Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons

 Switch
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 10 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 10
  3. Negative: 1 out of 10
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  1. CapybaraBJJ
    Aug 8, 2023
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Having played through the game a handful of times already, and collected all the bosses, one of the things I've realized already is how bored quickly I've gotten with this game. I do love the mechanics of the game. I love the interesting rogue lite system added to keep things challenging and exciting. Between stages, players are given an option to spend the money they earned (which can also be used to buy tokens and unlock cool Easter eggs in the game) to buy power ups for future stages. I think what this game still suffers from is the crux of every beatem-up/fighting game on the market, and that's still replayability. You complete all the stages, you've watched all the cutscenes, you've taken out the final boss.. And that's it, that's the whole game. The developers tried to remedy this by adding four different paths and bosses you can take out in any order you want. The levels in each stage are different depending on which order you've picked them to complete them. After you've ran through all the levels and stages, playthroughs become monotonous. Even more so, with how quickly the difficulty levels ramp up. Taking out Lady Okada as a stage four boss was an absolute joke. I died once, and the second my new playthrough attempt respawned, my characters were juggled into oblivion by the huge lynch mob of enemies appearing on the screen. I quit immediately after this. There are times when the difficulty level for even normal or easy setting gets ridiculous. You're cornered in every direction with mini boss level enemies with no way to defend yourself, so you're juggled around and that's it. You've no control over your character while they're being constantly hit. I will also add that it takes very few hits before your character meets his or her demise. In stage five, you're faced with a scenario of having to fight all four bosses at once. The other problem I had with this game was the lack of recognition that I had for the bosses in the game. It would have been nice to see some of the characters from the cartoon or previous games, such as Jawbreaker, Trigger Happy, Ice Pick, Countdown, or Shadow Master. It was refreshing to see that Abobo was added; however, I was unfamiliar with Anubis or Lady Okada. It just doesn't seem very canon when you compare it to the Double Dragon cartoon from the nineties. With the look and feel of the game, that's what it seems like this game is trying to accomplish. This is a part of the reason why the latest TMNT beatem up, Shredders Revenge has become so wildly popular. Many of the bosses such as Dirtbag and Leatherhead made an appearance, and a few others that haven't been around since TMNT 3: Manhattan Project on NES. It was very refreshing to see these characters reanimated and brought back to life in this latest sequel. Overall this game was a promising attempt at the Double Dragon franchise, and with all the flaws set aside, it is still fun to play. This game would definitely suit a more seasoned beatem up player though, over someone who hardly ever plays video games.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

38
#38 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2023

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
67

Mixed or average reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 16
  3. Negative: 1 out of 16
  1. XGN
    Jan 31, 2024
    80
    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.
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  2. Vgames
    Aug 20, 2023
    70
    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.
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  3. Vandal
    Aug 9, 2023
    70
    There are some good ideas here, and it still is a fun game, but still far from the best examples of the genre.
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