I don’t think I’d want a game that only stops with the story of DD1 – It wouldn’t really give the fans anything new.
I like your idea about Willy revealing the truth about Jimmy – a lot. But I’d rather that be the mid-point in the game, not the end.
So, let’s say you start at the beginning of DD1, with Billy and Jimmy as allies. You play through stages that are large homages to both Arcade and NES DD1. As you go through, the cutscenes reveal that Billy is a straight-up good guy, while Jimmy is getting more and more rogue.
Only after you defeat Willy, is the truth revealed, like you said – Jimmy was manipulating Billy, the whole time. Jimmy masterminded Marian’s kidnapping, to get Billy to take out Willy.
To tell you the truth, I prefer this over any of the more recent explanations, for her kidnapping. Kidnapped over a book? Please.
Anyway, I suggest that Jimmy wasn’t assigned to kill Willy; he did it out of greed. With Willy out of the way, Jimmy can now take his place – and offers Billy the chance to join him. This could lead to multiple endings. The “bad ending” would be right there, if you choose the evil path.
Or, if you tell Jimmy that of course the answer is no, then the Billy vs Jimmy fight takes place.
BUT, the game shouldn’t end there. The question here is, how does Jimmy become a good guy? As I said before, the only current source that has attempted to explain this is the cartoon. I’d rather make it less cartoony.
So, after the Billy vs Jimmy fight, we learn that Willy was not the top-Shadow. We meet his higher-up (I’d go with Raymond, in his NES duds), who condemns Jimmy to the Shadow Experiment, for his betrayal. If Billy won, he would not take his brother’s life, and simply left, before Raymond showed up. If Jimmy won, the fight wore him out, and Raymond’s goons dragged both him and the beaten Billy to the experiment.
Later in the game, we learn that the doppelgangers came from whatever was done to the Double Dragons, in the experiment. Or, if it was just Jimmy, there’s only a Jimmy doppelganger – if good prevails, the ending is easier.
The next mission is the escape from the experiment. It allows Jimmy to see firsthand what the Shadows do to innocent people, and cements his turn away from them. If Billy won the initial fight, then player one controls another escapee, exclusive to Jimmy’s story. He’s a new character, a victim of the Shadows’ experiments, with experimental steroid powers, named Mibo. At the end of the mission, Jimmy escapes, but Mibo is recaptured – although we later meet him again, as Mibobo.
At this point, it turns out that Willy wasn’t dead after all – or, if we’re allowing for magic, then Linda revived him with undhai necromancy, ala the story in the computer versions of DD II. He guns down Marian, leading in to the DD II story. It turns out that “The Revenge” refers to Willy’s revenge, not the Double Dragons’.
As for Jeff, he’s worked for both Willy (in the first two arcade games) and Duke (Super / Return), so I’d guess that in truth, he’s working for somebody higher up than both of them. He’s probably a specialist agent, assigned to various bosses, as needed. I’d like to see him as a recurring rival to the Double Dragons, never a big boss, but always someone who’s capable of everything you are – powerups and all.
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