In short, the bosses (and enemies in general) are well-designed, surprisingly deep, and incredibly fun to fight.īut enemies aren’t the only ones with variety in Double Dragon Gaiden! You, too, have a slew of characters to pick from. Taking on a teleporting kung-fu master in an empty room with weak minions is much different than taking on his tiger form on a train featuring mecha-dogs, for example. And the ability to play the levels in whichever order - with later levels becoming more difficult when you reach them - means that the four level bosses hide a surprising amount of depth. Suffice to say, they are some of the trickier and more entertaining bosses in the genre, and that’s saying something. While some of the lower-level stage bosses are beefed up (and ganged up) varieties of regular enemies, the enemy design truly shines when it comes to the level bosses.
You have quite the challenge in front of you if you want to take on these bosses.Īnd that’s to say nothing of the bosses, which are all incredible. Thankfully, top-tier visual design (which we will discuss more later) makes this possible, turning what might’ve otherwise been overwhelming slogs of enemies into challenging-but-manageable groups of threats. While there isn’t an unbelievable amount of enemy variety, there are enough different varieties that you have to stay sharp and aware. Now, onto the poor sops you’re beating up. You will do it often, and it will feel great, every time. After all, one of the only ways to heal (and certainly the most reliable) is by pulling off the ridiculously fun “Crowd Control” attacks, wherein you defeat 3 or more enemies with a single special attack. Then again, when enemies pile up on the screen, that might not be so bad. Let there be no mistake: you are always the top dog on the battlefield (at least, until you meet some of the bosses), but it still requires tactics, quick thinking, and a good variety of moves to stay on top of enemy attacks, especially as groups of them pile up to fill the screen. You can get stunlocked, you can get pummeled, and you can get trapped, in all the same ways that the enemies can. That is because of a simple design attribute when it comes to the many enemies of Double Dragon Gaiden: they can combo you just as brutally as you combo them. But tougher enemies, or those with counters or other moves in their arsenals, become a threat quickly to the button-masher. Combos are simple: mash the attack button in order to take out foes. Beating up waves of thugs is bombastic (sometimes literally), and the game quickly becomes an exercise in taking on increasingly difficult challenges in increasingly more impressive ways.Ĭombos and Specials are at the heart of the gameplay, and they are a true treat. The core fighting mechanics feel fluid and great, and all the intricacies that are added on top - on both your side and the side of your opponents - only make it more and more exhilarating. Quite simply: Double Dragon Gaiden is riotous fun in every aspect. And it has never been more fun than here. The core of Double Dragon is, of course, it’s side-scrolling, gang-brawling gameplay. In a franchise that’s struggled to find its feet since the 90s, Double Dragon is back, and better than ever. This is one of the most fun games I’ve played all year, and one of the classic beat ’em ups in even longer.
It’s hard to overstate just how great of a time I had with Double Dragon Gaiden.
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