The beat'em up that popularized the genre on console. Billy and Jimmy Lee vs. the Black Warriors gang. Co-op mode is legendary. A bit rough today but the magic is still perceptible.
Your verdict
Category
Beat-'Em-Up2 players12+
Description
Beat-'em-up featuring Billy and Jimmy Lee battling the Shadow Warriors in the streets. Published by Technos Japan, released in Europe in 1988. Billy and Jimmy in side-scrolling view with punches, kicks and picked-up weapons and two-player co-op. European version of the first Double Dragon on NES.
Double Dragon review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
2/5
Story
★★★★★
"Classic"
Gameplay
"Solid"
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
Roaming hostile streets with fists, feet and a bat wrenched from an enemy: this beat-'em-up laid the foundations of a whole genre. Hitting, grabbing, throwing delivers a direct, cathartic satisfaction. With two players, cleaning out the slums turns into shared joy, despite a friendly scramble for the last foe. A snappy, cult pillar.
The European NES version of the first Double Dragon, issued by Tradewest, carries genre-classic status. Its PAL print run, smaller than NTSC, makes this the trickier edition to find complete, especially with the original box intact. Values stay reasonable but are buoyed by the enduring reputation of the Technos license and the thinner supply across the European market.
Is Double Dragon still worth playing in 2026?
A port of Technos's cult beat-em-up, Double Dragon sends brothers Billy and Jimmy Lee to clean up the streets bare-handed and with picked-up weapons, to save Marian from the Shadow Warriors. The combat system, the varied techniques and the urban mood founded the genre, and their effectiveness stays real. The NES version curtails simultaneous two-player, frustrating for a beat-em-up. A founding monument of the beat-em-up, to be savored by fans of retro action and the curious about the genre's origins.
