The beat ‘em up par excellence has a new title. Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons is the name of the latest release of the Double Dragon franchise, head of line of the legendary fighting genre.
The return of the Dragons
It is a very import release this one, setting the return of the legendary saga of Double Dragon, founder of the fighting genre known as beat ‘em up. The Lee Brothers are fighting several New York City street gangs in order to save their love, Marian. The first game inspired by Bruce Lee movies, it was in turn inspiration for other famous games such as Ninja Gaiden and Final Fight. Well-know is also the collaboration with the Kunio-kun saga, in which the characters of Double Dragon are shown, the last example is Marian as playable character in River City Girls 2.
Rise of the Dragons
In Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons, the two Lee Brothers with Marian and Uncle Matin have to defeat all the New York City gangs that terrorizing the streets. The aesthetic of the characters differs from the original games, in fact the designers opt for a Chibi representation of the protagonists, in line with the successful beat ‘em up titles of the very last wave, such as River City Saga: Three Kingdoms and The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa. The style resemblance also in many ways Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game, the gameplay is very similar too.
All the Dragons in one game
The true surprise of this title is the number of playable characters: 4 main characters + 9 unlockable characters! For the fans of the saga this is a true present and for who is playing Double Dragon for the first time, it will be a really positive feature, because every character fighting style and gameplay differ substantially from each other. Attention spoiler:
The game overall was liked, even without reaching the masterpiece levels of Street of Rage 4 and River City Girls. There is a lot of potential for this saga, considering also other media like movies and animation series. I prefer the muscular Marian of River City Girls 2 instead of this heavily armed one, but in the end it is a must have title for the beat ‘em up lovers!
The beat ‘em up par excellence has a new title and it is Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons. Are you ready to play with your pal in the role of Billy and Jimmy and save the city once again?