Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons (Nintendo Switch)
Official GBAtemp Review
Product Information:
- Release Date (NA): July 27, 2023
- Release Date (EU): July 27, 2023
- Publisher: Modus Games
- Developer: Secret Base PTe LTD
- Genres: Beat em Up
- Also For: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Game Features:
Brothers Billy and Jimmy embark on a fresh quest this time combining fan favourite Beat 'em up aspects with Roguelite gameplay elements. Set in 199X the brothers want to rid the nuclear-devastated streets of New York of the gangs that have taken root in the city who promote lawlessness, rioting and crime.
You start out by selecting your character, choosing from Uncle Matin, Billy, Jimmy, or Marian at first. Each personality has its own attributes such as power, range or speed for example, so it's worth starting out with a character you are comfortable with, and a tag partner that expands or contrasts your primary character's abilities.
With the power to unlock at least nine additional characters, there's plenty to work through to 100% DDG:RD in its entirety!
The game looks fantastic with a 2D side-on aesthetic more akin to that of Metal Slug than Streets of Rage 4, for example, and where the original DD titles perhaps aimed for a somewhat more realistic approach; this game is all out chibi-tooned which plays to the strength of the title in droves.
I would agree with the majority that this game doesn't really look like an OG Double Dragon title, it's missing the typically gritty look and digitised "verismo", however, this is a somewhat refreshing blocky/pixelated coat of paint that actually works pretty well in differentiating it from the originals.
Classic Gameplay, Modern Twists
At its core DDG:RD is a button-smashing side-scrolling beat 'em up, however, it pulls a few neat tricks by throwing in mechanics such as permadeath, skill tree progression, combo-meters, and partner tagging. Couch co-op is also included as standard!
The move-set of each character is varied and diverse. Each of the four base characters has individual strengths and quirks, and there are some truly bountiful upgrade paths to grind through for each one of them via the end-of-stage upgrade screen and the token shop.
Smashing out beefy chained combos grants you heftier coins and item drops, and in turn, you can buy bigger and better upgrades for your player. Make the game harder and you'll unlock these perks faster, but decrease the difficulty and you'll be slaving away for a long time to get those goodies in the bag.
Each stage includes bonus objectives and kingpin special K.O. bounties to test your mettle while finishing the stages with excess time and health remaining serves to increase the potential payout at the end of the bout.
Skills to unlock include but are not limited to: multitudes of move masteries, quicker/full SP recovery and less SP used modifiers, extra strength/health regenerates when you hit under 50% health, shield when tagging in a partner, increased movement speed, and various additional perks for performing set numbers of special K.O's for example.
Graphically the game runs incredibly fluidly, with little to no stutter throughout, however, I felt that on the Switch the load times were quite lengthy. Sure, I'm spoiled by my PS5's NVMe speeds, but this felt obnoxiously long in places and, sadly, broke up the pace a bit when playing for long periods. I guess if there was one area a Switch successor would immediately benefit from, this would be it; loading speeds, so it's not entirely all the games issue.
The soundtrack is banging and the SFX are impactful and prominent, giving it a real arcade feel which I really enjoyed.
The stages are interestingly themed per gang, and suitably varied. They even include short platforming elements such as timing double jumps to navigate sinkholes, or dodging falling debris.
I also quite liked that you can tackle any gang in any order you like, so you can really mix it up as much as you like every playthrough.
Formulaic Yet Fresh, Nostalgia Meets New
This isn't a remake, instead, it can be thought of as a reimagining of a tried and tested formula with added poke.
While I was hacking away at the enemies and collecting flurries of pickups I realised that the developers have not only tapped into long-time-gamers' memories, but they have also propelled the series into modernity by pairing standard beat 'em up ingredients with the sort of features the gamers of today want and to some extent: expect.
Choosing your own battle order makes the game exponentially more varied because in doing so it makes the proceeding levels progressively harder. No matter which way round you decide do it: the game evolves and changes to ensure the difficulty spikes at just the right point to test your ability to continually upgrade yourself sufficiently throughout.
Charging you tokens to play feels like pay-walling each run, just as you would have been standing at an arcade machine in the 80s/90s: get good or pay more tokens to go further!
The benefit of this modal is that you are sat in the comfort of your own home AND it doesn't mean endlessly feeding physical coins into a machine to continue playing: the devs have virtualized this process along with the base notion of arcade-continuation, and also given you the option to cash out to build up your character in order to start out again more buffed each time.
Heaps To Unlock, Plenty to Replay
DDG:RD is a rock solid beat 'em up with a slew of unlockables and a host of reasons to replay it: regardless of the sub-2-hour completion time. Yes the game is "finishable" in around an hour and a half, but the game constantly calls you back for more with its character unlocks, varied skillset load-outs and crushing combo system and interesting rogue-lite mechanics mixed in where, for example, you can choose to delete your level progress in favour of cashing out tokens to boost your character progression; this game truly keeps you playing and keeps you yearning for more runs of button-smashing fun.
I really enjoyed getting my hands on Double Dragon Gaiden and I think that anyone with a hankering for a bit more pixelated side-scrolling action is bound to enjoy this rambunctious retro romp all the way through to the GAME OVER screen.
Verdict
- Fantastic gameplay with a solid combo system
- Plenty of unlockables and characters
- Skill trees to flesh out each character
- Take down the gangs in any order you like
- Tag in a friend for local co-op!
- Loading times seemed excessive in places
- Short but incredibly sweet
