Beat ’em up pioneer and Double Dragon creator Yoshihisa Kishimoto has died at 64

Yoshihisa Kishimoto, credited as one of the main pioneers of the beat ’em up genre, has died aged 64.

Kishimoto’s career as a developer started in the early 1980s, and his early works included Laserdisc FMV games Cobra Command and Road Blaster, both of which were released in 1984 and would be ported to the Mega CD nearly a decade later (the latter was renamed Road Avenger in the West).

It was his work in the beat ’em up genre where Kishimoto made his name, however. He was the designer and director of Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun, the 1986 game which was renamed Renegade in the West. The Kunio-kun series would spawn numerous sequels and spin-offs over the years, including River City Ransom.

Predating other seminal beat ’em ups like Final Fight by a number of years, Renegade is considered the first major example of the beat ’em up as we know it today.

While there were games before it where the player walked to the side and fought a series of enemies, Renegade established the belt-scrolling mechanic – where players can freely move in all directions in an environment instead of just left and right – which would become considered a key element of the beat ’em up genre.

Kishimoto followed Renegade with Double Dragon, which was originally conceived as a sequel before becoming its own separate series. Double Dragon was the one of the first widely popular and financially successful beat ’em up games, spawning numerous sequels of its own.

Other titles Kishimoto directed included Double Dragon 2, 3 and 4, Super Dodge Ball and the arcade games WWF Superstars and WWF Wrestlefest.

His death was announced on his Facebook page by his son Ryubo. “I am Yoshihisa Kishimoto’s son,” he wrote. “This may come as a sudden announcement, but my father passed away on April 2, 2026.

“We are deeply grateful for all the kindness you showed him during his lifetime. Please accept our apologies for holding a private family funeral. We hope you will continue to enjoy my father’s works, including those featuring Kunio-kun. Thank you for your continued support.”

Developer WayForward – which released Kunio-kun spin-offs River City Girls (2019) and River City Girls 2 (2022), paid respect to Kishimoto on X, saying: “We are sorry to hear of the passing of Yoshihisa Kishimoto, creator of the legendary Double Dragon and Kunio-kun (River City) series. WayForward was greatly inspired by his works, and it was an honor to explore the universe he created.”