Double Dragon revival in development by WayForward

And it's basically a George Lucas Throwback to the originals.

YES!!!

It Looks Like Shit, especially considering the fantastic pedigree Wayfoward has in pixel art, and I can't say I'm thrilled with the ~lol so randum and silly because the old gaems were dumb geddit XD~ direction they're hinting at.

Well at least it doesn't look as horrible as the Double Dragon II remake. Hurray?

Actually, I like the way the revival looks. It goes into stuff that the original games didn't go into. For instance, being able to move in every direction, having some new moves, dodging grenades, and things like that.

Marian sure has a different look from what she had in the original stuff. Still, it is pretty cute-looking. It's pretty nice that she can actually beat the $#!+ out of thugs. At least that qualifies her for Action Girl status and staying away from Damsel Scrappy status. Too bad she seems to be enough of a Fragile Speedster that a machine gun still kills her pretty quick!

I've always thought that Double Dragon has the potential to be something great, and that it deserves a revival!

I agree that it's good if just for the fact that it's more DD.

@Tiggers - I think you're confusing Wanders of the Dragon (the canceled Double Dragon II remake that was supposed to come out last year) with Neon. Marian is not playable in Neon and the fighting is strictly belt-scrolling like in the old games.

As for Neon itself, it looks better than Wanders but that isn't saying much. The art direction is just too silly and out of place with the grittiness of the earlier games. It looks like a fake parody game you see in a sitcom or Saturday morning cartoon that vaguely resembles a real video game. The iPhone version that came out last year looked way better than this.

I also don't know why they went back with the "palette swap" style Billy and Jimmy had in the arcade game. They looked way better with the different hair styles and switched colors from the SNES version.

At least there's still Dragon's Crown on the Vita to look forward to.

Double Dragon for the Game Boy Advance will always be the best version of the original game, even with its faults.

Also, I hate Neon's Linda.

edited 18th Sep '12 1:29:19 AM by asiacatdogblue

I'm kinda conflicted about Neon. I was a huge Double Dragon fan back in the day (I could actually get really far in III) and love the idea of more games being made. But the cheesy 80's vibe isn't what I think of when I think Double Dragon. That series took part after a nuclear apocalypse. I think if there's any game that could actually benefit from a gritty reboot it was Double Dragon. Not that gritty but at least somewhat gritty.

That said, the art looks great, the soundtrack is still awesome, the cheesy charm looks enjoyable in its own right and it was made by freakin' Wayforward so they get the benefits of all of my doubts. Now if only I had a 360 on me...

edited 16th Sep '12 7:39:53 AM by ShirowShirow

As someone who didn't play the Double Dragon games before, I find Neon to be pretty fun, and I like the music.

But I do understand how it feels to have a game franchise you enjoy get changed too much.

Yeah, I would have liked this to resemble more of the whole The Warriors/ Fist Of The North Star aesthetic the original series had, but I'm so excited about this :D

What ever happened to Wander Of The Dragons? I liked the character art.

Oh god I've listened to that song so many times on my MP 3 player

You can get the soundtrack for free BTW but throw them a few bucks anyways.

My personal favorite track:

It's like the most perfect song for any co-op game, both in an awesome and a sincerely heartwarming way.

Holy...that had to be the best ending I have ever seen in a Video Game! I mean, a very catchy ending song from the bad guy of all people, revealing his motivations, an interesting personality, and a promise to return. And did Marian just land an uppercut in the guy's crotch? That is probably the most Bad Ass moment have ever witnessed in a video game!

I've noticed some bad Critical Dissonance in regards to this game. Most regular gamers seem to love this game, even more so when they play co-op. I've seen two co-op lets plays (Maximilian's and Two Best Friends') and they have an absolute blast with it. And I agree this game becomes incredibly entertaining with a friend.

But then I think I've seen one of two critics who seem to absolutely hate this game. The biggest gripe they have seems to be the controls and gameplay. IGN gave it a 3 out of 10 overall, and its biggest gripe is the gameplay, and that it doesn't have lasting appeal. I disagree, I think the gameplay is exactly what you would expect from an old school beat'em up, and the combat is really more complex than it seems. You really need to learn how to duck and roll, use the right special ability for the right job, figure out the enemy's patterns, learn to do combos instead of just button mashing, etc.

If they were expecting something really fast paced, that seems really narrow minded. It sounds like they didn't even try to experiment with the combat. I've played the original Final Fight plenty of times. It's got great gameplay, and it doesn't offer nearly as many moves as this one does. And I think trying to collect and upgrade the mix tapes does give this lasting appeal, along with trying harder difficulties. And getting hyped with a friend like I saw in those play throughs never gets old.

Seriously, just take a look at Max and Matt's co-op run:

Well there's your problem right there.

I figured as much. It's not just them though.

edited 20th Sep '12 12:36:14 PM by StarOutlaw

Notice that some of the fans of old-school Double Dragon don't like the remake because of its neon-colored over-the-top spoofish nature clashing with the grittier nature of the older games.

That's half my sentiment. In a sense, I feel the goofy direction Way Forward took was actually necessary, though. Otherwise, we'd just have a Fist Of The North Star game with twin Kenshiros.

Still, I wish the storyline of the original games wasn't ditched all together.

Anyone have any tips for fighting Abobos? I have such a hard time avoiding their attacks, even when I do anticipate and duck/roll. I know you need to roll under when he does that double fist pound move on both sides, but some of his attacks seem to hit me no matter what.

HOW IS THIS A BAD THING?

It would be good. Ungodly good.

I think everyone else would find it too cheesy to play, though. I mean this is cheesy too, but it revels in the cheesy. In this day and age, Twin Kenshiros would just take itself seriously, and unfortunately, people won't stand for it because they expect everything as badass as Twin Kenshiros to at least scratch the back of its neck and go "I know, huh?"

edited 22nd Sep '12 7:51:57 AM by Schitzo

Forgive the double post, but man, this reimagining would have fit Final Fight about 10X better than Double Dragon, as good as this game is.

I mean look at Final Fight's character designs. 80's as fuck. Not to mention how much Final Fight resembles Streets Of Fire.

Though, as much as I agree with Shirow that Double Dragon would have benefited from Darker and Edgier, no series ever deserves the Final Fight Streetwise treatment. No one XD

EDIT: Oh wait, that's exactly what Shirow said. My bad, Shirow

edited 22nd Sep '12 10:58:46 AM by Schitzo

I actually really like this turn of design. Its not quite classic DD, but its its own entity and it really stands out. I hope the Battletoad DLC manages to become an actual thing.