Yoshihisa Kishimoto, Creator of Double Dragon and River City, Dies at 64

Yoshihisa Kishimoto, the man who gave the world Double Dragon and the Kunio-kun series, died on April 2, 2026. He was 64.

The news came from his son, Ryūbō Kishimoto, who posted on both Facebook and X/Twitter to confirm his father's passing. "I am sorry to inform you that my father has passed to rest on 04/02/2026," Ryūbō wrote on Facebook. "I hope you will continue to enjoy my father's works, including Kunio-kun. Thank you."

In a follow-up post after tributes began flooding in, he added: "I'm truly delighted to learn that there are people around the world who have played the Kunio-kun series extensively and understand my father even more deeply than I do. Please continue to enjoy my father's works with a smile in the future."

Worth noting too, the announcement landed right as the River City series was preparing to mark its 40th anniversary. Difficult timing, to say the least.

A Career Built on Brawling

Kishimoto's start in games was at Data East in the early 1980s, working on laserdisc arcade titles like Cobra Command and Road Blaster. Good work, but not quite what he'd become known for.

That came after he moved to Technōs Japan, alongside several former colleagues. There, drawing directly from his own teenage years, he built something that would reshape an entire genre. He was a kid who got into fights. A lot of them. Partly because of a breakup, partly because that's just how things went. That history, mixed with a deep admiration for Bruce Lee films like Enter the Dragon, became the raw material for his games.

In 1986, he directed Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun, released internationally as Renegade. The central character was loosely based on Kishimoto himself. It was the first game in what would become the Kunio-kun franchise, known in Western markets as River City.

Then came Double Dragon in 1987. Two-player co-op, scrolling stages, street brawling with a martial arts edge. It was built partly as a response to Western audiences, pulling from films like The Warriors and Mad Max 2 alongside the Bruce Lee influence already baked into Kunio-kun. The game was a massive hit and spawned sequels, a 1993 animated series, and even a 1994 live-action film. Kishimoto went on to direct or produce several entries in the series, including Double Dragon II: The Revenge, Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones, and Super Double Dragon on the SNES.

Beyond those two flagship franchises, his work at Technōs also included Super Dodge Ball, China Gate, and the wrestling titles WWF Superstars and WWF WrestleFest. A serious back catalogue.

Leaving Technōs and Working Independently

Kishimoto eventually departed Technōs Japan during the 1990s. He was clear about why. The studio kept returning to the same franchises because they sold, but he wanted to do something different. He also took issue with how the company was spending money, reportedly sinking funds into real estate and a racing team rather than game development.

After leaving, he worked freelance under the name "Plophet" and later founded a company by the same name on April 1, 2010. In the years that followed, he served as a consultant and collaborator on newer entries in franchises he'd created, including Double Dragon Neon and River City Ransom: Underground.

His final directing credit was Double Dragon IV in 2017, published by Arc System Works after it acquired the licence from Technōs. He also worked as a collaborative director on 2019's Stay Cool, Kobayashi-san!: A River City Ransom Story.

A Genuine Pioneer

Kishimoto is sometimes referred to as the grandfather of the beat-'em-up genre. That's not hyperbole. While games like Kung-Fu Master predated his work, it was Renegade and Double Dragon that set the template every side-scrolling brawler since has followed.

The tributes across social media since his passing have been significant. Fans sharing memories of feeding coins into Double Dragon cabinets, of two-player sessions with a mate, of River City Ransom being the game they keep going back to. That kind of response doesn't happen for everyone.

Condolences to Ryūbō Kishimoto and the rest of the family. His father left behind a body of work that genuinely mattered to millions of people, and that's not something that goes away.