Similar to Double Dragon, the game is divided into four areas or "missions": a heliport, a lumber storehouse, a farm, and the gang's new hideout.

Weapons carried by enemies include shovels, knives, chain whips, and grenades; in addition, crates, logs, and steel balls can be picked up and thrown.

Virgin Mastertronic released ports of the arcade version for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, IBM PC compatibles, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, and Atari ST in 1989.

[8] The Mega Drive version of Double Dragon II: The Revenge was released by Palsoft exclusively in Japan on December 20, 1991.

The game has compatibility issues when played with a 6-button controller, suffering from slight input lag when the players move their characters with the directional pad.

It was originally released in Japan in 1990 as part of the Kunio-kun series but the graphics, music, and storyline were changed for the English version of the game.

In Japan, Game Machine listed Double Dragon II: The Revenge on their April 1, 1989 issue as being the seventh most-successful table arcade unit of the month.