Want to Play the Original Double Dragon?

The original Double Dragon was an arcade classic with ports to multiple consoles of the time. The most prominent port to me was on the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

The NES port was changed significantly from the arcade. The game was changed to an experience-based single player experience. Starting out, the player is limited to punches and kicks. Experience is denoted by the number of hearts. As the game progresses, the player gets additional moves with each successive heart.

The Sega Master System version was closer to the arcade original, with 2 player gameplay and without experience-based level-ups. The game is a lot of fun but the sheer amount of flicker really distracts from the experience.

Yesterday a new entry to the series was announced; Double Dragon Gaiden. It was designed to resemble a retro game but is still modern. It is scheduled to release this year for all major consoles.

If you want to play the NES version of Double Dragon, these are my recommendations:

1. Play it on the Nintendo Switch
2. If you can’t play the Switch version, play any of the collections that include the game.
3. Play the original cartridge