Double Dragon

Reviewed by Winston Wolf (October 10, 2010)

What ensues is a left to right adventure where Billy, and optionally Jimmy, will match fists with an alarming number of people that have no need for shirts with sleeves. During the first stage, a woman in purple spandex emerges from a doorway cracking a whip. A gargantuan mountain of a man crashes through a brick wall looking to kick your ass. A gang member whips out a knife to sling, which Billy can block, pick up, and fire right back at his throat. Every beat ‘em up for years after copied these identical ideas, and they didn’t copy them from Renegade. They copied them from mission one of Double Dragon.

Reviewed by Sho (July 21, 2004)

You’ve got to give Activision credit for ignoring both the hardware’s obvious limitations and a dose of common sense to throw caution to the wind and attempt it anyway. Pity that you can’t give them credit for the game itself.

Reviewed by aganar (Date unavailable)

Every so often in a system's life, a game comes that creates a new genre. This is that game. The game that started the beat'em-up genre is here. And it's waiting for you....it's name is Double Dragon. For it's time it was spectacular, even now I still play it every so often. Not to mention it was one of the first games with multiplayer.

Reviewed by joseph_valencia (July 16, 2009)

“Double Dragon” is a fair brawler. For one of the earliest entries in this genre, that’s not bad. Compared to the execrable arcade version, it fairs even better. But put it next to a game like “Mighty Final Fight” or “Ninja Turtles III,” and “Dragon” demonstrates some wear. It’s not as technically competent as the former or as inventive as the latter. Such is often the condition of being “first.” A game like this can start a genre, but it’s one thing to do that and another to remain relevant as ...

Reviewed by pickhut (January 20, 2013)

For a game I haven't played that much during childhood, Double Dragon for the NES is a title whose details I can still remember vividly to this day without a problem.