Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons Review – Tag Team Turmoil

Double Dragon may be one of the original pillars of the beat ‘em up genre, but that foundation has weakened in modern times. Infrequent sequels of varying quality have tested Jimmy and Billy Lee’s modern relevance, but Double Dragon Gaiden does a solid job of reinventing the pair with a neat tag team mechanic. This throwback to the past can be fun, but its frustrating combat system often makes it difficult. 

Billy and Jimmy join playable characters Marian and newcomer Uncle Matin to do what they do best: unleash flashy martial arts to clean up their gang-ridden streets. Each character is unique in their attack styles. Marian’s expertise with firearms and gadgets makes her ideal for long-range combat, while Uncle Matin’s brute strength and riot shield lets him annihilate opponents up close. Even Jimmy and Billy are different, with the former being more agile and the latter hitting a little slower but harder. Jimmy was my favourite character because of his versatility and overall well-roundedness. It felt as if tagging other characters would be a demotion. Heroes aren’t created equal; for example, some don’t have effective jump attacks, making them a pain to use against airborne threats. 

Tag team gameplay lets you play as two characters, whether you’re fighting crime solo or with a buddy in local co-op. Online play will be available in an update after launch. By pressing the shoulder button, you can swap between characters. It’s a good way to stretch combos, or even escape from enemy attacks if one of your heroes is caught. 

The generally adequate combat is most satisfying when I’m juggling foes until they explode into a shower of coins or using special attacks to send targets colliding into their friends. It’s also nice that the game gives health items to players who kill several enemies in a row, which promotes aggression and crowd control. However, the game’s impressively fluid animation comes at the cost of snappiness. It takes some time to adjust to the over-animated and delayed attacks. Vertical movement can feel painfully slow. This makes it difficult to avoid stage hazards, such as lightning or falling stones.

I wish picking up items and grappling didn’t share the same button. You are vulnerable for a short time if you miss a grab, and this happened to me when I tried to grab a weapon but was one pixel out of place. The genre has a long-standing tradition of being difficult to master, requiring you to align yourself with the target. As a result of my mistake I suffered countless damage. That brings me to Double Dragon Gaiden’s biggest headache: enemies can stun-lock you into oblivion. In tight areas with a lot of enemies, becoming helplessly locked in combos drains your health. Tagging in a partner is the only way to break free, but there’s no invincibility window. 

So, several times I summoned help only to have my partner leap into an attack and die even before I could gain control. Tagging out a damaged hero only for him to perish because he didn’t leave fast enough is equally irksome. You could argue this encourages strategic tagging, but with so much going on at once, you can’t always predict who will attack next or when. Even worse, the enemies will often come from behind you. Nothing’s worse than surviving a mob of tough enemies only to die from a stray bullet by a hidden gunman. All of these frustrations are embodied in the maddeningly difficult final stage, particularly when all bosses face off against each other. The tangle of unfair special attacks that they use to cripple players made me want my controller thrown into the wall. 

To mitigate the hardships, you can add character enhancements between each stage. Perks include better combo effectiveness to helpful boons, like granting full health to incoming partners after their ally dies, but there’s no guarantee you’ll get the boost you need. Coins can be used to buy Continues if you get a Game Over. However, the price increases with each subsequent death. This makes a small loss seem even worse. Tokens are earned by cashing in coins. These tokens may be spent on checkpoints when you’ve run out lives. The tokens are also used to unlock additional characters, or other less desirable bonus content like digital artwork and music tracks. 

The level of progress is impressive. It is possible to play the four major stages in any sequence, but the first offers an easier path within one section. Next level will add one area, and increase the difficulty. So, the level you leave for the end becomes an extended and difficult multi-part maze. Monotony is a beat ‘em up’s biggest drawback, and this is a neat remedy that inspired me to replay the game to see the full versions of the levels I chose to tackle early. 

Double Dragon Gaiden – Rise of the Dragons is a game that has some interesting features.It’s not as good as TMNT, or even newcomers such Young Souls. However, it is a solid return by the Lee Brothers. If you’re hankering to punch goons in the face, a good time can be had as long as you bring a measure of patience.