Double Dragon II: The Reveng NES Game 

The second game in the Double Dragon series of side-scrolling beat-em-ups, produced for the arcades in 1988.

The NES version retained the 2-Player co-op feature that was missing in the first NES game.

The NES version is notable for featuring cut-scenes (static images and on-screen text) that serve to narrate the progress of the game’s plot. The revenge premise remains the same, although the plot was altered. Willy does not appear in the game at all. Instead, a rival martial artist referred to only as the “Mysterious Warrior”, serves as the final boss after the doppelgängers are defeated—available only in the game’s hardest difficulty setting (Supreme Master). According to the Japanese version’s instruction manual, he is the master of a martial art style known as “Gensatsuken”, a counterpart of Billy and Jimmy’s “Sōsetsuken” style. The ending is also completely different, in which Marian is restored to life after the Mysterious Warrior is defeated.

In contrast to the first NES game, all of the player’s techniques are available from the start and the two-player cooperative gameplay has been kept this time, with an alternative mode that has the friendly fire option turned on (in contrast, the one-on-one Vs. Mode introduced in the first NES game was not included in this sequel). Two new special techniques are added to the player’s repertoire in addition to the Whirlwind Kick; the Hyper Uppercut and the Flying Knee Kick. The NES version’s stage layout is composed of nine missions. While none of the stages are direct reproductions from the arcade game’s stages, they share many of the same elements, including background music. Many of these stages don’t have actual bosses, but traps which the player must overcome to clear the stage.

Enemy characters from the arcade game include Williams, Roper, Linda, Burnov, Abobo (renamed Bolo in the NES version), Abore (whose design was changed to resemble Oharra), Chin Taimei and the Doppelgängers. Only Oharra, Jeff and Willy are omitted. Two new enemy characters are introduced in addition to the final boss: “Migiude” (the “Right-hand Man”) and the “Ninja”. The Right-hand Man is a standard thug enemy who relies on hand-to-hand and kick techniques. The Ninja is a sub-boss who relies on tricky attacks and speed. The Ropers now carry incendiary bombs and flails they throw like boomerangs as weapons; the latter is a weapon that cannot be carried by the player.