Double Dragon II: The Revenge (1990 on the NES) is the one Double Dragon owners actually kept in the console, because finally two players could brawl side by side instead of taking turns or fighting each other.

The control scheme is the thing that makes it. Technos kept the arcade's directional attack layout, so B isn't punch and A isn't kick. One button attacks to the left, the other attacks to the right, and which one you press depends on where the enemy is standing. It feels wrong for about ten minutes and then it feels better than every other brawler on the system, because you never waste a frame turning around. Learn it and you can hold a spot between two enemies and alternate buttons indefinitely.

On top of that sits a large moveset for 1990: the knee, the hair grab, the elbow, the uppercut, and the hurricane kick, done by jumping and attacking behind you at the peak. It's fiddly on purpose and it clears a whole screen when it lands.

The NES version isn't the arcade game either. Technos rebuilt it with different stages, and it is harder and longer than the coin-op, with a helicopter level, a nasty conveyor-belt section, and a final fight against a shadow version of yourself. Marian doesn't get rescued this time; she's killed in the opening seconds, which is how the game explains why Billy and Jimmy are in such a mood.

The simultaneous co-op, the meaty hit feedback, and the difficulty made it a sleepover staple. Also the friendly fire, which is on by default and has ended real friendships.

It's the platonic ideal of the NES beat-'em-up: simple, loud, better with a friend. The cyclone kick alone earned this cartridge its shelf space.