dd_trilogyMasters of the retro ports, French development studio DotEmu has just announced that they will be bringing the Double Dragon Trilogy to the iPhone, and iPad by the end of this year.

The 1987 classic, Double Dragon is considered by many to be one of the best and most memorable arcade co-op beat’em up experiences and one that I fondly remember playing a lot of it with my brothers on our NES.

DotEmu’s Double Dragon Trilogy, will be “a compilation specially optimized for mobiles and which includes all three installments of the beloved arcade series: Double Dragon, Double Dragon 2: The Revenge, and Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone. The first one begins with Billy and his brother Jimmy, two martial arts experts, in a mission to rescue Billy’s girlfriend, Marian, who’s been kidnapped by the Black Shadows Gang. All your favorite moves are here: punches, kicks, elbows, knees, head-butts and an assortment of not-exactly-street-legal weapons.”

The Double Dragon Trilogy will feature local co-op (a must for this series) via Bluetooth as well as external game controller support and a host of other features including:

  • Two game modes: “Arcade” (play the game from beginning to end and go for the high score) and “Story” (unlock new stages and achievements while playing through the game)
  • Customizable controls
  • Three difficulty levels: “mobile” (specially balanced for mobile games), “original” (similar to the arcade version) and “expert” (a real challenge!)
  • Achievements & leaderboards via Game Center and Google Play Game Service
  • Choose between the original 8-bit soundtrack and a brand-new remastered one!
  • Co-op mode (two players) via Bluetooth
  • Gamepad support: compatible with most Android controllers and soon with most iOS controllers too

An iPhone-only version of the first Double Dragon currently exists on the App Store from publisher Bow Mobile, it is unclear if this will be removed when DotEmu’s Trilogy is released.

Check out the trailer for DotEmu’s upcoming release below (complete with a taste of the glorious newly remastered soundtrack):