Double Dragon (series)

is a classic beat 'em up video game series initially developed by Technos Japan Corporation, who also developed the Kunio-kun series (Renegade, Super Dodge Ball and River City Ransom).

The series stars twin brothers, Billy and Jimmy Lee, who are followers of a fictional martial art called Sōsetsuken (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.

Titles
The original Double Dragon by Technos was first released as a coin-operated arcade game in. A Nintendo Entertainment System version also produced by Technos was released the following year, followed by a Game Boy version in. Various licensed versions of the games were also produced by other developers for various gaming platforms such as the Master System, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Genesis, and the Lynx. Versions of Double Dragon for home computers were also released as well.

Two Double Dragon sequels were released for the arcade: Double Dragon II: The Revenge in and Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone in. Like the original, Technos also produced versions of both for the NES in and  respectively. A fourth game was released exclusively for the Super NES titled Super Double Dragon, which was the last game produced by the original team at Technos which retained the beat-'em-up gameplay of the original.

In, Tradewest released Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls for the Super NES and Genesis in North America and Europe, a competitive 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 was produced by Technos, simply titled Double Dragon, was released for the Neo-Geo arcade and home console in. 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 Technos before the company went out of business.

In, a remake of the original Double Dragon, titled Double Dragon Advance, was produced by Atlus and Million (the current copyrights holder of the Double Dragon series) for the Game Boy Advance.

Other appearances and related games

 * Super Spike V'Ball (NES) - The NES version which features Billy and Jimmy as playable characters.
 * WWF Superstars (arcade) - Features a cameo by Billy as one of the game's spectators.
 * River City Ransom (NES) - The Double Dragon theme music plays during the battle against Randy and Andy, two characters based on Billy and Jimmy. The Japanese counterparts of Randy and Andy, Ryūichi and Ryūji, are recurring characters in the later Kunio-kun games.
 * Battletoads & Double Dragon (NES, GB, Genesis, SNES) - A crossover game between Double Dragon and the Battletoads.
 * Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer (Neo-Geo) - Burnov from the Neo-Geo Double Dragon game makes a cameo as Captain Atlantis' opponent in his ending.
 * Rage of the Dragons (Neo-Geo) - An unofficial homage to the Double Dragon produced by Evoga and Noise Factory. The main characters are named Billy and Jimmy Lewis.

Related media
A Double Dragon comic book limited series loosely based on the games was published by Marvel Comics in, which lasted six issues from July to December. The comic book was written by Dwayne McDuffie for the first four issues and by Tom Brevoort and Mike Kanterovich for the final two.

A Double Dragon animated series was produced by DiC Entertainment and Bohbot Productions, which originally aired in syndication for two seasons from 1993 to 1995, lasting 26 episodes.

A film version of Double Dragon was released in theaters in 1994 directed by James Yukich and starring Scott Wolf and Mark Dacascos as the Lee brothers.

Recurring elements
In most of the Double Dragon games, the player takes control of a martial artist named Billy Lee (who usually wears blue), or his elder twin brother Jimmy Lee (who usually wears red), as they fight off against various gang members thorough the streets of a city and various other locations. The gameplay in most of the games takes place in a pseudo 3D perspective like in Renegade and later beat-'em-ups, in which the player character can move in four directions but are always facing left or right. There are various techniques. The player can perform a variety of martial art techniques against their enemies, as well use melee weapons such as baseball bats and throwing knives normally obtained from enemies. In some installments, there are techniques that can be done in combination with another player.

According to the supplementary materials for some of the games, the fictional martial art style of Billy and Jimmy is named Sōsetsuken (双截拳), a nod to Bruce Lee's fighting method of Jeet Kune Do, also known as the "Way of the Intercepting Fist". Additionally, some of the enemy characters take their names from Enter the Dragon such as Williams and Rowper from the first game, as well as Bolo and Ohara in certain versions of Double Dragon II: The Revenge.