Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons

Are you looking for a cute beat m' up? Then this is your game. It's nice to play together and you can unlock a lot of characters.

A well crafted return for the legendary franchise, that mixes in an interesting way its beat'em up soul with some roguelike elements.

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons has some aggravating design choices that prevent it from reaching the heights of similar comebacks like TMNT or newcomers like Young Souls, but this is a respectable return for 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.

In the past years we have seen a lot of great and ambitious attempts at the Beat-em-up genre. Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of The Dragons is mostly a step backwards towards more traditional arcade ways, and it pays of in his unique, quite rough-like, take on the story - whileֲ the basic combat and non-existing other game modes making the game feels empty.

There are some good ideas here, and it still is a fun game, but still far from the best examples of the genre.

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons has a very common problem, the gameplay is amazing, but everything that isn't the gameplay isn't as good. There's a clear desire to mix things up, but Double Dragon Gaiden's attempts to innovate come off as half baked. Regardless, the arcade action is incredibly solid, and it's a welcome return to form for the Double Dragon IP. May the Lee Brothers defend New York City forevermore!

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons is a fast and responsive fighter, with some roguelike mechanics that add some enjoyment.

While engaging gameplay, roguelike concepts, and a big replayability factor bring Double Dragon back from the dead, Rise of Dragons’ late-game struggles and a skew-whiff lives system slightly detract from a promising revival.

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons blends experimental elements with traditional Double Dragon gameplay. The roguelite design and the changing level structures encourage the player to complete the game multiple times to unlock all the additional characters to create experiences that feel less repetitive. This is a novel idea that works well for a couple playthroughs, but it can’t save things from feeling redundant forever. It’s fun for a couple playthroughs and does well at recreating the classic beat ’em up gameplay. Unfortunately, it also showcases the limitations of the genre, and even with the innovation approach the developers used to make subsequent play sessions different, most players will likely get their fill long before unlocking all thirteen additional fighters.

After throwing my share of punches and delivering a healthy dose of kicks, I can safely say that I did enjoy my time with Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons. This latest entry in the brawling brothers series employs some sound tactics to keep the gameplay feeling good across multiple playthroughs. Its lack of staying power holds me back from offering a full-throated recommendation, but beat-'em-up fans will definitely be able to squeeze some juice out of this muscle-bound orange. Even if I'll always prefer Bimmy to Billy, Double Dragon Gaiden has enough moves to make it worth a look.

Double Dragon Gaiden is beholden to some unique ideas, and they’re fairly well-applied. You can experiment with mix-ups and tag team advantages, and multiplayer makes things altogether more enjoyable, although it’s restricted to local co-op. But, being associated with Double Dragon is arguably to its detriment. It’s a game that has secrets to uncover, twists to happen upon, and plenty of cash grinding and unlocking to do. While initially fun to work through, how many times you’ll feel encouraged to replay the campaign is questionable, especially with its overall pacing and neutered thrill of brutally knee-slamming someone in the face. Still, it’s certainly worthy of attention for beat 'em up fans looking for old things in new forms.

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons is not just another punching, kicking, and grapple combo adventure with Billy and Jimmy Lee. They brought back a ton of nostalgic features and worked it into a new rogue-lite approach to the franchise.

Overall, Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons is a decent beat-em-up, but not much more than that. This franchise has had enough serious lows that I think this still falls somewhere in the average zone, so I think I can give it a soft recommendation to Double Dragon fans. The roguelite structure does the game no favors at all in my opinion, and while the presentation is nice it does sometimes feel like it’s getting in the way of the gameplay. Not a bad dust-up, but not a great one either.

The Double Dragon brothers return in this fresh addition to the iconic beat 'em up franchise. With roguelite elements, every playthrough is a chance at new action. Tag in with 2 of 4 starter characters or unlock 9 additional characters, each with their own special moves and unique playstyles.