Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones

Double Dragon III:The Sacred Stones
Developer(s)	Technōs Japan
Publisher(s)	Acclaim (NA/EU) Technōs Japan (JP) Arc System Works (VC)
Release Date(s)
Nintendo Entertainment System	NA: February 1991 JP: February 22, 1991 EU: 1991 AU: 1994
Nintendo Entertainment System	NA: February 1991 JP: February 22, 1991 EU: 1991 AU: 1994
Virtual Console (Wii U)	NA: February 18, 2016
Virtual Console (Wii U)	NA: February 18, 2016
Nintendo Switch (eShop)	WW: April 16, 2020
Nintendo Switch (eShop)	WW: April 16, 2020
Platform(s)
Genre(s)	Beat 'em up
Rating(s)
ESRB	04
PEGI	02

Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up produced for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991. It was the third Double Dragon game for the NES, developed by Technōs Japan. and published in North America and Europe by Acclaim Entertainment. Although loosely based on the similarly titled arcade game Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone, it is not a port, but rather a parallel project that was developed at the same time.

Plot

A year after the downfall of the Shadow Warriors, a new enemy threatens Billy and Jimmy Lee, as Marion is kidnapped by a mysterious organization. The only witness to her kidnapping, Brett, dies before he could divulge their leader's true identity. A fortune teller named Hiruko informs the Lee brothers that Marion's kidnappers are searching for the three Sacred Stones of Power that had been scattered around the world and that the only way to rescue her is to procure them before the kidnappers do. After the initial battle in the United States, the Lee brothers embark on a worldwide journey to find the stones, which takes them to China, Japan and Italy, where they face numerous formidable fighters in each country. The final stage is set in Egypt, where the Lee brothers uncover the truth about Marion's disappearance and come face to face with the true leader of the enemy.

Gameplay

Double Dragon III can be played by one or two players simultaneously, with an "A mode" where both players can't harm each other and a "B mode" that allows friendly fire. Like its arcade counterpart, the NES version of Double Dragon III reverts to having punch and kick buttons as the standard control scheme and the ability to dash by pressing the d-pad left or right twice has been added. The rest of the combat system is a bit closer to the previous NES games, retaining the hair grab move that was removed in the arcade version (although the shoulder throw is gone, as well as the flying knee kick and hyper uppercut from the NES version of Double Dragon II: The Revenge). New moves in this version include a running jump kick (which can become a triangle jump kick when performed on a wall) and a midair somersault that allows the player to throw enemies by jumping on them. During 2-player mode, when both players are controlling each Lee brother, they can perform a twin cyclone spin kick and a triangle jump kick.

The game discards the traditional lives system from the previous NES installments, as well as the item shops from the arcade version. Instead, the player gains the ability to control two new fighters in addition to the Lee brothers as they progress through the game. These extra fighters join the player's party once they've been defeated as enemy bosses. Chin Seimei, a Chinese martial arts master, joins at the end of Mission 2, while Yagyu Ranzou, the head of a ninja clan, appears at the end of Mission 3. By pressing the Select button at any point, the player can access a character selection screen and switch between any of the available fighters. Each fighter has his own fighting techniques, health points and speed, making them suitable for different situations. When the player loses a fighter, he will automatically change to the next available character until the entire party has been defeated. Normally the game ends when the player's entire party has been defeated, but a continue option is available for the final two stages if the player loses once.

In addition to fighting unarmed (or with a sword in Ranzou's case), each fighter has a backup weapon that they can draw at any time from the character selection screen, but can only be used for a limited time. This feature allows the Lee brothers to use nunchakus, Chin to wield an iron claw and Ranzou to throw shurikens. Weapons can also be obtained by disarming certain enemies, although only the Lee brothers and Chin can arm themselves with enemy weapons (which include a throwing knife, a sai and a beer bottle). An enemy's weapons can be used as long as the original wielder is alive.

Credits

• Game Design: Tsutomu Andō (as Ando), Masamichi Katagiri (as Katagiri), Yoshihisa Kishimoto (as Yosi), and Nobuyuki Sawada (as Sawada)
• Programmer: Sato, Shintaro Kumagai (as Shin)
• Sound and Music: Michiya Hirasawa (as Hirarin), Akira Inoue (as Inoue), Yoshihiro Kameoka (as Kame), and Takaro Nozaki (as Nazaki)
• Thanks: Robert C. Ashworth (as Bob), Kunihiro Hirabayashi (as Hirabayashi), Michiaki Ishida (as Ishida), Toshiyuki Ōsumi (as Osumi), Koji Sakuma (as Sakuma), and Junichirō Sekikawa (as Sekikawa)

Reception

According to sales data from the Software Publishers Association, the NES version of Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones was the seventh best-selling console game in the United States during its month of its release. It was later discovered that Acclaim Entertainment had overestimated the demand for the title, resulting with half a million unsold stocks in their storehouse.

On April 1991, Electronic Gaming Monthly scored Double Dragon III with 32 points out of 40. The game was praised by the staff for its graphics, music, extra fighting moves, new playable characters, and two-player functionality. That same month, Nintendo Power Magazine rated the game a 3.3 out of 5.

Double Dragon III was well received in Portugal. On May 1991, Ação Games gave the game a perfect 4 out of 4, claiming that experts of the first two titles will be able to do well in this one. VideoGame magazine rewarded it with a full 5 stars within that same month. On February 1992, German magazine Video Games scored Double Dragon III with 70%, commending its sophisticated gameplay while criticizing the level of difficulty. Player One from France rated the game with an 80% for their June 1992 issue. They wrote, "Beginners would do better to fall back on the second episode, but if you are Paddle pros, let yourself be tempted: after all, Double Dragon III is still the most beautiful fighting game on the NES."

IGN ranked the game at 55th in their "Top 100 NES Games of All Time".

See also

• Double Dragon 3: The Arcade Game

External links

• Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones at Double Dragon Wiki
• Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones (NES) at Double Dragon Dojo
• Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones (FC) at Game Kommander (Japanese)
• Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones at MobyGames
• Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones at GameFAQs
• Double Dragon III (NES) at Hardcore Gaming 101
• Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones (NES) at The Cutting Room Floor
• Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones (NES Prototype) at The Cutting Room Floor