Double Dragon

Double Dragon (NES) is a side-scrolling beat 'em up developed by Technōs Japan and released for Famicom in 1988, ported from the 1987 arcade original. Inspired by Bruce Lee and Jeet Kune Do, it is one of the founding classics of the brawler genre. Set in a post-apocalyptic ruined city, the Black Warriors gang kidnaps Billy Lee’s girlfriend Marian. Billy sets out on a journey to rescue her. Unlike the arcade version, the NES port removes simultaneous two-player co-op and uses turn-based alternating two-player gameplay. It introduces a unique level-up system: earn experience in combat to rank up to level 7, unlocking uppercuts, spin kicks, throws and advanced combat moves gradually. Players can pick up melee weapons including bat, whip, knife and dynamite, and move between upper and lower terrain layers. There are four stages: city alley, factory, forest maze and enemy hideout. The forest stage features a looping maze; wrong turns trap you in infinite cycles. After defeating the gun-wielding boss Willy, the secret final boss Jimmy Lee, Billy’s twin brother, appears for the true final fight. Iconic foes include the giant brute Abobo. With gritty pixel art and satisfying hit feedback, it was bundled widely on Subor multicarts and influenced generations of later brawler games, standing as a legendary Famicom classic for retro gamers.

These are the default keys. Click the gamepad icon 🎮 in the player’s bottom toolbar to rebind them. Gamepads are detected automatically. On phones you get on-screen buttons.

1P

2P

The NES was always two-player — 2P uses the numeric keypad, and NumLock does not matter. No numpad? Rebind 2P to other keys in the 🎮 panel.