Double Dragon III - The Sacred Stones

Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up developed by Technōs Japan and published by Acclaim in 1991 for the NES. A year after the Shadow Warriors' defeat, Marion is kidnapped by a mysterious organization. The Lee brothers embark on a global quest across the United States, China, Japan, Italy, and Egypt to find the three Sacred Stones of Power. Gameplay reverts to punch and kick buttons with a dash move. New techniques include a wall-jump kick, Cyclone Spin Kick, and the "Somer-Assault" grab-and-throw. Unlike previous entries, there are no extra lives or continues until the final stages. After defeating bosses, Chin Seimei and Yagyu Ranzou join the party. Players can switch between all four characters, each with unique weapons.

NES

Technically, Double Dragon III is the most polished NES entry in the series. Backgrounds are detailed and colorful, with clean sprite edges and varied enemy designs. The game features two different enemy types on screen simultaneously for the first time, though heavy sprite flicker occurs when all four characters occupy the same scanline. The soundtrack, composed by Akira Inoue, features a remix of the classic Double Dragon theme and bass-heavy tunes. Controls are responsive, though the run input can be unresponsive at times. The game's brutal difficulty is infamous—enemies are aggressive and numerous, with no health-replenishing items in stages. The English version altered the plot from the Japanese original and is slightly harder, with fewer health points. Contemporary reviews praised the graphics and sound but criticized the punishing single-player difficulty. A typo in the intro famously renamed Billy to "Bimmy." The game never received a Japanese Famicom release—it only came out in North America and Europe.