Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons Review: A Radical Revolution

Once a dominant force in the arcades and home console scene, the beat-’em-up genre has experienced something of a renaissance in recent years with exceptional releases such as Streets of Rage 4 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. So it should come as no surprise that the Brothers Lee are next in line with another bare-knuckle brawler for punch-drunk players to pummel their way through with Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons.

Developed by Secret Base, the developers behind Streets of Red: Devil’s Dare Deluxe, Double Dragon Gaiden borrows many of the roguelite elements that made that horror beat-’em-up so compelling to breathe new life into the long-running franchise following the disappointment that was 2017’s Double Dragon IV.

Some Double Dragon purists might scoff at the thought of incorporating roguelite mechanics into Double Dragon’s tried-and-true beat-’em-up formula. As a longtime fan of the series, I, too, was a bit skeptical as to whether or not Secret Base could pull the idea off while keeping the spirit of Double Dragon alive. However, after dedicating countless hours to cleaning up the streets over the past few weeks, I’m happy to report that Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons is an outstanding addition to the series that no fan should miss, providing polished pugilism and a wealth of innovations to keep players coming back for more.

The Gang’s All Here

Be sure to use your special attacks to take out multiple enemies at once to score life-restoring Crowd Control bonuses.

Double Dragon Gaiden’s premise is a familiar one. Set in the year 199X, a nuclear conflict has left New York City in ruins. Four violent gangs vie for control over the doomed metropolis and terrorize its citizens. To combat the criminal threat and restore order, the city’s new mayor convinces Billy and Jimmy Lee to reclaim the besieged town, one district at a time.

This time around, Billy and Jimmy aren’t alone, however. Once the series’ damsel in distress, Marian is now a playable character, and she’s loaded for bear. While the Lee brothers bring down the opposition with their fists and feet, she prefers zoning enemies with an arsenal of weapons. Marian’s standard attack is a pistol that deals death from a distance. Additionally, her special moves allow her to blast gangs of goons to kingdom come with a bazooka, fry them with a taser, and even deploy mines to stun any hapless hoodlums who are foolish enough to wander into their path.

Matin, on the other hand, is a veritable beef bus who likes to do things up close and personal. This grappler unleashes a variety of devastating throws to flatten his foes. But when push comes to shove, he can also use his riot shield to bludgeon opponents or even carve through walls of goons like a burly battering ram.

Whether you’re playing solo or with a friend, you’ll always have two characters to swap between in Double Dragon Gaiden, much like a tag-based fighting game. This feature can be incredibly handy, as the character on standby will slowly recover a portion of their health while not in use. However, you’ll need to think about how you construct your team, as some characters, like the pistol-toting Marian or the shield-wielding Matin (among others, but we’ll get to those later), cannot pick up objects and weapons. With this in mind, you’ll probably want to choose a versatile pair to make the most of any situation the game throws your way.

Double Dragon Gaiden’s cast of characters is certainly diverse, but that wouldn’t mean much if the moment-to-moment gameplay failed to impress. Thankfully, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Developer Secret Base has taken great care to ensure dispatching hordes of punks feels as gratifying as ever as you fight your way through the game’s five unique stages.

This Dragon’s Got Some Bite

Marian’s bazooka makes short work of gangs of goons.

If you’re a beat-’em-up fan, you’ll feel right at home from the second you dive into Double Dragon Gaiden. You’ll visit a variety of urban areas, beat the stuffing out of the locals, and eat more than your fair share of sidewalk turkey – but that’s not to say the game doesn’t do anything new. On the contrary, Double Dragon Gaiden ups the ante, offering a radical evolution in terms of mechanics, with various systems working together to create a surprisingly robust experience that belies the game’s 16-bit aesthetics.

Right from the jump, Double Dragon Gaiden puts a surprising number of tools at your fingertips to customize your experience. Before you even set foot on the streets, you’re shown a variety of modifiers that can drastically alter how the game is played. These modifiers do things like tweak the player’s health, how much money it costs to revive yourself, the stats of your enemies and how aggressive they are, and more. And if you really want to challenge yourself, there’s even a permadeath mode for veteran vigilantes who want to test their mettle.

The Story Mode offers a wealth of modifiers to customize your experience.

The changes don’t stop there, either. In addition to the modifiers at the outset of the game, one of the more interesting changes Double Dragon Gaiden brings to the table is how it handles player progression. You can choose to tackle the game’s initial four stages in any order you wish. However, as you advance in the story, each successive level becomes longer and more challenging as you face increasingly fearsome foes, mini-bosses, and more. This adds tremendous replay value as you’re encouraged to play through the campaign multiple times if you want to see everything each area has to offer.

Crime may not pay, but beating down criminals will definitely help you line your pockets in Double Dragon Gaiden. As you defeat your opponents, they’ll drop gobs of cash, which you can spend at the end of each act to unlock perks. These randomly-generated bonuses do things like boost your SP regeneration speed, improve your damage output, increase the money enemies drop when killed, and more, granting you considerable freedom over how you develop your characters.

As great as these perks are – and some are really cool – I usually prefer to save some cash for the good stuff: tokens!

By spending tokens, you can unlock a staggering 13 playable characters in Double Dragon Gaiden.

Tokens are as good as gold in Double Dragon Gaiden, as you can use them to unlock a ton of cool stuff in the Token Shop. Here, you can purchase tips to help hone your skills, concept art, music, and, best of all, 13 playable characters. These characters range from familiar faces like Burnov, Linda, and, of course, Abobo, to Double Dragon Gaiden’s boss characters themselves.

These additions are more than just tacked on, too. Each unlockable character has an entire repertoire of abilities – and some even their own hero origins story detailing why they left their life of crime – adding plenty of replay value to Double Dragon Gaiden’s already robust package.

Picking Apart The Pixels

Fan-favorite fighter Abobo is back as a playable character, and he’s absolutely amazing.

When it comes to its presentation, Double Dragon Gaiden can’t quite go toe-to-toe with heavyweights like the aforementioned Shredder’s Revenge and Streets of Rage 4. But that’s not to say it’s a bad-looking game by any stretch. The sprites are all well-animated and feature tons of personality. Abobo, in particular, is a treat to behold with his over-the-top moveset and hilarious gulping animation accompanying his run cycle, which had Hey Poor Player’s Pernell Vaughan and me in tears during one of our review playthroughs.

The stages, ranging from run-down military installations and speeding trains to a junkyard pyramid in the middle of New York’s irradiated desert, are also varied and are brought to life with vibrant colors that pop off the screen. Speaking of stages, they also feature plenty of secrets to uncover, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for alternate paths that often feature plenty of shiny lucre for the taking.

While the visuals are solid, Double Dragon Gaiden’s music is absolutely stellar. Each stage features pulse-pounding tunes and homages to previous games in the series that will delight Double Dragon veterans. Thankfully, the game’s full soundtrack is unlockable – along with unused songs – in the Token Shop, so you can enjoy these tracks at any time if you’ve got the tokens to spend.

The Brothers Lee Are Back With A Vengeance

As a fan of the series since its inception, I had a great time with Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons. However, that’s not to say it’s perfect.

Perhaps what’s most disappointing is that while the game does feature online leaderboards, multiplayer itself is limited solely to two-player couch co-op. A lack of online multiplayer is especially hard to ignore, considering pretty much all of Double Dragon Gaiden’s contemporaries support the feature.

Additionally, while some of the stages are a decent length, there are only five in total, and the first and last ones are relatively short. That said, I can’t help but feel a few more would have pushed Double Dragon Gaiden over the top. As it stands, games like Streets of Rage 4 and Shredder’s Revenge offer significantly longer campaigns to slug your way through. Though, credit where credit’s due, Double Dragon Gaiden’s roguelite nature does give players plenty of reasons to dive back in after the credits roll to see everything it has to offer.

Despite these minor grievances, if Double Dragon IV left a bitter taste in your mouth and you’ve been waiting for the franchise to return to its former glory, it’s time to celebrate because the Lee boys are back and fighting fit. With its furious fisticuffs and a wealth of smart evolutions to the series’ established formula, Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons is a must-play for fans of the beat-’em-up genre.

Final Verdict: 4/5

Available on: PS5 (Reviewed), PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, and PC; Publisher: Modus Games; Developer: Secret Base; Players: 1-2; Released: July 27, 2023; ESRB: E10+ for Everyone 10+; MSRP: $24.99

Full disclosure: The publisher provided a review copy of Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons.