Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragon is the latest action-co-op beat-em-up game by Modus Games and Secret Base. You may have remembered Double Dragon as the classic and basic beat-em-up, but in a similar vein to the recent River City Girls series, this spin-off aims to add much more replayability to the game with new characters, combos, items, and its unique rogue-like mechanic and stages that change based on the order you play them in!
We got to play Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragon early, and what follows is a preview of our experience playing the game, and an introduction to its many mechanics and cool additions added that might mack this the perfect game for you to grab if you’re looking for a good time with a friend, or a good-old brawl.
Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons is coming to the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam on July 27
▍It Takes Two… or Four to Tango!
Taking place in a post-apocalyptic 199x after a nuclear war has ravaged the world, New York City is overrun by four criminal gangs that have taken over the city, each fighting for control of the region while putting innocent lives in the crossfire. Amidst the conflict, a new mayor was elected for the city, and shortly after his election, he is seen taking an injured Marian, Billy, and Jimmy’s friend to the Sōusetsuken Dojo asking for their help.
He explains that while he wants to regain control of the city, his position as mayor is brand new, and thus wants to ask for help from Billy and Jimmy’s mentor, Master Lee. Unfortunately for them, the master has gone missing, and watch as innocent lives get tormented, Billy, Jimmy, Marian, and her uncle Matin set out to take back the streets one gang at a time!
Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragon really takes the “Double” in the series’ name seriously as it introduces a tag-team mechanic to the series for the first time, letting both Billy and Jimmy or their friends and enemies take the stages, without needing a second player. If you do have a second player though which is definitely the way to go, Double Dragon Gaiden lets you bring up to four characters to wreak mayhem across the streets together.
Double Dragon’s been known for featuring incredibly simple beat-em-up gameplay, but this time it’s elevated with a few new additions in the form of its Special Moves system, tag team function, and unique characters!
Characters all have a special meter that can be used to tag out to their partner, or to execute special moves, powerful attacks that deal a ton of damage and trigger a “special KO” on enemies, if you manage to special KO at least 3 or more enemies in a short period, either by yourself or with your friend the enemies will drop valuable food that can replenish health, or give you even more money!
The tag mechanic’s interesting because it is also tied to that same meter, as after you do a special move you can quickly tag out to your partner so they can continue the combo with their attacks or specials, leading to some massive damage on bosses and huge wave clearing potential. You can also use the tag as a way to escape combos from enemies, but if the meter isn’t full you won’t be able to tag out, so there’s an element of risk and reward at play, choosing to keep the meter to stay safe, or spend it on big damage and maybe food or even money.
▍Double Dragon Gaiden has Tons of Replayability!
Stages on most beat-em-up games can end up getting repetitive after you’ve completed them multiple times, but Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragon fixes that problem with a system that evolves stages depending on the order you play them in!
Essentially each stage has a different difficulty, and depending on when you play the stage, either as the first, second, third, or fourth level, the stage will become progressively harder with more powerful enemies, increased rooms, and tougher bosses, so even before you boot into a stage there are some decisions to be made even before you start fighting. We won’t spoil exactly what changes in each stage, but let’s just say that boss you took on first, may be very different when tackling them last.
After completing a stage you’ll also be granted money earned from KO’ing enemies and finding them across the world. These let you snag powerful upgrades for your characters, or if you’re feeling confident, forgo the upgrades for tokens that can be used to unlock even more characters from Double Dragon Gaiden’s roster of 10+ characters, each with unique attack strings, special moves, and properties even when wielding objects found in the environment!
There are a ton of things in this game that fans of the genre, or just those looking for a good couch co-op game to check out. While Double Dragon Gaiden did have a few issues and a game-breaking bug, the developers have already assured that these are known and will be patched before launch, meaning it’ll not just be a fun experience, but a smooth one.
Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragon is shaping up to be a fun co-op romp to watch out for when it comes to the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam on July 27.
