brown hair in the arcade versions, but was changed to blond hair in the home versions. He was also given a different hairstyle to set the character apart visually from Billy. In Super Double Dragon, Jimmy uses the Southern-style of Sou-Setsu-Ken, which specializes in strong techniques. His preferred weapons are the bo (in Super) and kali sticks (in Advance).

• Sonny Lee - A third Lee brother who appeared as a playable character in the arcade version of Double Dragon III and has not been seen since.

• Marian Kelly - Billy's girlfriend. The earlier games originally conceived Marian as a female martial arts instructor, but her abilities were rarely shown and she usually played the role of a damsel in distress within the games. Later games in the series made her into a policewoman and then as a leader of a positive street gang, based on her portrayal in the Double Dragon cartoon and movie respectively. Her canonical full name, Marian Kelly, is revealed in the Japanese version of Super Double Dragon (Return of Double Dragon) throughout the manual, although she also bore the surnames of Steele, Delario and Martin in the various adaptations outside the games.

• Abobo - A big, strong, muscle-bound thug and arguably the series' most recognizable villain. Abobo first appeared as the first stage boss in the original Double Dragon. Since then, various head swapped and palette swapped versions of the character have appeared through the series, such as Bolo, Oharra and Mibobo (the official name of the Green Abobo in Double Dragon Advance). He was also a playable character in the Neo-Geo version of Double Dragon and is the only villain from the actual games that has appeared in both the Double Dragon cartoon and movie. Abobo often uses high-damaging punches, over-the-shoulder alley-oop throws (known as the "Dynamite Throw"), even sometimes grab objects and throw them (like Roper did, but only in arcade versions). Some Aboboes are stronger than others.

• Willy Mackey - Leader and "Big Boss" of the Black Warriors and the final boss in the first Double Dragon and in the arcade version of Double Dragon II. Unlike other enemies in the series who fight the Lee's with martial arts or melee weapons, Willy is armed with a machine gun. His gang is renamed the Shadow Warriors in Double Dragon Advance.

• Mysterious Warrior - In the NES version of Double Dragon II, he is the leader of an armed group (sometime referred as the Shadow Warriors in the localized versions) which includes the remnants of the Black Warriors. He uses the deadly fighting style of Gen-Satsu-Ken (幻殺拳), an evil counterpart of Sou-Setsu-Ken.

• Duke - In Super Double Dragon, he leads the Shadow Warriors and is a former childhood friend of the Lee brothers. His other appearance was in the Neo-Geo Double Dragon game, where he served as Koga Shuko's bodyguard.

• Linda - In the original Double Dragon, she was the lone female member of the Black Warriors. She would usually attack in groups with one or more of the Black Warriors wielding a whip. In Double Dragon II, the whip is replaced with a chain, and the blonde haired Linda now sports a red mohawk.

• Williams - The wild-haired looking character from the original Double Dragon who has a very strong jump kick. He was very handy with a knife, baseball bat, or dynamite in the game. He was also a member of the Black Warriors who would fight along side another Black Warrior, Roper.

• Roper - Another member of the Black Warriors who has a bulldog like face and would attack with a boulder, crate, oil drum, or sometimes dynamite. Roper is slightly stronger and takes slightly a bit more punishment than Williams, though he fights along side with Williams and Linda. There are also instances where he fights alongside Abobo, and in the arcade game, sometimes he might use knives. He appears in Double Dragon, Double Dragon II, Super Double Dragon.

• Jeff - the Black Warrior from the arcade version of Double Dragon who was know to be a deadly karate expert but fights like Billy and Jimmy. Jeff made reappearences in the arcade version of Double Dragon II and Super Double Dragon.

• Chin Taimei - A character, also known as Chintai, who was the replacement character for Jeff in the NES version of Double Dragon. He was an expert of various martial arts including kung fu and kenpo. Chin had a body like Bolo Yeung but hair like John Lennon of The Beatles. In Double Dragon II Chin uses kali sticks to attack with instead of his hands. In Double Dragon II, Chin appears in both the Arcade and NES versions, plus Chin had higher priority over the Lee brothers so that players would have a harder time beating Chin Taimei. In Double Dragon Advance, Taimei appeared in his Double Dragon II form, but is renamed Chen Wangyu (陳王羽) in this version and has a bald counterpart named Chen Yuangui (陳元圭).

• Chin Seimei (陳清明)- A Chinese fighter who appears in both, the Arcade and NES version of Double Dragon III. He is the younger brother of Chin Taimei from the previous games. Unlike the appearance of his brother, Chin Seimei is stocky, has a Fu Manchu mustache and wears blue-colored Chinese attire. In the arcade version, Seimei is a playable character along with Taimei (who is a red-clad palette-swap of Seimei in this game) and Sinmei (in yellow). He appears by himself in the NES version as the boss of Stage 2 (replacing the Bruce Lee-lookalike from the arcade version) before becoming a playable character. His fighting styles are Tai Chi Chuan and Mouko Ganzanken, and uses an Iron Claw as a weapon in the NES version.

• Burnov - A very big masked character who has very long range. His attacks have high priority and if he's close enough, will grab the Lee brothers by the collar and drain their energy quick. Burnov appears in both the Arcade and NES versions of Double Dragon II and is playable in the Neo Geo fighting game.

• Abore - A big man with long reach, super-damaging attacks, and a slap that knocks the Lee brothers into the canvas in one slap. He wears dress pants, dress shoes, and glasses. Abore only shows up in the Arcade version of Double Dragon II.

• The Ninjas - Characters from the NES version of Double Dragon II who are really difficult to defeat. They have very fast speed, they use acrobatic movements to evade the Lee brothers, plus they use shurikens that can be used in a variety of applications. One of the tougher enemies in the entire franchise.

• Migiude - Japanese for Right Arm. A nameless expert kickboxer who appears in the NES version of Double Dragon II. His attacks are hard and can send you flying in the air.

• Yagyu Ranzou (柳生乱蔵) - A white-clad ninja warrior who appears as the Japanese boss in the NES and Arcade versions of Double Dragon III. He utilizes a ninja blade and shuriken; and he also moves about at very fast speeds. He eventually joins the party as a playable character once he is defeated in Japan. Ranzou is called Amon in the Neo Geo Double Dragon fighting game.

• Hiruko - A Japanese fortune teller who initially befriends the Lee brothers in both, the Arcade and NES versions of Double Dragon III. She pretends to be on the Lee brothers' side at first, but it is later revealed that she is actually working for her own selfish interests.

[edit] Adaptations to other media

Due to the popularity of the Double Dragon games, Tradewest lent the brand name to various tie-ins in the US, including adaptions of the game in media outside of the games themselves. Unfortunately, these adaptions strayed from their source material and were very unpopular as a result, with the Lee brothers often depicted as superheroes who inherited their powers from artifacts such as swords or amulets (depending on the adaption) instead of being skilled martial artists like in the games.

[edit] Comic Book

During the latter half of 1991, Marvel Comics published a six-issue limited series (22 pages each) based on Double Dragon. This was the first of several Double Dragon tie-ins produced in the U.S. under license by Tradewest. Written by Dwayne McDuffie for the first four issues and by Tom Brevoort and Mike Kanterovich during the last two issues. In the comic, Billy and Jimmy were the inheritor of a supernatural force known as the "Dragon Force" and the first twins to share this power. Their main adversary in the comic was a demonic mob boss named Nightfall, who was previously a close friend of their parents and was responsible for their mother's death. The comic also featured Marian as a policewoman, a role she would later take in Super Double Dragon, as well as in the cartoon series. The most humorous or saddest aspect of the comic book, depending on how you look at it, was the introduction of Billy and Jimmy's long-lost father, a character by the name of Stan who bears the likeness of Stan Lee, although Stan's full name is never mentioned in the comic.

[edit] Animated Series

Main article: Double Dragon (TV series)

The Double Dragon animated series was produced by DiC Entertainment and ran for 26 half-hour episodes between 1993 and 1995. The premise of the show had the Lee brothers separated at birth, with Billy being raised by a wiseman known as the Eldest Dragon. In contrast, his brother Jimmy was raised by the evil Shadow Master to become his right-hand man. As a result, the Lee brothers met each other as adversaries after being reunited as adults. However, by the end of the second episode, Jimmy is betrayed by the Shadow Master, which leads the brothers to set aside their difference and fight against the greater evil. The Lee brothers made use of magical swords which contained special powers and added dragon masks to the brothers' outfit. During the course of the series, the brothers recruited allies in their war against the Shadow Master (voiced by Jim Byrnes) and his henchmen, in the second season gaining stronger magical weapons when the Shadow Master harnessed the strength of the even more evil Shadow Kahn to increase his power. The search for their father, John Lee, was a running subplot throughout the series. The voices of Billy and Jimmy were provided by Michael Donovan and Scott McNeil respectively. The theme song was written by the composer of Stuart Little Alan Silvestri. The first episode could be considered an adaption of the first game, with Abobo (the most known boss of the game), Willy (the main boss of the arcade version) and Jimmy Lee (revealing himself as the "Shadow Boss", being the main boss as in the NES adaption) as villains. However, Abobo and Willy were trapped in the main villain's "Shadow Mural" early on and never seen again.

[edit] Live-action movie

Main article: Double Dragon (film)

In 1994, a live-action Double Dragon movie was produced starring Mark Dacascos as Jimmy Lee and Scott Wolf as Billy Lee, along with Alyssa Milano as Marian Delario. [1] In the movie, the twins are only described as brothers, presumably to explain the differences in ethnicity. It was directed by James Yukich and written by the team of Paul Dini (of Batman: The Animated Series and others) and Neal Shusterman. Reviews by critics, such as the review of the movie by the Washington Post were not favorable. The movie was also shunned by fans and public opinion alike.

When the brothers are fighting and Jimmy is possessed by Shuko, the villain, there is a close-up of Billy, and behind him you can clearly see the Double Dragon arcade game.

The Jackie Chan movie The Twin Dragons (1992) includes "Double Dragon" as an alternate title, according to the IMDB, although it is completely unrelated to the video game series.

[edit] Trivia

• The three Kanji characters which composed the game's title screen logo (双截龍) stands for twin (as in twin brothers), intercept (or kicking in Cantonese) and dragon. Normally, the characters together would be pronounced "sousetsuryuu" in Japanese, however this pronouncation is rarely used over the more conventional daburudoragon (ダブルドラゴン). The fighting style used by the Lee brothers is known as Sou-Setsu-Ken (双截拳) and is modeled loosely after Jeet Kune Do (截拳道).

• The primary setting in the early Double Dragon games was New York City. This was changed to Los Angeles in Super Double Dragon and in the later Neo-Geo game (which in turn was based on the movie, also set in a fictional version of L.A. known as New Angeles).

• British band DragonForce made a short cover of half of the Double Dragon theme in their song "Black Fire."

• In Finland and Sweden the NES version of Double Dragon II: The Revenge was available only by rental due to its violent nature. Double Dragon I for NES never appeared in Scandinavia; only the Game Boy version was released there.

• Rockstar Games pays an homage to Double Dragon in "The Warriors" with an unlockable mini-game called "Armies of the Night." Billy and Jimmy are replaced by Swan and Ajax.

• The band The Minibosses do a cover of Double Dragon in their song Stronghold.

• In an episode of Malcolm in the Middle, Malcolm and his classmates talk about how they have "The Legendary Double Dragon IV: The Sacred Stones" for the "old Nintendo". The numbering is an obvious mistake and most likely referred to Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones, which was the title of the NES version of Double Dragon 3.

• In order to comply with Nintendo of America's decency standards, Marian's character cover art of the NES North American release of Double Dragon II had to be retouched with a longer skirt and a red blouse [2]. This is in contrast to the Japanese release where Marian is wearing a considerably shorter skirt and a see-through blouse [3].

• In Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, a Computer RPG made by the now defunct Troika Games, a reference is made in the health clinic patient records to a patient by the name of "Abobo" that died of head trauma inflicted by a Baseball bat.

• In many Double Dragon games the initials TJC are visible in certain objects, an obvious reference to the Technos Japan Corporation, the developers of the game.

• In the remake Double Dragon Advance, there are Bruce Lee posters during the China Town level.

• Billy and Jimmy Lee's Northern style and Southern style could be based on the Chinese Martial Art "Southern fist and Northern Leg" idea where north of China use alot of flexible leg technique while south of China use strong fist technique. Also it could be a tribute to Fist of the North Star where the hero Kenshiro and his brothers uses Hokuto Shinken (God Fist of the North Dipper), while his rival Shin and other characters uses Nanto Seiken (Holy Fist of the South Dipper).

• In Technos Kunio-kun, there are two characters by the name of Ryuichi and Ryuji Hattori that were clearly patterned after Billy and Jimmy Lee, including their special techniques. In River City Ransom, the American version of Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari, their names were changed to Randy and Andy.

• In the NES version of Double Dragon III, when a 2-Player Game is selected, Billy's name is misspelled as "Bimmy" in the game's opening intro.

• In the low-budget 2003 movie Haggard, Naked Dave has this weird house with video games in it. Double Dragon is one of them. Mark Hanna is playing Double Dragon in this scene, he wins, and screams, "DOUBLE THE FUCK DRAGON!"

[edit] External links

• The Double Dragon Dojo
• Double Dragon Advance from Atlus.com
• Double Dragon at MobyGames
• Double Dragon at The Killer List of Video Games
• Double Dragon at Neo-Geo.com (review) 1
• Double Dragon at GameFAQs

• Double Dragon II at MobyGames
• Double Dragon II at The Killer List of Video Games
• Double Dragon II at GameFAQs

• Double Dragon 3 at MobyGames
• Double Dragon 3 at The Killer List of Video Games
• Double Dragon 3 at GameFAQs

• Double Dragon (Neo-Geo) at MobyGames
• Double Dragon (Neo-Geo) at The Killer List of Video Games
• Double Dragon (Neo-Geo) at GameFAQs

• Arcade-History.com entry for Double Dragon
• IMDb entry on Double Dragon
• Category at ODP
• Double Dragon TV.com
• Double Dragon AIM Buddy Icons