Double Dragon II: The Revenge (NES) Playthrough

A playthrough of Acclaim's 1990 NES game, Double Dragon II: The Revenge.
Played through on the Shadow Master difficulty level.
A year after Billy Lee saved his girlfriend from The Shadow Warriors, the underworld organization strikes back. Marian has been murdered, and the city finds itself once again under siege. Billy teams up with his twin brother, Jimmy, and together, they set out on a quest for revenge.
Like they did with the NES adaptation of the first Double Dragon ( • Double Dragon (NES) Pl... ), Technōs took a liberal approach to "porting" its arcade sequel to Nintendo's 8-bit console.
The NES version of Double Dragon II supports 2P co-op play and ditches the experience system used in the first game, but the level and enemy designs have been thoroughly revamped, and a new final boss was introduced to replace the generic machine gun-toting bub that capped off the arcade game.
Having all of your moves available from the outset gives you more flexibility in how you handle the trash mobs in the earlier stages, and the ability to play with a friend gives a huge bump to the game's replayability. The graphics and the controls are sharp, the platforming-based segments give the action some much needed variety, and the cutscenes do a good job of pushing the plot along. It offers all the improvements and innovations you'd expect from a sequel.
The NES version is often considered superior to the arcade game, a view that is rather nicely underscored by Naxat's phenomenal CD-based remake for the PC Engine ( • Double Dragon II: The ... ) that thoroughly trounced the mediocre Mega Drive port of the coin-op original ( • Double Dragon II: The ... ).
Double Dragon was a classic, but the series hit its peak on the NES with this top-notch follow-up.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (www.nintendocom...) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!

[@estebancebreros5432]

There is a reason why this one made it on to the NES Classic Edition: it truly is a genre-defining classic that lives up to its name. Shed a tear watching this one again. SO many memories. At least you can still kick bosses in the gonads. 😁

[@danalong1237]

Another reason? It was published by Acclaim Entertainment (one of the then-3-year-old company’s several hits besides Spider-Man and WWF games) and was dubbed, in the words of a TV commercial, “The Best Action Game Ever,” and it was!

[@chiarosuburekeni9325]

I find it better than the arcade version 😮

[@JuraIbis]

That Data East/Technos sound of power-moves is so iconic it always makes me feel good. 4:11

[@NintendoComplete]

Yeah, it's the same noise that the power throws in Super Dodge Ball make.

[@NintendoComplete]

With Marian's luck, I'm beginning to suspect that Billy Lee is really just Paul Kersey in disguise.

[@MachoMadness60]

haha good ol Paul Kersey

[@edwardgaines6561]

Aren't they supposed to show her getting shot in the intro?

[@biggsweaty]

What a sick ass game, and what a hell of a playthrough. This upload does this classic the utmost justice. Awesome stuff.

[@NintendoComplete]

@@biggsweaty Thank you very much 😊

[@Cool-ve2bj]

It’s actually bimmy and jimmy

[@9b8ll]

Now, this is the landmark game. This improves the original in every way. The final boss brings me back good memories in shadow master mode. When I beat him with no life to spare back then, I was a super happy camper. It is one of the best final fights in a video game! Plus, the amazing music is icing on the cake!

[@cmplx82]

One of my all time favorites as a kid

[@Shrekisthegoat420]

Fr I remember this with my dad

[@spoonshiro]

One of the best two player games on NES. Super fun.

[@danalong1237]

“The best action game ever,” the TV commercials screamed and yelled, and, man, oh man, were they right on the money!

[@RgxSnowy]

Good times playing double dragon 2 I remember as a kid I couldn't even beat this game I took a lot of tries and then as I got older I finally got a chance to beat it brings back good memories this is one of my favorite all-time games on the Nintendo franchise

[@JRJrsx85]

The way the music shifts from the Shadow Master’s realm back to the epic second battle theme is one of the most epic moments in 80’s/90’s gaming.

[@TexasAmericana]

Without a doubt my fav Double Dragon. Awesome soundtrack, great game play, awesome game. Thanks for the upload!!

[@danalong1237]

By Kazunaka Yamane, with sound programming by the late Michiya Hirasawa.

[@MakaveliRngTvEnt]

This is my childhood favorite Double dragon I'll be the plenty of times and now since it's on the Xbox it's been difficult to beat because the controllers is big and bulky other than that I love this game still. Thanks for showing

[@puppylove3781]

At 5:25 I noticed the new kick I had never seen before for all the times playing it. I was used to the knee kicks since 1989 and played this game time and time again, but this he was like "boom" and punted him like a football! I didn't realize this until today lol

[@howieg2019]

never was able to finish this, but always got love for it😁

[@rjcupid]

4:09 This is one of my favourite songs in any NES game. I first played the arcade version of this at the Smuggler’s Notch recreation room in 1989 or 1990. This port is awesome. I used to always try and rent this at the video store on Friday nights after school but it was always out. I usually ended up getting stuck with games like “Rocket Ranger” instead. Great play through Alex!

[@NintendoComplete]

Thanks! I thought Rocket Ranger was neat, but yeah, it's no Double Dragon 2.

[@rjcupid]

@@NintendoComplete NP! You remember what it was like going to the video store and actually finding that a game like Zelda, Mega Man 2, Castlevania or Double Dragon II was available; it was like a miracle or hitting the jackpot as a kid. Rocket Ranger was fine and all, but it wasn’t my goal to get that game when going into TMR Video back in the day. Anyways, great demonstration of DD2 skill!

[@minomarazzini]

Incredibly fun and well done, one of the best titles for NES!

[@turbomario]

This game is one of the best beat em ups on the NES imo. (Kunio just barely beats DD for me.) That knee attack is so satisfying lol

[@SwaggerLikeUz]

Double Dragon 2 co-op mode was Legendary growing up. Pure Nostalgia from the great gameplay, stages, bosses & indelible OST soundtrack!

[@jerryjohnson4618]

I miss the 80's

[@Aaron-w3p]

The helicopter stage was brutal homie didnt let know one off easy😂 good times

[@TheAmazingLSB]

The first NES Double Dragon is good, but Double Dragon II is better in every way....

[@shareofmoney]

I absolutely loved this game. It is one of the first NES games I ever beat and the first Double Dragon title I have beaten.

[@SolCresta3405]

The best of the NES ones.

[@Dorian_Scott]

100% agree with you there.

[@ArttuTheCat]

Absolutely 😺👍🕹️🕹️. And, in my opinion, it is much better 😺👍 than DOUBLE DRAGON III 😹.

[@VXA1PSTART]

Is it bad that I love DDIII almost as much as DDII?

[@SolCresta3405]

@@VXA1PSTART It's fine.

[@danalong1237]

Ironically, it was published by Acclaim, which, in the TV commercials, called DDII “the best action game ever,” and, boy, were they on the money!

[@thecowboy2]

The weirdest enemies / bosses for me were the Demolition looking bruisers who had that creepy laugh in the arcade version.

[@thecunninlynguist]

Growing up I thought I was some genius discovering the "cheat" to get extra lives by beating up player 2 😂...I played the hell out of DD 2...didn't know it was an arcade port until years later (for the entire DD trilogy)...this might be my fave out of the 3 NES ones

[@dmonarch4668]

G•R•A•S•P

[@NintendoComplete]

4:02 Go for broak

[@xxHUNGRY4THETRUTHxx]

Love the arranged music album.

[@VahanNisanian]

Uses the same control scheme as the original Kunio-kun game.

[@senseicorey9979]

This game let's you get good at knee blasting fools and then it's like TRICKED YA! I'm actually a PLATFORMER!! And you can't win!

[@threshershark100]

Lol. I'm blowing into the phone to get it started!

[@Dorian_Scott]

One of the best beat 'em up games for the NES, a great port of the Arcade version, and it served as the basis for the excellent PC Engine CD port.

[@danalong1237]

And, according to the TV commercial, “The Best Action Game Ever,” which sold millions of copies soon after it was released.

[@cjxj2202]

This and River City Ransom consumed a lot of my pre-teen years.

[@d.t.simonbelmont]

This is when sequels were sequels.

[@VXA1PSTART]

Best nes beat em up of all time hands down.

[@johnparinellojr.2035]

I could listen to the ending credits on loop forever.

[@guilty-of-being-right]

Fun game

[@BJI82a]

We really need this classic trilogy to get remastered and released on the current systems I always played them but they were so hard for me as a kid but still so fun and the music was so intense.

[@andycayton3433]

I remember as a kid when I discovered that you could put it on "2 player B Mode" and take the lives of the other character.

[@mypassion830]

One of my favorite games I ever played as a teenager .

[@SomeOrangeCat]

This was the sweet spot on the series for me. It exceeds the arcade version.

[@krazziejrboi]

My favorite beat em up

[@ArttuTheCat]

Of all the DOUBLE DRAGON games, i have played on the Commodore 64, Amiga 500, NES and SNES, DOUBLE DRAGON II: THE REVENGE is the best 😺👍🕹️! In fact, it is definitely the best on the Amiga and NES 😺👍🕹️. A big retrospective like 👍🕹️ from Vantaa, Finland 🇫🇮.

[@NintendoComplete]

Have you tried the PC Engine version? It's a remake of the NES version.

[@ArttuTheCat]

@@NintendoComplete No, i haven't. But it does look graphically awesome 😺👍🕹️.

[@NintendoComplete]

​@@ArttuTheCatIt's great, and it plays just as well as this one.

[@sinfulkivisian20]

Imagine if Kenshiro from Fist of the Northstar trained both Billy and Jimmy. I don't think the Shadow Warriors would step much as a toe or even think to cause chaos in the city.

[@user-or6yn8pm3c]

Despite the graphics not being as detailed as the arcade this game was actually better than the arcade. The game is way more fun and its easily the best Double Dragon game for home consoles. I'm not surprised it was installed on the NES Classic as it was one of the best 8 bit games ever.

[@DKarkarov]

Double Dragon 2: Twice the Abobo! They definitely ret conned this story for the River City Girls games.

[@marvelbliss]

Ah, the game with one of the best final boss tracks of all time.... how that takes me back. 😊

[@MrRubmeister]

I love this game, but why did they have to make the US version so much harder then the original Japanese version?

[@sobesons]

brutal version

[@Mia-dt3gl]

The best Double Dragon game!

[@ajax700]

Why Danny Trejo 6:36 always comes two times? No one is going to convince me this guy is not Arnold S. in from Commando movie 8:08 30 years later I realize this game has a very carefully chosen color palette, making it look very very good for the time. Best wishes.

[@ИгорьН-г3ф]

you're real shadow master)) perfect walkthrough)

[@crazedlink]

love the opening track

[@XiaoFury]

Poor Marian. Always getting ☠️

[@comicsdude3166]

First double dragon game I finished 😂.

[@RgxSnowy]

Does anyone notice that Arnold Schwarzenegger was in this game and the camo boots😂😂

[@britneyspearsvillarosa]

I love Double Dragon and Double Dragon II on NES and GB

[@mnemonichotpocket]

Double the dragon, double the fun

[@diegodiaz8352]

What good music

[@songoku9348]

I always let Linda beat up Billy.

[@MDH2181]

Love those Conan O'Brien baddies 😂

[@OCPrunsthecops]

13:49 Look, It's Antonio Banderas & Kim Cattrall

[@murder.simulator]

Hey they misspelled Bimmy's name

[@chrisspencer6120]

Great playing by the way.

[@MatthiaGryffine]

Hopefully we get to see Super Double Dragon. It's the only one I ever beat.

[@itsxero1414]

Truth be told, i never though that this game was the one of the hardest NES game to beat, but truthfully, i beated this game countless of time back in the day when i was still a kid lmaoo 😂, once know how to do the super moves, the game was too easy 🤣

[@supanutjetkrongsuk3932]

Good game.

[@dz4265]

Bork lazor getting beat up. Best DD game. Second best is the super Famicom one. Technos console ports were always better than arcade games. DD3 for arcade wasnt even developed by Technos.

[@TheNei]

[@chrisspencer6120]

Jason Bourne ain't got shit on ol Paul Kersey 😂 I mean, Billy Lee.

[@Garth-bd3pu]

You are a god gamer . How are you thzt nice at video games ?

[@enricorossi2795]

😂💪🏻💪🏻

[@MrFenixCool]

Buenos tiempos. Primer comentario

[@BEARDEDSLOTH802]

I didnt even know you could do that to the first boss lol

[@11Salda]

I love the double dragon Trilogy nes especially ninja turtles

[@SDRockman]

The hyper knee smashes to the frigging head is the most satisfying thing out of all the beat-them ups. 🧒🏼💥🦵🏻

[@puppylove3781]

As opposed to the calm knee smashes to the friggin head? DD4 is with Dr. Evil with minion sharks with friggin laser beams attached to their heads.