1987-04-22
Double Dragon is a landmark brawler that introduced scrolling levels, items, and simultaneous two-player gameplay, changing the genre forever. Although Renegade came out first, Double Dragon was the first internationally successful brawler. Its unprecedented co-op gameplay, expansive movesets, and iconic soundtrack allowed it to dominate the arcade beat 'em up scene for several years and solidify its status as a cultural phenomenon. To this day it remains one of the most widely recognized brawlers.
As of 2014, Double Dragon has been ported to over 20 platforms, ranging from old computers like ZX Spectrum to Android. A Double Dragon live action movie was released in 1994. It was critically panned and followed the game's story and characters only very loosely. Technōs attempted to convert Double Dragon to a fighting game, twice. There's Double Dragon on the Neo Geo and Double Dragon V: Shadow Falls on the SNES. There's also a Neo Geo fighting game called Rage of the Dragons which was supposed to be a DD fighting game but got the license dropped during development. For some reason, thrown items like crates and barrels make the game lag considerably. Try to throw them offscreen to increase the framerate.
Despite being a landmark brawler, I kinda hate playing Double Dragon. Despite its huge (although wildly imbalanced) moveset, stiff challenge, and extremely iconic OST, this game is dragged down by a single glaring flaw: it lags constantly. Whenever there are too many enemies onscreen, or just a single barrel, the action slows down to an unbearable crawl.
