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The Double Dragon Dojo is an independently run website that covers all aspects of the
video game series Double Dragon, as well as products and media
related to the series. The Dojo is supported by a team of dedicated
staff members who rely heavily upon contributions from fans of the series.
We offer continuing coverage of the games and their spin-offs, as well as
provide a nearly complete database of information. Submissions are welcome at all times and
are subject to editing and verification.
August 12, 2010 Well now, that was certainly a much longer break than I anticipated. Things have been pretty busy so I haven't been able to update the website as much as I wanted. I was actually halfway through a summary of another cartoon episode when a ton of work got dumped on my lap. That summary, as well as some other stuff, should be posted soon. In the mean time, there is a new mailbag entry that is long overdue.
April 1, 2010 The second part of the Double Dragon feature on the previously cited 1up blog has been posted here. Just like the blogger's first post, the second post is excellent. I saw a few people in the comments section refer to "Double Dragon III" as, well, not so great of a game. I'm going to have to side with the blogger and note that Double Dragon III (the roman numeral means it's the NES title) was in fact quite awesome if you could conquer its fairly high difficulty level. It was Double Dragon 3 (the arcade game) that sucked. My favorite NES rental during my childhood was hands down Double Dragon III. After that it was Double Dragon II (since I couldn't figure out how to do the cyclone kick in that game) and of course, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest. I see a lot of people complain about Double Dragon III for the NES because of its fairly high difficulty level, but if you think about it, the game isn't really that much harder than DD I or DD II for the NES. It's just that DD III is consistently difficult throughout the entire game (due in large part to no continues absent a special code) whereas DD II is mostly easy then suddenly ramps up in difficulty toward the end of the game with some fairly difficult platforming sections. DD I is just hard with regards to those damn stones that pop out in Mission 4. But to me, any Double Dragon title on the NES is an instant classic. I'll be working on the cartoon section some more so keep checking back for updates to the second season. We'll get that section finished soon.
March 31, 2010 Here is the summary and review of the last episode of the first season of the Double Dragon cartoon series: "The Abyss." And with that, we have completed our synopsis of the show's entire first season. Big thanks to Eddie MountainGoat once again. Time to move onto the second season now. This time we actually have a new feature: we have added some excellent screen captures from the episode, and you can view them when you go to the episode through the link above. We may be able to add screen captures for all of the episodes, so keep your eyes open for more information. Also, I managed to fill in missing information for the episode "Eye of the Dragon." Thanks again to Eddie MountainGoat for helping me out on that.
March 30, 2010 We have a new mailbag entry. I just noticed that this is the first mailbag entry for 2010. So I had to add a new year to all of the mailbag pages. Time sure flies.
March 29, 2010 We now have a full summary and review of the cartoon episode "River of Tears." A big thanks goes out once again to Eddie MountainGoat for taking care of that for us. That's a load of work off my shoulders. We just have one episode left for the first season, which would be the final episode: Abyss. We should have that done soon.
March 26, 2010 Well, looks like we have a decent amount of news today. First, if you haven't already, go out and buy the April issue of Nintendo Power. Flip to page 78, where the magazine has its "Play Back: Revisiting the Classics" section. Guess what game is featured there. Super Double Dragon. Imagine my surprise when I opened the magazine and saw a full-page feature on the last traditional DD game before Technos went bankrupt. It brought tears to my eyes I tell ya. Considering that I formed this website because there was almost no information available specifically on that game, I am quite happy to see Nintendo Power giving it mainstream coverage. They even mention the issues it was previously featured in (wasn't really featured much, to be honest). So, thank you Nintendo Power. Next up, 1up.com has done a hilarious blog entry on the Double Dragon series. Take a look here: http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9025025 I think the writer of that blog is pretty darn talented. She weaves humorous sentences pretty well and drops some clever one-liners here and there. However, I do have to tease her a bit as she mixed up the brothers regarding DD II's box art. Jimmy is actually holding Marian and the whip (remember, he's the red one) while Billy is on the front lines dishing out knuckle sandwiches free of charge. Still, the writing is great, and the blog even thanks us personally. You're welcome! Retro Gamer should be publishing its feature on Double Dragon some time soon. I haven't heard anything, so I think that issue isn't out yet, but keep checking back for info on that. Next up, in my continuing efforts to scan the DD community for things generally worthwhile, I have come across a few videos I think you should see. First up is the most ridiculous, nonsensical animation of DD II that I have ever seen. I just don't know what to say about it, and I wonder what the creator(s) were smoking when they cooked up this one. All I can say is that I laughed pretty damn hard when they pointed at Linda and said "lesbians!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB7OANemWzo While searching for music, I found this excellent guitar cover of Super Double Dragon's stage 4. The musician superimposes himself playing over footage of the game itself. It's quite amazing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4FSqtVKR5U Just as a reminder, more of the cartoon summaries and reviews are on the way, so keep checking back.
March 21, 2010 More episode summaries have arrived for the Double Dragon cartoon series. A big thanks goes out to Eddie MountainGoat for summarizing and reviewing Rebirth, Heart of the Matter and Mistress of Chi. With those episodes now posted, we now have only two left to finish off the first season. Specifically, those include "River of Tears" and "Abyss." River of Tears is viewable on Youtube at the moment, so I will post a summary of that episode soon. Also, I should have a recording of Abyss somewhere, so if I find it, I will post a summary and finally finish off season one. After season one is finished I will move on to season two. I have nearly every episode recorded on VHS save for "RPM," so I should be able to knock those out pretty quickly. I hope everyone is enjoying these summaries as I don't think there is any other place to obtain detailed information about the cartoon. At the very least, it's fun remembering episodes which, like me, you may have seen over 15 years ago but mostly forgotten about.
March 9, 2010 We've just added a new episode summary for the Double Dragon cartoon series. Thanks to Eddie MountainGoat, one of our contributors, you can now view a full summary and short review of "Call to Arms" in the cartoon section. I still have recordings of most of the second season of the cartoon series, so I suppose I should finally get around to provide summaries for those episodes and thoroughly ripping into the terrible plot that arose once the Dragon Claws got destroyed. Also, there is supposed to be a Double Dragon feature in the upcoming issue of Retro Gamer magazine. Make sure to check it out at your local newstand (Barnes and Noble is usually a good place).
February 17, 2010 Aksys Games just sent out a press release announcing two new titles: River City Soccer Hooligans and River City Super Sports Challenge. Did you see the words "River City" and instantly think "Ransom" before finishing the titles of those games? Yeah, I sure did. But anyway, you can read the full press release here: http://www.gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=114702 Aksys Games seems to be keeping the Kunio-Kun (that'd be River City stuff) franchise alive on the DS, even if it's only releasing sports titles here and there, but the company was responsible for releasing the NES Double Dragon on the Virtual Console. Perhaps there's a chance that the publisher will take a serious look into reviving the Double Dragon franchise. You can view Aksys' website (where you could, um, *cough* bug them for a new Double Dragon game) at http://www.aksysgames.com/.
December 12, 2009 So how is everyone doing? Getting ready for the holidays? Hopefully Santa brings plenty of video games this year for everybody. Today we have a couple of new entries in the mailbag, and a new fan art submission from Michael Estep. I'd just like to note that I really appreciate all the fan art, fan fiction, random cosplay pictures and everything else you guys send me. I don't always update the website as often as I'd like to, but you guys manage to keep the Double Dragon spirit alive. So, thank you, and keep up the wonderful submissions!
November 22, 2009 Double Dragon (the film) has been voted one of the worst game movies by Yahoo! Games. No real surprise there. Check it out for yourselves: http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/worst-videogame-movies/worst-videogame-movies/1372220/3
October 15, 2009 Double Dragon has been featured in IGN's Top 100 NES Games of All Time listing, and here's the real kicker: Double Dragon III has been rated higher than Double Dragon II. Blasphemy, or much-needed praise? Take a look for yourselves. #55 Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones #76 Battletoads & Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team #83: Double Dragon II: The Revenge The list is currently incomplete, but IGN seems to be adding new entries every few days or so. So does this mean the first Double Dragon will be rated the highest? Probably. Let the ranting begin!
October 13, 2009 We have a new fan art submission from one of our previous artists, Ob. N. Make sure to check out his new image in the fan art section.
September 25, 2009 A new Double Dragon game has been released in Brazil that is loosely based off Double Dragon Advance. The game is available on a system called Zeebo, which plays downloadable games (think PSP Go in a way). More information is available in our forums: http://doubledragon.kontek.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8 Thanks to Johnny for the heads up.
September 12, 2009 I just now heard about this since I don't own an Xbox 360. Double Dragon was apparently delisted (meaning you can't download it anymore) from the Xbox Live Arcade apparently because the game's publisher went bankrupt. Microsoft also has a new policy of delisting "underperforming" games. In other words, games with a low score get removed to make the Live Arcade "look" better. Too bad. Taking away Double Dragon is never good. Now we just need to see Double Dragon II and III on the Virtual Console.
September 11, 2009 A little bit of a late night post here. There really isn't much to talk about on the Double Dragon front at the moment. So when content is lacking, what do all typical journalists do? Top Ten lists of course (or five, or 15, or whatever)! So, I think I'll throw out my Top Five favorite unofficial Double Dragon videos. Number 5: Double Dragon Flash Video: Jimmy's Revenge I believe this is actually Rebaz Talei's second flash video, and it's almost as good as the first. The insane, high-speed, anime-style action is top notch and puts action movies to shame. Number 4: Double Dragon In Legos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ior9hpWy4rs Maybe it's the use of the incredible City Slum theme from Super Double Dragon. Maybe it's the excellent Lego backgrounds that faithfully recreate each of the four missions from the arcade game. Or maybe it's just the hilariousness of watching Legos beat the crap out of each other with video game sound effects. But in any event, this Lego Double Dragon reenactment clocks in at just barely over 2 minutes while taking you through each mission of DD, perfect for those with a short attention span, and it even includes a Player 1 vs. Player 2 fight at the end. How awesome is that? Number 3: Double Dragon III Review By the Angry Nintendo Nerd http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMg6_IXCjo4 I'm actually a huge fan of James Rolfe even though I don't share his criticism of Double Dragon III for the NES. But this video has become huge for a good reason. Not only does he point out a blatant typo in the game's introduction, which I never noticed until he called it to my attention, but he rips the game a new bunghole in a way that only the Nerd can do. Agree with James or not, the video is still hilarious. Number 2: Some Strange Double Dragon Office Comedy http://www.gametrailers.com/user-movie/double-dragon-live/37088 There's just something about the way these guys take a normal office setting and suddenly toss Double Dragon into the mix. The stiff fighting and fake health bars remind me of the famous GTA skit Dave Chapelle did, and this Double Dragon video comes really close to matching Chapelle's comedy. The video just has... personality. It doesn't attempt to explain itself, and it doesn't need to. Just watch and laugh. Number 1: Double Dragon II Flash Parody http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEFHnX2LHN8 This is actually the first video by Rebaz Talei, and I actually spoke to him via email while he was making this video a few years ago. It was really nice to hear from him and see his work. He's quite skilled and damned hilarious too! How someone can make such a great flash animation using DD sprites is beyond me, but watch it and you'll know instantly why the video is so great.
August 30, 2009 I have to issue a HUGE apology in connection with this. Three years ago I received a fairly large fan fiction that was very well written. It was submitted at the exact same time I had graduated college and had moved out of my apartment. So I went and stored the story on a USB stick in a small folder that contained some back-up files. Shortly afterward my EMachines died on me and I had to get a new computer. I completely forgot about the fan fiction during this period in my life. So during this recent migration to Kontek's servers, I started digging through all of my drives to look for all sorts of files, and BAM, there was the fan fiction. I went ahead and edited it for spelling and punctuation, but overall the story is unchanged. I really hope you enjoy it. Click here to read the Sunlight Vendetta fan story. I also did some digging through eBay like I used to do, and came across some better images here and there, as well as some new merchandise I had never spotted before. Check out the merchandise section to see for yourselves. Also, I found an image of the bezel for the arcade version of Double Dragon 3. As I stated in my last post, the forums are up and running, and they're much better than our last forums. Sadly, forum membership seems to have died over the past few years. But, I urge everyone to go ahead and sign up for our new forums. You no longer are required to contact me to get your account verified, so registration is less painful now. Simply register a name and validate it with your email, then you're good to go. I promise continuing updates from now on. 2007 was a major dry spell for this site because of other things going on in my life, but things have stabilized and I welcome any and all submissions for the site. Finally, the old Classicgaming.com-based URL will be shut down tomorrow, so if you know anyone who visits this site, make sure to tell them about our new URL here at Kontek. I've submitted our new URL to all the search engines, so hopefully it gets picked up soon. I wouldn't want people thinking the Dojo disappeared suddenly.
August 27, 2009 [Update: Forums are now working!] Welcome everyone to the Double Dragon Dojo, now hosted by Kontek.net! The recent closure of hosted sites on GameSpy/Classicgaming.com has certainly caused a high attrition rate and many site owners have declined to save their websites, choosing to instead let them die with a large number of other sites. Many of you contacted me when I posted that GameSpy was shutting down hosting services for us. I appreciate the help and suggestions that all of you offered. Some of you even offered to let me upload the Dojo onto your personal websites. I can't thank you enough for that, but ultimately I think moving to Kontek was the best choice. So, thank you Kontek! I now have a new email, which is listed directly below in the Staff section. Make sure to contact me at that new email address as the previous one (which was ridiculously long) has been shut down permanently by GameSpy. In other site-specific news, I am in the process of generating new forums from scratch because 1) the past forums were flooded with spam bots registering more users than I could moderate, which really made the user list larger than Wikipedia, and 2) I don't know how to import all of the forum data onto our new server. So, I apologize for all of those lost topics, but hey, let's just start new ones. I should have the forums up as soon as I get some database info from Kontek. Now, on with the real news. Ash and Dan Pringle, as you may recall, had some songs hosted by the Dojo for quite a while. The guys have now formed a Double Dragon cover band and are actively releasing new songs. You can check them out at http://www.myspace.com/graspdd2 We have a few new mailbag entries. Also, we have new fan art from Michael Estep - Dojo Master
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