"Double Dragon 4" is rolling out to Sony's PlayStation 4 and Valve's Steam on Jan. 30, 2017 after Arc System Works bought the rights to the franchise in 2015. The release date is a late Christmas gift just in time to immortalize the 30th anniversary of the original NES game. "Double Dragon" is Technōs Japan's side-scrolling beat 'em up title that launched in the company's home country in July 1987.
A group of the original developers is working on "Double Dragon IV." Arc System Works reported that the director, programmer, character designer, and composer are working on the project.
The Japanese video game developer was founded in 1988. It seems it will post more details to its official website during the next weeks, according to The Verge.
Arc System Works uploaded a trailer on December 26, Monday. A long video sequence of the old-school NES game is shown in the first half of the teaser trailer.
New gameplay clips start at the 1:09 mark of the preview video. The gameplay and graphics look very close to the classic NES game featuring martial artists Billy and Jimmy Lee.
This news will make many Nintendo fans happy. Nintendo also recently released its NES Classic Edition that features 30 built-in games including "Double Dragon 2."
"Double Dragon 4" also has new features. The game will not only include a story mode, but also a two-player duel and Japanese mode.
This latest "Double Dragon" title will be the first sequel in the franchise since 1990. "Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone" was released in November 1990 in North America.
The official site for "Double Dragon 4" shares that the fighting game will cost 800 yen (about $8) for the downloadable version. It has received a rating of "T" from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) and "12" from Pan European Game Information (PEGI).
The "Double Dragon" game series resulted in an animation series (1993-1994) and action film version (1994).
In related news, Nintendo has registered a Japanese trademark that includes the image of a Super Famicom/SNES controller, according to WWG. It was registered on December 5.
It is unclear what the gaming giant's plans are. It could be developing a SNES Classic Edition console or SNES controller for the Switch console, or fighting fake Nintendo controllers.
Here's the "Double Dragon 4" teaser trailer: