Double Dragon One gave the Neo Geo a proper belt scroller

Last September, homebrew developers OzzyOuzo and Johnny16bit released Double Dragon One, a free port of the 1987 arcade classic built for Neo Geo hardware. A recent YouTube upload shows the game running on original hardware, and looking back at the project nearly a year later, the game fits the platform well.

The Neo Geo is famous for fighting games, and it actually got an official Double Dragon release in 1995. That game was a one-on-one fighter loosely based on the 1994 live-action movie. Technōs Japan built a competitive fighter where characters could double jump and use charge moves, completely abandoning the cooperative brawling that made the franchise popular. It was the only official Double Dragon game released for the system before Technōs filed for bankruptcy in 1996. The platform never received a traditional, belt-scrolling Double Dragon during its commercial peak.

Four buttons and iOS sprites

Double Dragon One fills that gap. The developers (operating as Casa De Ruivo) repurposed high-resolution 2D sprites originally created by Brizo Interactive for a delisted 2011 iOS port. They mapped the combat system to the Neo Geo's four-button layout, giving players dedicated inputs for punching, kicking, jumping, and back attacks.

The game recreates the four stages from the 1987 original: the City Slums, the Industrial Factory, the Forest, and the Black Warriors Hideout. The team expanded those original areas into seven distinct sections. The redrawn sprites look completely at home on the MVS hardware, even if they originated on a touchscreen device. The 2011 iOS version is completely unplayable on modern phones, making this Neo Geo port a strange but effective preservation tool for Brizo Interactive's art.

The homebrew port brings back the interactive weapon pickups and two-player cooperative play. You can grab baseball bats, whips, and throwing knives off enemies just like in the arcade original.

Free on original hardware and FPGA

The ROM is available as a free download on itch.io. It runs on original Neo Geo MVS arcade cabinets and AES home consoles using flash cartridges like the NeoSD.

It is also fully compatible with modern FPGA setups. You can load it on a MiSTer FPGA or an Analogue Pocket. The Neo Geo homebrew scene has kept the 1990 hardware alive for decades, and getting a foundational 1987 beat 'em up running natively on it feels like correcting a historical oversight.