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.