Play Double Dragon III - The Sacred Stones Online

Double Dragon III - The Sacred Stones is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up where you travel the globe to rescue Marion by collecting three sacred stones. The first thing you notice is how stiff the controls feel compared to other NES brawlers—Billy and Jimmy's punches land with a weird delay, and the cyclone kick never quite works when you need it.

Switching between characters is interesting though. Chin and Ranzou handle differently, with Ranzou's sword giving him better reach but slower swings. The levels drag on a bit, especially Italy with its endless knife-throwing enemies. And the difficulty spikes hard in Egypt—those mummies take way too many hits.

It's not a bad game, just rough around the edges. If you're a fan of the series, you'll probably push through for the novelty of the globe-trotting story. But Double Dragon III - The Sacred Stones definitely feels like a step down from the first two games.