Double Dragon (Neo Geo) - All Throws & Special Grab Moves

Character select:

0:00 - Billy
0:07 - Marian
0:29 - Eddie
0:40 - Amon
0:57 - Burnov
1:23 - Cheng-Fu
1:30 - Jimmy
1:37 - Dulton
1:59 - Rebecca
2:08 - Abobo
2:47 - Duke*
3:03 - Shuko*

*Boss characters are accessible using an arcade ROM hack, or entering a cheat code in the home console version.

Double Dragon is a 2D versus fighting game released by Technōs Japan in 1995, for the Neo Geo arcade (MVS) and home (AES) systems. It also received a port to the Sony PlayStation. It is an installment in the long-running Double Dragon beat 'em up franchise, and the last to see an arcade release.

Double Dragon (1995) is based on the 1994 Double Dragon movie, which in turn is based on the video game series. Unlike the video game adaptation of Street Fighter: The Movie, Double Dragon (1995) did not use digitised sprites, or otherwise attempt to create likenesses of actors in the movie. The developers instead opted to use more cartoon-like / pixel art graphics, with the appearance of the characters being consistent with the video game series. However, stills from the movie can be seen in the intro sequence, and on a screen in the background of Marian's stage.

Although part of a well-established franchise in it's own right, Double Dragon (1995) is arguably a Street Fighter clone, made in an attempt to capitalise on the success of 1-on-1 fighting games at its time of release. The palette swap heroes Billy and Jimmy are reminiscent of Ryu and Ken, even pulling off the same shoulder throw, and Tatsumaki-style spinning kick as a special move. Apart from this, not many obvious comparisons can be made between the roster of Double Dragon and Street Fighter. Whilst featuring many generic characters, Double Dragon notably includes a character using the Drunken Boxing / Drunken Fist style of Kung-Fu, which is uncommon in 2D fighting games.

Double Dragon features interesting and well-designed stage backgrounds, with destructible elements. Some stages feature specialised animations when a character is knocked out. For example, a character defeated on Amon's airplane stage will land on the chasm wall and disappear into the horizon. Each character has an entrance animation when challenged in their own stage, which in some cases includes an interaction with the other fighter. In mirror matches (i.e. against a clone of a character), the fighters will instead exchange and block a few strikes in the air, before dropping into the starting position.

Similar to Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Double Dragon features a Charge meter, which the player can fill by landing strikes on the opponent. Once full, the player can perform special Charge techniques. One of Abobo's Charge moves is a grab move.

Double Dragon includes a generous variety of grappling moves, including ones which are less common in this type of game. I appreciate the inclusion of Marian's simple yet effective clothesline takedown, which is also seen in the Virtua Fighter series, performed by Jacky and Sarah Bryant. Burnov also has a nice chain throw, with an atomic drop, German suplex, and a body splash. Almost all of the characters are able to perform at least one air throw.

I like that most of the grappling moves in Double Dragon are easy to perform, due to using simple input commands. The only real exception I found to this was Cheng-Fu's reversal throw, which the game often misinterprets as a quarter circle back movement. Combined with the need to time this move correctly as a counter-attack, it is difficult to successfully pull off this move.

My main criticism of Double Dragon, is that some characters have duplicate versions of one of their throws, with extremely minor differences. For example, Billy and Jimmy can throw their opponent 3 different distances, depending on which button is pressed. This also affects the voice sample which is used during the move. Using the strongest attack button selects the most damaging variation of the move. Since all the variations of a move are equally as difficult to perform, it doesn't make sense for the player to opt for a weaker version. It would have been better to give all characters a different throw for each attack button. For the purposes of this video, I only showed one version of each move, unless their was a substantial difference to observe between versions.

There is also a forward-jumping slam move which is re-used between characters (Amon, Dulston, and Abobo), but with minor variations. I feel that the game developers could have used their imaginations even more to come up with completely unique throws for each character.

Double Dragon (1995) is generally made to a high standard. With the exception of the cheap boss characters, it offers an enjoyable fighting game experience. I recommend checking this game out if you like the Street Fighter style of gameplay.

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