Yoshihisa Kishimoto Passes On

Replay Magazine·article·analyzed·Apr 7, 2026

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.009

TL;DR

Double Dragon creator Yoshihisa Kishimoto dies at 64

Summary

Yoshihisa Kishimoto, a legendary arcade game designer known for creating Double Dragon (1987) and other classic beat 'em up titles, passed away on April 2 at age 64. His diverse arcade portfolio included Cobra Command, Renegade, Super Dodge Ball, Blockout, and WWF Wrestlefest across the 1980s and early 1990s.

Key Claims

Yoshihisa Kishimoto died on April 2 at age 64
high confidence · Reported via IGN, confirmed by his son on Facebook
Kishimoto created Double Dragon (1987)
high confidence · Replay Magazine article, widely documented arcade history
Kishimoto created Cobra Command (1984), known as Thunder Storm in Japan, released in U.S. by Data East
high confidence · Replay Magazine article
Kishimoto's other arcade titles included Renegade (1986), Super Dodge Ball (1987), Blockout (1989), and WWF Wrestlefest (1991)
high confidence · Replay Magazine article
Kishimoto later made games for PlayStation and other home platforms after his arcade career
medium confidence · Replay Magazine article, not elaborated with specific titles

Entities

Yoshihisa KishimotopersonDouble DragongameCobra CommandgameRenegadegameSuper Dodge BallgameBlockoutgameWWF WrestlefestgameData EastcompanyIGNorganization

Signals

?
historical_signal: Documentation of influential arcade game designer's legacy and body of work spanning 1980s-1990s arcade golden age
high · Comprehensive listing of Kishimoto's arcade titles: Double Dragon, Cobra Command, Renegade, Super Dodge Ball, Blockout, WWF Wrestlefest

Topics

Arcade game design historyprimaryBeat 'em up genreprimaryClassic arcade titles (1980s-1990s)primaryVideo game industry figure deathprimary

Sentiment

neutral(0)

Transcript

raw_text · $0.000

Yoshihisa Kishimoto, the creator of the beat ‘em up arcade Double Dragon (1987) and many others, died on April 2 at age 64, according to IGN. His son reported the sad news on Facebook. While he later made games for PlayStation and other home platforms, Kishimoto got his start in arcades. He made Cobra Command (1984), which was known as Thunder Storm in Japan. The game was released in the U.S. by Data East. Some of his other arcade games included Renegade (1986), Super Dodge Ball (1987), Blockout (1989) and WWF Wrestlefest (1991).