History YMMV / DoubleDragon

* BaseBreakingCharacter: The OriginalGeneration characters from the UsefulNotes/NeoGeo fighting game (Eddie, Dulton, Rebecca, and Cheng-Fu[[labelnote:note]] While Amon is also a new character, he is clearly based on Ranzou from the third game.[[/labelnote]]) are either liked for bringing more diversity to the series or are disliked for taking character slots from pre-existing characters, with Linda being an egregious omission since she was in the movie the game is based on but is nowhere to be seen on the roster.

** In the third [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] game, both Lee brothers can [[BackToBackBadasses stand back-to-back]] and do the [[HurricaneKick Cyclone Spin Kick]] simultaneously. If done just right, you get a flashy new animation of their combined Cyclone Kicks. This "Double Cyclone Kick" does five times the damage of a single Cyclone Kick (roughly twice the damage of a throwing knife) and lets you mow down punks and bosses with relative ease. Just...make sure they both stay alive until the end.

** In the [[UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 PC Engine CD]] version of the second game, the [[BigBad Mysterious Warrior]] [[StrippedToTheBone dissolves into a skeleton]] during the ending cutscene.

* PortingDisaster: The game was ported to the ''UsefulNotes/Atari2600'', of all systems. It's as playable as the game could possibly be on the 2600, but a beat-'em-up with only one action button leads to very shallow, repetitive gameplay and the difficulty is off the charts.

** The 2nd game's [[UsefulNotes/Commodore64 C64]] version [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zczvKGX1ujk first stage music]] sounds an awful lot like "She Bop" by Music/CyndiLauper.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Suffers from this quite a bit, even by beat-em-up standards. Many people who play a ''Double Dragon'' game for the first time nowadays will find it to be rather slow and tedious compared to the majority of other brawlers.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: The OriginalGeneration characters from the Neo Geo game, Eddie, Dulton, Rebecca and Cheng Fu[[labelnote:note]] While Amon is also a new character he is clearly based on Ranzou from the third game.[[/labelnote]] are either liked for bringing more diversity to the series or are disliked for taking character slots from pre-existing characters, with Linda being an egregious omission since she was in the movie the game is based on but is nowhere to be seen on the roster.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Abobo. He even [[VideoGame/AbobosBigAdventure has a fangame that's one giant NES homage]].
** Linda is also rather popular, being a sexy female mook who predates [[VideoGame/FinalFight Poison]] and has appeared in a good chunk of the series, including the 1994 movie, the Battletoads crossover and even making a cameo in [[VideoGame/RiverCityGirls River City Girls]].

* FranchiseOriginalSin: For gaming ''as a whole'', the US arcade version of the third game introduced two mechanics that would begin to overtake the industry two decades later: cutting content to sell it to you, and microtransactions. While it was certainly bad back then, the fact remains that it was a one-off incident, with the many heavy hitters in arcades notably not following this trend, regardless of genre. However, starting in TheNewTens with games like ''{{VideoGame/Farmville}}'' showing just how effective it is at getting money the way ''Double Dragon III'' pioneered, a lot of the industry shifted over to this style of game design.

** In the third NES game, both Lee brothers can [[BackToBackBadasses stand back-to-back]] and do the [[HurricaneKick Cyclone Spin Kick]] simultaneously. If done just right, you get a flashy new animation of their combined Cyclone Kicks. This "Double Cyclone Kick" does five times the damage of a single Cyclone Kick (roughly twice the damage of a throwing knife) and lets you mow down punks and bosses with relative ease. Just...make sure they both stay alive until the end.

* HilariousInHindsight: Linda being a female beat-em-up mook who predates Poison and wields a whip as her signature weapons becomes rather funny when Poison herself started using whips in her fighting game appearances, thus making her more Linda-like.
* MisBlamed: The misspelling of Billy's name as "Bimmy" in the third NES game is not the result of BlindIdiotTranslation: the game's plot was completely rewritten from its original Famicom release. It's just your average typo.

** In the PC Engine version of the second game, the [[BigBad Mysterious Warrior]] [[StrippedToTheBone dissolves into a skeleton]] during the ending cutscene.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DnARPUYxhQ music]] that plays during the fight against the player's own shadow doppelganger in the arcade version of the second game is very eerie and frightening. Not to mention that the doppelganger itself comes out of nowhere and no explanation is given for its existence. One can only assume or speculate that they represent the negative emotions of the Lee Brothers being unable to save Marian.
*** The NES version of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUBp28E-jEM above theme]] is no less creepy.
* PortingDisaster: The game was ported to the ''Atari 2600'', of all systems. It's as playable as the game could possibly be on the 2600, but a beat-'em-up with only one action button leads to very shallow, repetitive gameplay and the difficulty is off the charts.

!![[Film/DoubleDragon1994 The Movie has its own page.]]

!![[WesternAnimation/DoubleDragon1993 The Animated Series has its own page.]]

!!The Comic Book
* FranchiseOriginalSin: Before the cartoon and film became known as prime examples of {{Narm}}, it was the comic that introduced many of the concepts that were so derided in those adaptations, like a supernatural source for the Lee brother's abilities, {{Toyetic}} outfits and vehicles, and a complete absence of any familiar characters and settings from the games, save a villain loosely based on the Mysterious Warrior from ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonII''. Of course, neither of them made Creator/StanLee Billy and Jimmy’s dad.
* MoralEventHorizon: Nightfall crosses the line when he reveals that he not only murdered the mother of the Lee brothers, but he also subjected her to an AndIMustScream fate where he trapped her soul in a crystal ball for 18 years.
* SpiritualSuccessor: A few reviewers [[http://4thletter.net/2007/10/the-double-dragon-comic-world-war-green-abobo/ noted the comic actually works better as]] an ''ComicBook/IronFist'' series than a ''Double Dragon'' one.

* SpiritualAdaptation: A few reviewers [[http://4thletter.net/2007/10/the-double-dragon-comic-world-war-green-abobo/ noted the comic actually works better as]] an ''ComicBook/IronFist'' series than a ''Double Dragon'' one.

* SpiritualAdaptation: When they came out, the ''Double Dragon'' games were the best ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' games you could buy. It's ''not'' a coincidence that Billy and Jimmy looked like Kenshiro and Raoh, fought punks in the post-apocalyptic 199X, and ultimately became each other's greatest enemies to fight over a woman.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: The final duel between the Double Dragons for Marian. Is it a fight to death or just a friendly sparring competition which just happens to have the prize of Marian being the girlfriend of the winner? Jimmy's dialogue in ''Advance'' implies that it's just a friendly match[[note]]And even that can be given an alternative characterization, since Jimmy mentioned 'winning Marian' as the prize. Is Jimmy still trying to steal Marian from Billy, or is he just using Marian as a way to egg Billy to give his all during their duel, to make sure their brotherhood doesn't cause Billy to hold back? Or better yet, in this version, are Billy and Marian already an item together or they're currently still friends, that Marian is still free to choose which one will be with her?[[/note]], but for the longest time, people thought it was a fight to the death, never mind that both Billy and Jimmy reappear just fine in the sequel.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: The final duel between the Double Dragons for Marian. Is it a fight to death or just a friendly sparring competition which just happens to have the prize of Marian being the girlfriend of the winner? Jimmy's dialogue in ''Advance'' implies that it's just a friendly match, but for the longest time, people thought it was a fight to the death, never mind that both Billy and Jimmy reappear just fine in the sequel.

!![[Film/DoubleDragon1994 The Movie has it's own page.]]

!![[WesternAnimation/DoubleDragon1993 The Animated Series has it's own page.]]

!![[Film/DoubleDragon1994 The Movie]]
* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad Koga Shuko]], previously Victor Guisman, is a [[CorruptCorporateExecutive wealthy businessman]] who seeks to expand his control over New Angeles. Searching for the Double Dragon medallion to acquire its power, Koga sends his men to raid a village guarding the medallion, uncaring about the villagers' deaths. Converting Abobo into a giant, monstrous mook after [[YouHaveFailedMe he fails him]], he blows up Satori Imada, and places a bounty on Billy and Jimmy Lee, seeking their other half of the medallion. Keeping his goons in suspended animation in his laboratory, he has them converted into cybernetic henchmen. Kidnapping Jimmy, he reveals that he murdered his father, and possesses him in order to kill Billy to take the other half of the medallion, threatening to kill Jimmy if he doesn't hand it over.
* DesignatedHero: Billy. The movie depicts him as a hot-headed, obnoxious screwup who essentially derails all of Marian's plans and only wins by sheer luck.
* EvilIsSexy:
** Linda Lash (Koga's leather-clad whip-wielding henchwoman).
** Shuko himself could count.
* FashionVictimVillain: [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/tranquiltirades/images/6/60/Koga_Shuko.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120531041913 Koga Shuko's get-up]] makes him look a little too much like Music/VanillaIce to make for a menacing villain.
* GratuitousSpecialEffects: Marian's little brother, at one point, uses a VR headset solely to work in more CGI effects.
* HamAndCheese: Robert Patrick knows ''exactly'' what kind of film he's in, and doesn't so much chew the scenery as gobble it up.
* MoralEventHorizon: Shuko blowing up Satori, with the added cruelty of using his medallion to possess her ''just to make her watch.''
* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: While the film is generally loathed, the UsefulNotes/NeoGeo fighting game based on it is considered an underrated hidden gem of a fighter in the Neo Geo's library.
* RetroactiveRecognition: Somewhat unusually, this applies to one of the writers rather than any of the actors; co-writer Peter Gould would go on to write many episodes of ''Series/BreakingBad'', and co-created ''Series/BetterCallSaul''.
%%* SoBadItsGood: To some.
* SpecialEffectsFailure: Many of the effects involving Koga are quite hokey and look like last minute additions.
** '''''Especially''''' when he arrives as a shadow being, then morphs into the ninja wraiths during the climax.
** Some of the matte paintings depicting New Angeles appear unfinished as well.
* VideoGameMoviesSuck: The movie is a considered a textbook example of this trope, but some of the characters and plot elements from the movie were [[RecursiveAdaptation adapted]] into the ''Double Dragon'' fighting game for the Neo-Geo. And it had Creator/AlyssaMilano going for it, so it wasn't ''completely'' bad.
* WTHCastingAgency: The general opinion of the decision to have Scott Wolf play Billy.

!![[Film/DoubleDragon The Movie]]