Double Dragon and Kunio-kun Creator Dies Aged 65

Yoshihisa Kishimoto, the unique creator of influential beat-’em-up franchises Double Dragon and Kunio-kun, has handed away aged 65, his son has confirmed.

Kishimoto’s son posted the information about his father’s demise on Fb and on X (word: these posts are in Japanese, so we’re utilizing machine translation). No explanation for demise was introduced.

Within the posts, Kishimoto’s son thanks Double Dragon and Kunio-kun followers for his or her help through the years and requests that followers respect the household’s needs to carry a non-public funeral for Kishimoto. The Double Dragon creator’s son additionally pledges to “convey each sentiment acquired from everybody to [his] father”.

Kishimoto’s best-known works are the aforementioned Double Dragon and Kunio-kun franchises, however he is additionally labored on different titles, together with Knowledge East’s Cobra Command and Street Blaster, in addition to serving as a producer on a few Japan-only dungeon-crawling RPGs.

Each Double Dragon and Kunio-kun proceed to see releases to this present day, and Kishimoto has labored on various extra fashionable entries in each franchises, together with 2017’s Double Dragon IV, on which he served as a director.

The franchises have additionally continued with out Kishimoto’s direct enter; final yr noticed the discharge of Double Dragon Revive, a extra easy side-scroller that adopted on from 2023’s roguelite-adjacent Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons.

As for Kunio-kun, you may comprehend it higher as River Metropolis, the title underneath which it is often localized. The newest launch within the franchise is 2022’s River Metropolis Ladies 2, by which Double Dragon’s Billy and Jimmy seem as further DLC. I am certain Kishimoto would have been completely happy to see the gang collectively on this method.

It is a fairly spectacular achievement to have created one franchise that stands the check of time, not to mention two. Our ideas at TechRaptor exit to Yoshihisa Kishimoto’s household and associates throughout this tough time.