Double Dragon (1988). Play online

Summary

The Sega Master System’s take on Double Dragon feels like a nostalgic arcade night in a living room. Co‑developed by Arc System Works, it adds the FM Sound Unit for a richer soundtrack and boosts the palette so everything pops brighter than the original console release. You still get the iconic two‑player co‑op, and the level layouts mimic the arcade stages, though the screen can only hold three foes at once and weapons appear one per screen. Unlimited continues carry you all the way to the gang’s hideout, and hidden at the final stage’s entrance is a trick—a series of ten backward jump kicks you can unleash if you know where to look. Critics from Computer and Video Games, The Games Machine, and Mean Machines Sega all praised the faithful adaptation, cementing this version as a standout beat‑em‑up for the Master System.

Storyline

In Double Dragon for the Sega Master System, you play as martial‑artist Billy Lee or his twin brother Jimmy, battling the Black Warriors to rescue Billy’s girlfriend Marian. The Black Warriors gang consists of nine members and their leader Willy Mackey.

Billy is the heir to the Chinese martial art Sou‑Setsu‑Ken, having started training with his father at twelve, mastering several forms over eight years, earning the title of Sou‑Setsu‑Ken Master at twenty, and opening a dojo with Jimmy to teach citizens self‑defence against the gang.

The four missions take the brothers through a city slum, a factory, a forest and finally the gang’s hideout, where they confront leader Willy Mackey, a machine‑gun‑wielding ex‑biker. If both brothers finish together, the game forces a final duel between them, resetting lives and timer, to decide who wins Marian’s affection.