Enter the dragon

We all take some things for granted. We assume that the sun will rise in the morning, that the road back home will be spread thickly with traffic jam, and that it will rain on weekends. All anticipated things which make life a little predictable.

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And, when playing an action or shoot ‘em up game – from the tinniest to the most advanced – we all expect collaborative gameplay and to be able to take an enemy’s weapon after disarming them.

We owe all this to Double Dragon. Developed by Technos Japan, Double Dragon was released in 1987 and immediately became a massive hit worldwide.

The story line is quite simple and is the same as that in any martial arts film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme – you control twin brothers Billy and Jimmy Lee (Bruce must be a distant cousin) as they battle the Black Warriors gang to rescue lovely maid Marian. Once this was achieved, you would have to face a cruel twist of family fate and fight your brother for Marian’s affection.

Yet it wasn’t this story line that bubbled up Double Dragon’s success – rather, it was the kind of gameplay that no teenage boy’s bedroom walls had ever witnessed before.

First, there was the two-player cooperative gameplay – if your Billy got knocked on the head, Jimmy could rush in to your rescue with flying fists and plenty of pixellated anger.

Then there was the variety of moves you could perform – apart from the basic kick, jump and punch combo, you could also punch with your elbows and even grab your opponent’s hair. You could also arm your player with your enemy’s weapon after you had beaten him senseless. Here, the variety of weapons was thrilling, from knives, dynamite sticks and steel bats to objects from the game’s environment such as oil drums, boxes and rocks.

Several spinoffs, arcade and home versions followed for most platforms, including Sega Master System, Atari and Commodore models, Game Boy and Nintendo. Even recently, in a bout of gameplay nostalgia, we’ve seen the release of Double Dragon for Xbox 360 and iPhone. These latest releases feature new artwork, online score ranking and Bluetooth multiplayer connectivity, yet the vintage charm of the original Double Dragon is still there.