Rage of the Dragons

"This game doesn't suck, but it sure ain't good"

After a strong following on the NES, the Double Dragon series came to be one of the premier franchises of 2D gaming. Each having it's fairly well written stories, dynamic action and great 2-player game play, Double Dragon was so big that movie producers decided to make a movie out of it. And then, SLAM! The series went splat. The last games that came out after the movie were dull and had very little fun in them. One didn't even feature a story. Well, after years of disappointment, Evoga Entertainment decided to re-glorify the Double Dragon name with it's Neo-Geo fighter, Rage of the Dragons, and while the game does definitely being some shine back to the name, it lets people down in the process.

Story
Loosely based on the movie, which was probably a bad idea to begin with, you follow the exploits of the Lee Brothers. Due to copyright infringements, they had their names changed to Lewis. Jimmy and Billy Lewis return to Sunshine City. An evil presence is felt in the form of the Black Dragon. Well, the story is rather cut up and much clearer after clearing the game with a certain team. For the most part, the stories does tie the events together, but it fails to really compel anyone to play. Most stories are rather weird and don't get explained too much.
Story: 6

Sound
Sound in this game is down right horrible. The music is all scratchy and filled with old guitar riffs. Some songs, such as the one from the Pupa/Pepe stage, are decent and are catchy. Others, like the one from Radel/Annie stage or the Jones/Kang stage, are annoying. Seiyuu is also sub-par. Hearing Billy and Jimmy talk to each other in English is painful, and like the music, some voices are grainy and scratched up.
Sound: 4

Graphics
Graphically speaking, this game is ok. The quality is at best pixelated due to the use of the old MVS Board, but games like King of Fighter's 2000 and Garou: Mark of the Wolves push the MVS to it's best. The game certainly has a very good look, using anime-like character profiles and some pretty crisp backgrounds. Character design is hit-or-miss. A good deal of the characters sport form-fitting costumes. Radel looks like an idiot in his getup, but whoever designed Cassandra's outfit is either a very good fashion expert, or a S&M fanatic. Pupa and Pepe look the most normal out of the group, and Billy and Jimmy look the coolest. There's no polygon-pushing graphics here, just good old 2D sprites.
Graphics: 6.5, but to be fair, it's a 7

Control
Controls in this game are top notch. Like in any other Neo-Geo game, the moves are executed smoothly and response is tight. The traditional 4 button layout (light/heavy punch, light/heavy kick) is implemented. The same DM and SDM moves from KOF are also present, but this is by no means anything new. Characters suffer from a lack of originality, and some have moves that are just copies of moves from other figures in the Neo-Geo universe. Billy's 'Back Slasher' DM/SDM is obviously Terry Bogard's awesome anti-air move 'Power Geyser', and Jimmy's 'Sho Ryu Dan' move is Kyo Kusanagi's 'Oniyaki' uppercut. Cassandra's 'White Wave' move when done in the air resembles Leona's 'V-Slasher'. Though there is a lack of originality in their move sets, the controls are still greatly done, and maybe the best seen in a Neo-Geo game.
Control: 8

Gameplay
Most other Neo-Geo games follow the KOF outline, but Rage of the Dragons is somewhat different. 'First Impact' is a combo starter executed by pressing CD. When connected, it cause the screen to get red and blur, which is one pretty cool effect. A 5-button combo is then displayed above your power gauge, which you will frantically put in before time runs out. This works best with the game's 'Spring Attack' feature. Each stage, with the exception of 3, have these breakable walls which you can hit your opponents into. When they fly into them, they'll bounce off and allow you to continue the combo. Using a 'First Impact' here opens us a whole world of hurt of your opponents. With a unique 'Tag' system, you can tag in your partner by pressing BC, which is the 'Striker' command in KOF. To initiate a 'Duplex Attack' where both characters attack in a high-damaging combo, simply quarter-circle forward+BC. The character currently being used will start a combo on the opponent, and when the time is right, you do quarter-circle forward+BC again to follow up with another combo. Using proper teams yield some pretty amazing Duplex Attacks. And a completely new idea, Surrendering. This can work in your favor though. By Surrendering (pressing ABCD rapidly), you give up your life and power gauges to your partner, allowing him to use up to 5 stocks instead of 3. Do this only when you are low on life though, as doing it in the beginning is pretty much pointless. No continue services are offered like in the KOF games 98' and beyond, but it should have been included. Sometimes, the opponents are extremely hard or incredibly dumb. One team may present a serious challenge, whereas another let's you bulldoze them over. The game plays well, despite it's little chips and cracks.
Gameplay: 9

Replay Value
This is where the game ultimately messes up. While gameplay is nice and control is near perfect, the game itself is somewhat hollow. Stories are poorly told and don't exactly grab your attention. The effort in getting the story may be fun, but when you see the ending, you may feel robbed since it doesn't explain anything. But what most likely will steer you away from this game is the bosses. Like in King of Fighters 2001, this game features some incredibly cheap and powerful bosses. Abubo, old boss from the original Double Dragon on NES, is a slow but overpowered gorilla. He even walks like one. His moves cause some pretty big damage and he himself receives very little. Though he has a resistance to damage, he can be beaten. The end boss though is a pain in the A$$. His name is Johann, and he is far cheaper and more powerful than any other boss I've ever faced in a fighting game. He, like Abubo, has a resistance to damage, but he's much worse due to the severity of his moves. His projectiles inflict much damage, and he has this DM/SDM that is impervious and can't be blocked or countered. He's extremely cheap in that he can bypass all the moves you make by just normal punching or kicking. It takes a long time, but I've seen people beat him.
Replay Value: 3

Overall
Rage of the Dragons certainly does the Double Dragon name some pride, but with weak story telling and hard bosses, this game is utterly marred. I would like to see a sequel to this game, but it's not very clear if I'd like to see the same people who wrote and designed characters working on that sequel.
Overall: 6
A great game, but just badly told and has frustratingly hard bosses.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 01/11/04