Dong Dong Never Die, is a fighting game that inspired a generation of fighters. The impact on the fighting game community cannot be understated. Dong Dong Never Die has inspired the next generation of fighting games and top players. Today, I have the distinct honor of presenting the history of this monumental piece of art.

Note: I had to use Google translate when compiling this post. If you can speak Chinese, and notice any errors in this article, please contact me on Twitter or leave a comment below. Additional information is also welcomed!

Inside the game files, a note was left by the gods that created Dong Dong Never Die. It reads:

<Dong Dong Never Die> is a free PC FTG game. It has been programing and producing from 2006 Oct till 2009 Aug. It takes 3 years of our spare time. This game was produced by a group of game fans in china, the developing software is 2DFM. It was dubed in Chinese (mandarin and several dialects), and was made of Chinese captions.There are 36 scenes , 24 optional characters and 15 characters that are not optional. It gathered 18,000 photos during the producing of the game, but about 10,000 photos were adopted in the game.

On the developer’s site, it does has some developer’s credit.

制作：张强、王东等……

If Google Translate is correct, then in English this would be:

Production: Zhang Qiang, Wang Dong and so on …..

As the note says, the game started development around October 2006.

June 2007 – originally, the plan was to release the game with 6 characters. However, many people expressed support and decided to pitch in their efforts. This lead to an expanded roster.

September 2007 – pictures for 20 characters were taken.

May 2007, a demo was released the public! The demo featured six characters (I believe: Dong Dong, Sheng Hua Nan, A Shuang, Wu Liao Jun, Terminator and Mon Hua Tang, I couldn’t find a download line to confirm all the characters).

June 2007, the game was expected to last for another year. The developer was also interviewed about Street Fighter Dong Dong Never Die.

January 2008- the English name was officially announced as Street Fighter Dong Dong Never Die.

June 2008- the second demo version was released, with 10 characters playable.(Again, I can’t find a download link to confirm the characters).

October 2008 – the developers decided to add Mario to the game. This was a little over a year before the game was actually released. The developers decided to add a secret character who wasn’t related at all to anything in the game. Mario’s development time was short, around a month.

June 2009 – the English name was adjusted to Dong Dong Never Die, with the game’s logo abeing revealed.

August 2009 – Dong Dong Never Die is released to critical acclaim.

Here is a list of characters, taken from the Mugen Fighters Guild:



A Shuang , Da Lan , Dong Dong , Fei Fei , Gouki, Huo Chai Ren , Jian Ci Lang ,Jiang Bao , Jie Jie , Jie Mei Hua , Ken , Liu Mang ,Mario , Mian Hua Tang , Ming Boy , Mo Shu Shi , Sheng Hua Nan , Sun Wu Kong ,Terminator , Tuo Lei , Violent Dong Dong , Wu Liao Jun , Xiao Pan , Yin Yin , Zhu Ge Liang.

Here is the list of stages (Thanks to the Spriter’s Resource):

Fu Jian, Gan Su, Guang Dong 1, Guang Dong 2, Guang Xi, He Nan, Hei Long Jiang, Hu Bei, Hu Nan, An Hui, Huo Chai Ren’s Stage, Jiang Xi 1, Jiang Xi 2, Liao Ning, Mario’s Stage. Nei Meng Gu, Qing Hai, Shan Dong, Shan Xi 1, Shan Xi2, Si Chuan, Tai Wan, Ting Che Chang, Xin Jiang, Yun Nan, Zhe Jiang.

If you would like to download Dong Dong Never Die to try out this influential fighter for yourself, try this link. Again, I don’t speak any Chinese so please let me know if I messed up somewhere, or if you know additional information.

Special thanks to Daan Koopman for requesting this history.