Growing up, I spent a lot of time playing beat ’em ups in both arcades and on home consoles like the Super Nintendo. I have fond memories of repeatedly playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, the Power Rangers Movie game, and a number of others, but can’t recall playing much of Double Dragon despite it being one of the originals. Then again, I never owned an NES. Regardless, I’ve always loved the genre and continue to to this day.
When Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons was announced for modern consoles I became intrigued. A preview/review code ended up arriving in my inbox not long after, so I’ve now had the chance to play through this new take on the classic series. Below lay my thoughts.
Although it’s a new game, Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons is rooted in yesteryear and exists as a classic, pixel-based beat ’em up. As such, players move from right to left and occasionally jump onto platforms, all while beating the crap out of many different enemies. There’s tons of kicking, punching and use of borrowed weapons, including knives, bats, pipes and wine bottles. If you’ve played one of these games you’ll know what to expect, although this one does do some things differently.
Each character does have his or her own special move, though, and these are very important. I found Jimmy Lee’s to be the best, by far, at least when it came to characters available from the start. For whatever reason, I dominated with him, but only lived about half as long whenever I had to use a second character. Billy Lee, for instance, wasn’t nearly as good. Marian was helpful during an awful boss battle against a guy in a helicopter, but she played very differently. She shoots a pistol, and cannot use enemies’ dropped weapons, making her ranged only. That said, I didn’t use every single character, because there’s something like 13 of them, and most are locked from the start. More about that later.
From the start, the player (or players, since this can be played in 1 player tag mode or in 2 player couch co-op) can choose from four different stages. The order in which they play them is important, too, because every remaining stage becomes more difficult after you complete one. Thus, there’s some strategy to be found herein.
Each of the four stages features a different, themed gang. Say you don’t like the fourth one, which is styled after Japanese ninjas and warriors. You’ll want to play that one first, because it’ll only be comprised of one level section and then its main boss battle. The next gang you pick will then feature two stages and two different boss battles, while the third will feature three, and so forth. Regardless of the order you play them in, and how long they end up being, you’ll be forced to fight each gang’s main boss.
This is an interesting mechanic which works quite well, and allows for consecutive playthroughs to feel different from one another. It also provides a reason to strategize and experiment. During my second playthrough, I went with almost an opposite order and found that the Japanese styled gang had, perhaps, the best levels of them all. This will all end up being subjective, of course.
Following the completion of these four gangs’ stages, you’ll have the option to do battle against a final boss who resides in his own stage. However, you can choose to just take money from the mayor in return for cleaning up the city. I passed both times.
The roguelite mechanics bleed into other facets of Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons. For instance, players earn money as they battle their way through each stage, and can find extra by breaking different things within each environment, be it boxes or something else. This money is used to pay for 1ups, which become more and more expensive as you use them. The price increases about $500 per use. Meanwhile, two different upgrades can be purchased at the end of each level section, and options include better defensive shielding, a special move gauge that fills faster, the ability to knock all enemies down when your first character dies and the second is called into action, increased health and more. It’s important to earn as much money as possible, because you can end up without enough to use a 1up at the end of the game. That’s what happened to me during my first playthrough, because I used three or four during the stages and then didn’t have enough money to continue during the final boss. In actuality, said final boss is made up of two fights, with the first being a battle against all four of the other (main, not secondary) bosses you fought at the end of each stage. You fight them all at once, then the final boss comes out to challenge you. Needless to say, it can be quite difficult.
That’s another thing about Double Dragon Gaiden: it has customizable difficulty settings, which came in handy for me. After getting my ass kicked on normal settings, I restarted and chose increased player health, unlimited continues (which allow you to continue from the start of the level, as opposed to the 1ups which let you come back to life), cheaper upgrades and cheaper 1ups. I didn’t really change the enemy ferocity or health meters because I already felt like I was cheating, but I should’ve. This is a somewhat challenging game, and this combination led to me not having enough money to 1up (enough) at the end. Thus, after closing the game and playing something else for a while, my second playthrough was done with all sliders to the max. The end result was a complete playthrough where I didn’t die much and had $20,000 leftover at the end because I rarely had to 1up.
For completing the game, I was awarded 24 tokens (which look like poker chips). I was also able to buy them in sets of one or three when upgrade menus appeared, but mostly chose to save my money for upgrades or nothing at all. These tokens allow you to purchase additional content, including music, tips and new characters. That’s where the nine additional characters come into play. The 24 that I earned allowed me to purchase a few, but some cost 50 by themselves.
Once you complete the game, though, your progress is wiped and you must start over on a new file. It’s also possible to delete your progress and start anew at any time. I thought that, since this is a roguelite, people would be able to continue playing on the same file and earn tokens that way, but apparently not.
On the presentation side of things, Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons is almost wholly retro but with a modern twist. It looks like something that could’ve come out of the late 80s or 90s, if it weren’t for the fact that its art design is Chibi in nature. Thus, the characters and their enemies are mostly smaller in nature and are stylized. Each gang also has its own colours, unique enemy types and themes, in addition to its own stages.
The accompanying chiptunes and sound effects are tailor made for this type of game, and they suit it well. The music is good, never got annoying and was always something pleasant to listen to. I often got caught up in the action and worrying about dying, though, so it sometimes went in one ear and then out the other. Meanwhile, there’s a tiny amount of voice acting, by way of the characters exclaiming one liners on occasion.
For the most part, the game ran really well. However, there was one occasion — during my second playthrough — where a boss completely disappeared. It’s as if he jumped through a wall, because he jumped into the corner and then vanished. I could continue, but was only able to fight the goons that kept respawning, meaning I made no progress and had to quit out.
Lastly, there isn’t much of a story to be found herein, as you’d likely expect, but there is a hint of one. The game begins as the mayor rushes into the Lee brothers’ dojo, carrying Marian over his shoulder. She’s been hurt, and the city has become overrun with gangs. Thus, the brothers rush out to save the day.
In all honesty, I was worried about whether I’d enjoy this one or not, due to its roguelite elements. While I didn’t end up loving it, I did like and enjoy it, and would recommend it to fans of beat ’em ups. While it’s somewhat basic in terms of controls and mechanics, it’s a pretty fun game and a nostalgic one at that. Check out Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons if you’re in the mood for something retro.
This review is based on the PlayStation 5 version of the game, which we were provided with.