My name is Takaomi Kaneko from Arc System Works. In the past, I’ve worked as a producer, illustrator, etc. on the River City series and Double Dragon 4. When the PlayStation asked me to reflect to mark the 35 years of the series.M On this year’s anniversary, I decided to include stories I had personally heard from game creator and then director (1988) Yoshihisa Kishimoto and Waferward’s Tom Hulett.
Origin of the original co-op mechanics
In the 1980’s, the video game business strategy was centered in the arcade sector, mainly selling arcade cabinets.
Thus, the number of players for any game will be determined before development begins, so the game will fit the type of cabinet that needs to be sold. For example, Technos Japan’s in-house sales team – which was very strong at the time – made a strong proposal to the development team that it should consider creating a game for a two-player cabinet. The result was the first double dragon.
At a later date and in a similar fashion, the team proposed a title that would use a three-player cabinet, resulting in the 1990’s Double Dragon 3. For the first time, the story of the series was changed to include a third brother for the third brother. Title.
Balancing the game around two players
Since the game was designed for arcade, it had no plans to balance the gameplay. To encourage players to team up with friends, the Double Dragon was designed in such a way that it is extremely difficult for a single player to complete, requiring sufficient skill. This has encouraged the cooperative game to win the challenge – and so add more coins to the machine.
Cooperative play continues to thrive today, whether local or online, allowing players to complete challenges by inviting friends to overcome difficulties.
Decide whether or not to include friendly fire
Friendly fire was a relatively new concept in the 1980s. This adds a layer of tactics to the fight, as players need to communicate with each other during gameplay to avoid hitting each other. However, its inclusion in the Double Dragon came from the player’s interaction during the space test.
Position testing in the arcade sector is a way for players to get feedback. These allow the development team to see how the game performs by bringing in a small number of selected seats in the cabinet and observing the players’ reactions. Friendly fire was designed and applied in the game at this time. During the U.S. Localization Test for Double Dragon, the team noticed that many players who started playing two-player games not only played collaboratively, but also started attacking each other. Mechanic will be available for the full release of the game.
More recently, games have partially separated collaborative and competitive game modes to avoid the frustration of players in a friendly fire. But I believe the Double Dragon has so far been chosen in part because of the dangers inherent in its friendly fire execution. This increases the tension, with a single punch – accidental or otherwise – causing the affected player to shout, even retaliate. It also led to one of his most memorable moments, as the two players would eventually face each other during a cooperative playthrough at the end of the game. Brothers Billy and Jimmy that can hit each other will inspire players to set their own rules and create gameplay strategies.
This is like mentioning the high difficulty of the game. The AI ​​and Double Dragon were intended to be as real in real life as possible. This, combined with the nature of arcade games at the time, meant a playthrough – even with a teammate – would not be easy.
Inspirational generation of quarrelsome
Tomm Hulett is a director at WayForward, which has created many co-op games like River City Girls. I asked him about the effects of the Double Dragon on the co-op game genre.
“In the late 1980s, the first machine we were looking for in an arcade was Double Dragon,” he recalls. “Of course, it was an exciting action game with detailed graphics and a great setting. Being able, defeating the gang and working together to rescue Marian. Alone, Abobo seemed almost insurmountable, but working as a team to defeat a strong opponent was something that rarely matched the game then. There were alternatives – punches and kicks, jump attacks, knives, bats and whips that you actually snatched from your enemies! It seems so simple now but at the time it seemed like a kung fu movie that you could play. Double Dragon First It wasn’t contentious, but it does support most of the elements that players still expect from the genre today – most importantly, the two-player co-op. “
As Mr. Hulett points out, most of the components of today’s belt scroller were applied to the Double Dragon in 1988. It can be said that this was a game worthy of being the original Beat M up game.
I hope you enjoy this look back to the source of the game. Stay tuned for more Double Dragon developments in the future.
Double Dragon, Double Dragon II, Double Dragon III, Double Dragon IV and Arcade Archives Double Dragon and Double Dragon II are available on PlayStation 4.
