While most Double Dragon enthusiasts will no doubt be familiar with Super Double Dragon, some may not be aware that its Japanese counterpart was a fair bit different. Also released in 1992, Return of Double Dragon was basically Super Double Dragon+, featuring additional levels, different playable characters (who also have unique moves) and a rearranged soundtrack exclusive to the version. Suffice to say, this version never left Japan and Americans got a raw deal.
If this makes you irrationally angry and keeps you up most nights, fret not! Retroism (which is a division of Tommo Inc) is re-releasing Return of Double Dragon on original hardware for the first time in the states. Slated for release on the 19th of July, it will come in a new box with a red cartridge for the first run. Naturally, it will be compatible with your original SNES as well as “most SNES compatible devices”. Jonathan Wan, who is the CEO of Tommo, had this to say:
“Double Dragon fans reach every corner of the world and we are beyond excited to bring this game to North America again in its original form, a spectacular 16-bit cartridge that fans will love”
This re-release has been made possible because of a partnership with Arc System Works, who specialises in fighting games in Japan. They snapped up the rights to the series in 2015 and have also recently ported Double Dragon IV to Steam and the PS4.
Here is the complete feature list of Return of Double Dragon, as per their press release:
•7 stages of pure action
•Two distinctly different heroes with unique moves not found in the US version.
•Over 30 types of special moves
•Rearranged soundtrack unique to the Japanese version
•A variety of weapons to pick up and use
•Extra stages not found in the US version.
•Co-op play where a second player can drop in anytime!
If this is of interest to you, Return of Double Dragon can currently be pre-ordered on Amazon for 49.99 buckaroos.
Growing up while the fifth generation of consoles reigned supreme meant that Brendan missed out on much of the 80’s and early 90’s of gaming the first time around. He either lacked the cognitive ability to play them, as naturally, he was a baby - or he simply didn’t exist yet. Undeterred, Brendan started a blog called Retro Game On in 2011. This followed his exploits as he collected and played everything he could get his hands on no matter what the release date. While RGO is mainly YouTube focused these days concentrating on video reviews and historical features, the itch to do some old fashion writing never went away. More recently, Brendan has been a staff writer for the gaming website, GameCloud, mostly focusing on the indie gaming scene in his locale of Perth, Australia.
