Yoshihisa Kishimoto, the man who punched the beat 'em up genre into existence with Double Dragon, died on April 2 at age 64. His son confirmed the news in a reply to the official Kunio-kun X account, thanking fans for their support over the years.

Kishimoto cut his teeth at Data East directing laserdisc arcade titles like Cobra Command and Road Blaster before jumping to Technos Japan. There, he unleashed Renegade—known as Nekketsu Koha Kunio-tachi no Rengade in Japan—the blueprint for side-scrolling brawlers, followed by the 1987 arcade smash Double Dragon. He directed a string of classics: Super Dodge Ball, WWF Superstars, WWF Wrestlefest, and multiple Double Dragon entries up to the NES era. Later, as a freelancer and founder of Plophet Co., Ltd., he consulted on revivals like Double Dragon IV in 2017.

X lit up with tributes from outlets like IGN and Game Informer, fans reminiscing about quarters devoured in arcades, and wrestling crowds mourning the WWF games. Reddit threads in r/gaming and r/snes echoed the sentiment: childhood co-op sessions that defined a generation. Kishimoto's two-player template still scrolls across modern indies—no co-op rug-pull survives without invoking his shadow.