Double Dragon (NES)/Gameplay

Controls

 * : Use the direction pad to control Billy Lee. Press the pad in the direction that you would like Billy to move.  When standing near a ladder or chain link fence, you may use the pad to climb up or down these surfaces.
 * : Press the punch button to attack your enemies with your fists.
 * : Press the kick button to attack your enemies with your foot.
 * : Press the both buttons together to leap into the air. Press the jump button while holding the joystick left or right to jump in either direction.  Once you reach level 3, the regular jump is replaced with the Jump Kick attack.
 * : Press the Start button to begin a new game, or to pause the action mid-game.
 * : Press Select to access the main menu from the title screen, and to choose from among the various modes in the game.

Players
Throughout the game, you are in control of Billy Lee. If you are playing Mode A in a two player game, both players take turns as Billy. Billy is a well trained and highly skilled martial artists. He is on a mission to rescue Marion from the Black Warriors gang who have kidnapped her. To do this, he will have to travel through several regions that are broken up into four "missions." In each mission, he will have to do battle with large numbers of gang members, including one particularly strong member who serves as the boss for the end of the mission.

Billy can take a great deal of damage before succumbing to his wounds. A health meter is displayed at the bottom of the screen. When full, it contains fourteen units of health. If Billy sustains enough damage to empty their health meters, he will fall over and lose one life. Each player begins the game with three lives, with no opportunity to earn any more, regardless of score. If all of the players lives are lost, the game is over, with no opportunity to continue. This leads many to consider this version of Double Dragon particularly difficult.

Combat techniques
Just as in the arcade version of Double Dragon, Billy Lee has access to a wide variety of moves. Unlike the arcade version, not all of Billy's moves are immediately available to him. The Black Warriors fight rough, and it will take Billy some time to learn how they move and discover new ways to put his tactics to use. As he fights enemies, he earns fighting experience with each hit. After earning 1000 points of experience, Billy's fighting ability will increase by one level, up to a maximum of seven levels. At each level, he gains access new techniques. Certain new techniques will replace old ones, making the original techniques unavailable.
 * Level 1 [[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]]
 * Level 2 [[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]][[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]]
 * Level 3 [[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]][[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]][[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]]
 * Level 4 [[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]][[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]][[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]][[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]]
 * Level 5 [[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]][[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]][[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]][[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]][[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]]
 * Level 6 [[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]][[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]][[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]][[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]][[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]][[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]]
 * Level 7 [[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]][[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]][[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]][[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]][[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]][[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]][[File:Double Dragon NES heart.png]]

Weapons
While you do not begin the game with any weapons, it's possible to pick up, and utilize, any weapons that you have knocked loose from opponents' hands. To pick up a weapon, you must stand over them while they are on the ground, and press punch to bend down and collect them. Note that while you are collecting a weapon, you are vulnerable to attack. Be aware that your opponents can also knock weapons out of your hands, and pick them up to use against you. Also note that it is not possible to grab an opponent while you are holding a weapon. You may use any available weapon until you get the thumbs up to proceed to the next section, at which time any existing weapons disappear.
 * Melee weapons: It is possible to pick up a bat or whip and use them against your opponents by pressing the punch button. These are the only weapons that help you earn fighting experience (30 points per hit) and will always knock down the opponent.  Enemies will be cautious when you possess one of these weapons, and will be hesitant to approach you if you swing them constantly.
 * Throw weapons: Some enemies carry around knives or sticks of dynamite. If you pick one of these weapons up, pressing the punch button will cause you to throw them.  A knife can be thrown across the screen, and can cause more damage than any unarmed attack.  A stick of dynamite is thrown to the ground near your feet.  Shortly after it lands (whether it was trhown by you, or dropped by an enemy), it flashes before detonating.  Anyone caught in the blast, including yourself, will lose a significant amount of health.  You earn no experience points for using either weapon.
 * Heavy weapons: During the game, you may encounter barrels or crates, or even boulders. These heavy weapons can be picked up and thrown at opponents for a good amount of damage by pressing punch.  Crates simply bounce off the floor or any nearby walls that they hit, but barrels and boulders will continue to roll forward in the direction they were thrown after they land.  You also earn no experience points with these weapons.