Double Dragon (Neo-Geo)

SNK Neo-Geo MVS cart. published 30 years ago:

Double Dragon (c) 1995 Technos.

A head-to-head fighting game based on the 1994 Double Dragon movie, the game features a roster selectable which consists of "Double Dragon" alumni Billy, Jimmy, Marian, Abobo and Burnov, as well as 5 original characters as they enter a martial arts tournament to take out evil crime lord of Bloody Town, Koga Shuko. Unique features in the game includes destructible environments and a super move meter which fills out based on how much energy the player has left, giving weaker fighters a handicap. After defeating the default 10 fighters, the player faces Shuko's bodyguard, Duke, before fighting Shuko himself.

- TECHNICAL -

Runs on the SNK "Neo-Geo MVS" hardware.
Game ID : NGM-082

Players : 2
Control : 8-way joystick
Buttons : 4
=> [A] Light Attack [B] Medium Attack [C] Hard Attack [D] Extra Attack

- TRIVIA -

Released in February 1995. Double Dragon was Technos' first game for the Neo-Geo hardware. This game was based on the movie 'Double Dragon', which was, in turn, based on the 'Double Dragon series' of games.

The game features a combo counter like many fighting games, however this one is not always very accurate since it registers Cheng Fu's Super Dragon Kick technique (Forward Dragon Punch motion + 2 buttons with the charge meter filled) as a single hit! The original Double Dragon logo can be seen in the large white boat on Cheng Fu's stage!

Billy, Jimmy, Marian and Abobo are the only characters from the original 1987 "Double Dragon" game who were featured in both : the movie and this game. Billy and Jimmy have the ability to transform into more powerful counterparts like they did in the end of the movie, while Abobo turns into his mutated form for a brief moment when he does his 'Grow 'n Throw' super move. Marian is depicted as a female gang leader, much like her movie counterpart. Burnov was the first stage boss in "Double Dragon II - The Revenge", while Duke was the final boss in the Super NES game "Super Double Dragon", although neither character were in the movie. Koga Shuko, the game's final boss, was an original character from the film.

April Simmonds holds the official record for this game with 96,700 points on April 21, 2007.

Pony Canyon / Scitron released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Double Dragon - G.S.M 1500 - PCCB-00175) on March 17, 1995.

- UPDATES -

MVS (arcade) vs. Home (neo-geo) differences :
- Arcade : If you beat the game without losing a round you'll see a drawing of each character posing while the credits roll. If you beat using a continue you just see the credits rolling on the screen in one of the monitors that fell on the last boss.
- Home : Regardless if you use continues or not you will only get the credits that roll on the big monitor screen.

- TIPS AND TRICKS -

* Play As Duke / As Koga Shuko:
Go to the character selection screen and put the cursor on Billy, then Marian, then Chung Fu, then Jimmy for 3 seconds each. If done correctly you will hear the word 'Bingo!'.

* Alternate Costume Colors:
Press B, C or D when selecting a fighter.

- STAFF -

Voice: Hikaru Midorikawa (as Billy), Kaneto Shiozawa (as Jimmy / Amon), Yuka Koyama (as Marian), Daisuke Gōri (as Abobo / Burnov), Yukimasa Kishino (as Eddie), Keiko Han (as Rebecca), Yusaku Yara (as Dulton), Hisao Egawa (as Cheng Fu / Duke), Osamu Saka (Shuko), Miyako Endo (Narration)
Aoni Production: Yasuaki Sumi
Program: Tadamichi Obinata, Naoki Kashiwabara, Shinji Hirao, Yasuhiro Matsumoto
Graphic: Takumi Ishikawa, Seiichiro Ishiguro, Fujimi Ōnishi, Kazutaka Ōhashi, Satoshi Kazato, Takahide Koizumi, Chihiro Kushibe, Takeyoshi Suzuki, Katsuhiro Nakamura, Akiko Maruyama, Kazumi Minagawa, Koji Ogata, Kōji Yamada, Hideki Hoshiya
Planner: Muneki Ebinuma, Minoru Yamaguchi
Sound Program & Tools: Robert C. Ashworth
Sound Effects: Taku Urabe (credited as Taku)
Composer: Kiyomi Kataoka, Chiaki Iizuka, Reiko Uehara, Fumio Suzuki
Guitar: Osamu Sakai
Special Thanks: Toshiaki Tsugane, Kensuke Nishi, S. Yasuraoka (credited as Yasuraoka Special), Makoto Shigenobu, Teruo Ichimura, Kouji Matsuyama, Yukiko Yamashita
Genic: Akira Kitsuno, Keinosuke Akichi, Norihiko Yonesaka
Espo Corp.: Seiji Kawakatsu, Daisuke Hatakeyama, Kei Tamura
Madhouse: Yuji Takae
J.C. Staff: Tomoko Kawasaki, Eiichi Endō, Nobuko Ogino
Illustration: Tsuguyuki Kubo
Leader: Kazuyuki Kurata
Boss: Kunio Taki

- PORTS -

* CONSOLES:
[JP] [US] SNK Neo-Geo (mar.31, 1995) "Double Dragon [Model NGH-082]"
[JP] SNK Neo-Geo CD (june.2, 1995) "Double Dragon [Model NGCD-082]"
[US] SNK Neo-Geo CD (1995) "Double Dragon [Model NGCD-082E]"
[JP] Sony PlayStation (apr.26, 1996) "Double Dragon [Model SLPS-00191]"
[JP] Sony PlayStation (aug.10, 2011) "Double Dragon [PS1 Classics]"

- CONTRIBUTE -

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