Double Dragon (NES) Glitches and Exploits
About these Glitches
The following glitches are known to work with the original NES version of Double Dragon and may not be possible on other releases. Many of these tricks, such as despawning enemies, can be used in situations other than those listed below due to the fact that they are based on the way the game engine operates. Some of the glitches that are possible in Double Dragon have been left out of this article, because they lack practical applications.
Mission 2: Williams Heart Trick
It is possible to glitch out the WIlliams (the guy who throws dynamite) in Mission 2 and use him as a punching bag to build up hearts. Start by climbing up the fence and take the bat from a Willaims at the top. Next, climb back down and walk to the right very slowly. A Williams holding a stick of dynamite should appear near a pile of girders to the right. Stop when you see him or more Williamses will spawn in. Move up to the girders as far as you can until you touch the girders. Williams should follow you. Quickly run back to the fence to the left, then climb up it before Williams reaches the end of the girders.
Williams should freeze as you climb up the fence. Once you reach the top of the fence, cross the gap to the left and go as far as you can. After that, make your way back to the girders where the WIliams got stuck. If done correctly, Williams will have vanished. Carefully move up to where he was with the bat (don’t scroll the screen too far right or it may mess up the glitch) and start swinging at the spot where you last saw him. You should hit an invisible WIlliams and get points with every blow. This is a great way to build up your hearts. In fact, you can max out your hearts if you are willing to run the clock down. If you do not have the bat, you can just kick the invisible Williams instead.
Mission 2: Despawn Chintai
You will fight three Lindas near the end of the second stage when you reach the rooftops. Chintai (also known as Chin) will appear after you finish off the Lindas. Quickly climb down the ladder to get Chintai to disappear and you will automatically move onto Mission 3.
Mission 4: Despawn Abobo and Willaims
An Abobo will burst out of the wall in Mission 4. It’s possible to avoid him and save health by simply climbing up the wall as he breaks loose. This can also be done with the Williams that appears near the ladders. Despawning the first Williams that appears can actually prevent the rest from spawning in, which can save you a lot of trouble.
Mission 4: Weapon Glitch
It is possible to get a weapon before the final boss with some good timing. Play up to the big door at the end of Mission 4 and jump kick the Chintai near the boss room to force him to drop his knife.* Leave the knife alone until you defeat the last Chintai, then wait for him to flash four times and pick up the knife. The knife should turn into something that looks like a golf club.
Next, battle the other enemies that attack and let one of them knock the weapon out of your hand just before you defeat them. Finish your foes off quickly before the weapon vanishes, then pick it up again when the last enemy blinks a fourth time. The weapon should change again.
You can do this throughout the final series of battles as long as you keep dropping the weapon and picking it up when the last enemy in a wave flashes four times. The weapon will become increasingly glitchy as you pick it up, but it will still do heavy damage and knock down its victims. That said, this glitch can be difficult to pull off, because it takes careful timing and you will have to be near the weapon to reach it before the fourth time a defeated enemy flashes.
*The elbow attack also works well for disarming Chintai.
The preceding glitches, which originally appeared in Nintendo Power Magazine, have been compiled and transcribed to this site for the sake of posterity as well as for the convenience of our visitors. They have been tested thoroughly for accuracy. Feel free to contact us if you have problems getting these cheats to work or know something we do not.
More Resources
For more information on the glitches found in this game, check out this guide on Gamefaqs:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/nes/563405-double-dragon/faqs/23206
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