After the success of the first Double Dragon, Double Dragon II was conceived as a reboot for the series. Technos Japan wanted Double Dragon II to reuse the same hardware as the first, but with new graphics. Nonetheless, after a few weeks, Kishimoto Yoshihisa decided not to follow the instructions he had received, and developed the second Double Dragon for more recent hardware, thus providing better quality and a better gaming experience. The first Double Dragon used far too many resources for the arcade cabinets of the time, leading to slowdowns; this had to be corrected. When the Double Dragon II project was launched, it therefore faced significant challenges: it had to be faster, have improved animations, more special attacks, and also more playable weapons.
Unlike its predecessor, Double Dragon II returned to the classic beat'em all codes. The second in the series reintroduced the principle of having strikes vary according to the character's position. Regardless of the changes, the latest game, which incorporated numerous references to Bruce Lee as did the first Double Dragon, was well received by players. Nonetheless, some fans of the first game regretted the return of the classic beat'em all system, unlike purists of the genre, who hailed it.
The Western and Asian storylines were also different in the game. In the arcade game, Marianne is killed in the game's first few seconds, and the goal of the Lee brothers, Billy and Jimmy, is to find her killers and avenge her death. The console version published by Famicom on NES doesn't follow the original storyline, though, and the player discovers that Marianne is still alive at the end of the game. Despite this difference, the game was a success in both Asia and the West.