The recently announcedDouble Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragonsmarks the first new entry in the legendary beat ‘em up franchise since 2012’sDouble Dragon Neon. Alongside Technos’ Kunio-kun series of games (Renegade,River City Ransom, etc.), theDouble Dragonfranchise was largely responsible for popularizing beat ‘em ups in the West, so it makes sense forDouble Dragon Gaidento release at a time when the genre is experiencing a bit of a renaissance. That said, after phenomenal new entries in theStreets of RageandRiver Cityfranchises coming in recent years, as well as last year’s excellentTMNT: Shredder’s Revenge, the bar for quality has been raised.
Since its inception in 1987,Double Dragonhas somewhat struggled to maintain a consistent level of polish throughout its long history. While the arcade andNES versions ofDouble DragonandDouble Dragon 2: The Revengeare remembered fondly, the brutal difficulty and occasionally wonky combat pale in comparison to games that came later and perfected the fundamentals of the beat ‘em up genre, including the phenomenalTMNT Arcade Gameand its sequelTurtles In Time. ForDouble Dragon Gaidento stand toe to toe with its peers, it will need to take some cues from other revamped series in the genre.
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How TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge Should Influence Double Dragon Gaiden
One look atDouble Dragon Gaidenshould instantly drawcomparisons toTMNT: Shredder’s Revengebased on the game’s art style.Double Dragon Gaidenappears to utilize a very similar 16-bit aesthetic that calls to mind the earlier games in the series and arcade beat ‘em ups of yore while also adding subtle modern touches not possible on older hardware. Still, there are more ways thatDouble Dragon Gaidenshould draw inspiration fromShredder’s Revengeother than in its use of pixilated graphics and a comparable art style.
The promotional material for the game’s announcement showcased that there will be 13 playable characters, but it will be essential for each character to have its own identity.TMNT: Shredder’s Revengefeatures 7 playable characters, each with their own unique stats and characteristics. Additionally,Shredder’s Revengestruck a careful balance between the frantic button-mashing of old arcade coin-ops and the calculated combos and depth ofStreets of Rage 4.Double DragonGaidenshould take a similar approach to its combat by having each character represent a unique class and feature accessible combat with a high skill ceiling.
Lessons to Learn from River City Girls and Streets of Rage 4
The Kunio-kun games have seen a resurgence in popularity thanks to theRiver City Girlsspin-off titles, which allow fans to play as the protagonists fromRiver City Ransom’s girlfriends Kyoko and Misako. Considering thatDouble Dragoncan trace its origins back to the Kunio-kun series and original developer Technos, it would make perfect sense for the new entry to borrowelements fromRiver City Girls1and2.The introduction of the RPG-lite elements associated with Kunio-kun games has been implemented inDouble Dragonbefore withDouble Dragon Neon, andDouble Dragon Gaidenshould lean into this by providing progression paths for each character and distractions from the beat ‘em up action.
As video game dominance transitioned from the arcades to home consoles, perhaps no game was synonymous with console beat ‘em ups more thanSega’sStreets of Rageseries. The most recent entry,Streets of Rage 4, is currently one of the gold standards of modern beat ‘em up design, so much so that the developers consulted onTMNT: Shredder’s Revenge.Double Dragon Gaidenis positioned to bring the franchise back into prominence with a new, modernized entry. In order to stand shoulder to shoulder with its contemporaries, the game should take note of how other titles have moved the genre forward with their recent sequels.
Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragonsis currently in development for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC.
