Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones

aka: Double Dragon III: The Rosetta Stone
Moby ID: 72001
NES Specs
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Description official descriptions

A year after the events of Double Dragon II: The Revenge, the Supreme Black Shadow Sensei and his Black Shadow Warriors lay defeated. Life has returned to normality for Billy Lee who is now running a dojo training students in the field of martial arts. However, one day when Billy is away, the dojo is attacked and Marion is kidnapped. A soothsayer named Hiruko has information on Marion's disappearance: She claims the kidnappers will release Marion in exchange for the three sacred stones of power. Hiruko knows the locations of the stones, but they are located all over the earth.

Billy Lee (and his brother Jimmy in the two player game) will have to travel the globe in five missions stretching from the U.S.A., China, Japan, Italy, and finally to Egypt fighting bad guys in this side-scrolling beat-'em-up. Along the way they'll pick up two more allies named Chin and Ranzou. Players can switch between these four characters as each character has their own life bar and primary weapon (Billy, Jimmy, and Chin use their bare hands while Ranzou uses a sword) and a limited supply secondary weapon (Billy and Jimmy use nunchaku, Chin uses iron claws, and Ranzou uses shurikens). Each character also has basic maneuvers. Billy and Jimmy can use punches, side kicks, cyclone spin kicks, mid-air somersaults, and flying jump kicks to dispatch foes, with Chin and Ranzou having equivalent maneuvers to finish off enemies also. Characters can also pick up weapons like army knives, broken bottles, and sais off the ground and use them to fight with.

While featuring some similarities, Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone features a different story, gameplay, enemies, and level design layouts then this version of the game.

Spellings

  • 双載龍Ⅲ The Rosetta Stone - Japanese spelling

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Credits (NES version)

16 People (10 developers, 6 thanks)

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Reviews

Critics

Average score: 60% (based on 14 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.4 out of 5 (based on 39 ratings with 1 reviews)

A hard as hell fighting beat em up. Just how I like em!

The Good
The graphics have been overhauled and the backgrounds are quite a bit more detailed over one and two though the character sprites for Billy and Jimmy look almost the same as The Revenge

Enemies use tactics now! They try to keep you on the ground with punches and kicks. No more stuffing them!

Controls have been reverted back to Double Dragon 1 fare. no more sides where one punches forward and one kicks back. Some may hate this change but I like it since it leads to more variety in the moves.

You finally get other characters other then Billy and Jimmy Lee! Ranzou and Chin are all good characters to use provided you can master their use.

The most challenging out of all the double dragon games.

The Bad
Some people may complain that it's unfair you only get one life though I find this adds to the challenge.

Some people may also find the improved enemy AI cheap

Game is incredibly hard especially the final boss who takes heaps of damage with her moves. It also doesn't help that she can HIT you without even being near you with her invisible hand of pain. The Homing Pigeons also are a slap in the groin.

The Bottom Line
I remember this game like it was yesterday. Clammoring for more Double Dragon back in days past this game came to sate our thirst back in the early 90s. Being a kid at that time the game was far too difficult to even beat the first level. Hell most people can't beat the first level since you get only a moderate amount of energy to take hits and one life. After many weeks of playing I finally got past level one! Then Level 2 showed even MORE challenge with Chinese warriors who did more damage and had more Finesse then the street fighters of the US in the game.

Besides that little story the game is what's to be expected of Double Dragon Fare. Jump kicks, hurricane kicks head grabbing and Billy and Jimmy Lee kicking much butt. The game also has curious new additions like using special weapons a finite amount of times and combining together to do special moves like the double hurricane kick or jumping on one partner to throw yourself at a bad guy with a harder jump kick and so forth. The game is the hardest of all the double dragons with it's one life and no continues but this adds challenge and fun to the quest to finding Marion!

Overall I give this game a 9/10 for the sheer fun it gives me and for not being a pushover. Some may hate this game for being difficult but I love it! Took me years to give this game the beating it deserved and after beating it I literally jumped for joy.

NES · by Mr. Huh (105) · 2015

Trivia

Manual

The Japanese Famicom version came with a manga-style instruction manual.

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Alaka.

Wii U added by Michael Cassidy. Xbox One, PlayStation 4 added by Rik Hideto. Nintendo Switch added by Kam1Kaz3NL77.

Additional contributors: Corn Popper, Foxhack, Freeman, ZeTomes.

Game added April 5, 2015. Last modified September 1, 2023.