{"id":23692,"date":"2023-08-04T00:01:31","date_gmt":"2023-08-04T00:01:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=23692"},"modified":"2023-07-26T12:11:10","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T12:11:10","slug":"double-dragon-gaiden-rise-of-the-dragons-ps4-ps5-switch-xbox-one-x-s-pc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/04\/double-dragon-gaiden-rise-of-the-dragons-ps4-ps5-switch-xbox-one-x-s-pc\/","title":{"rendered":"Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X\/S, PC)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In the 80s and 90s, Double Dragon was HUGE!\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t the first side scrolling beat \u2018em up, but it was the first one to really dictate what these types of games would be like in the future.\u00a0 It was definitely one of the first two player co-op beat \u2018em ups, though, and that\u2019s what made it so popular in arcades back then.\u00a0 The arcade game got countless ports, sequels, and even cameos in other games.\u00a0 There was even a Double Dragon cartoon and cheesy live action movie!\u00a0 And they keep coming back, even to this day!\u00a0 The newest entry is Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons, and it\u2019s available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.<\/p>\n

The basic gameplay is what you\u2019d expect.\u00a0 Choose your character and brawl baddies in 2-D side scrolling areas.\u00a0 One button jumps, one punches and kicks, one grabs and picks up items, and one lets you use a special attack when a meter is full.\u00a0 It fills pretty quickly, so you\u2019ll want to use special attacks as often as you can.\u00a0 Billy and Jimmy Lee play like you expect, and you can even pick up items to use as weapons.\u00a0 New characters include Marian, who can fire long distance shots, but can\u2019t pick up anything, and a big army dude who\u2019s slow but powerful.\u00a0 One unique thing about this game is that you can choose which stage to start out with.\u00a0 The story goes that four evil gangs have taken over the city, and you can choose which of their hideouts to tackle.\u00a0 But once you defeat one, the other hideouts have a chance to build onto themselves, so the next stage you play will be tougher and longer.\u00a0 Two can play at the same time here, too.<\/p>\n

Another difference in this one is how important it is to K.O. enemies using combos.\u00a0 Health refilling food is scarce in this game, but if you can kill a bunch using a combo, you\u2019ll get a bonus food item in return.\u00a0 You also earn money by defeating enemies and breaking objects, as well as completing other objectives like finishing stages.\u00a0 Between stages you can use the money to buy perks and power-ups, and you must also use a chunk of change to continue.\u00a0 If you choose not to continue, you can trade the money in for tokens which can be used to unlock goodies in the main menu.\u00a0 These include art, music, tips, and other playable characters!\u00a0 You can even play as Linda and Abobo!\u00a0 It takes FOREVER to unlock stuff, though.<\/p>\n

I did have a few problems with this one.\u00a0 Double Dragon games tend to play slower and clunkier than other beat \u2018em ups, and it\u2019s easy to get boxed in by enemies.\u00a0 Because of the way you earn money and tokens, plus the high difficulty, the game can be a bit repetitive.\u00a0 It\u2019s no Streets of Rage 4 or TMNT: Shredder\u2019s Revenge, but I did like the 16-bit visuals and classic gameplay, though.\u00a0 I think I like WayForward\u2019s Double Dragon Neon way more, however.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Kid Factor:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons is rated E-10 with ESRB descriptors of Mild Blood, Mild Suggestive Themes, Mild Violence, and Tobacco Reference.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t notice any blood, but some characters are seen smoking or wearing skimpy outfits.\u00a0 You can punch and kick bad guys, and defeated characters just lie on the ground and turn grey.\u00a0 Because of the high difficulty, I\u2019d say this one is best for older kids, but I played games like this when I was young and turned out OK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the 80s and 90s, Double Dragon was HUGE!\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t the first side scrolling beat \u2018em up, but it was the first one to really dictate what these types of games would be like in the future.\u00a0 It was definitely one of the first two player co-op beat \u2018em ups, though, and that\u2019s what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":23687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-reviews","category-movie-reviews","category-television"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23692"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23693,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23692\/revisions\/23693"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}