Double Dragon Revive review for PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC

In the ’80s and ’90s, Double Dragon was always a top contender for your hard earned quarters in the Arcades. People always flocked to the machines and spend their allowances in the hopes of rescuing the girl and beating up all of the evil punks that stood in your way. Over the years, the Double Dragon franchise changed and expanded into different styles of games and even to different genres, ultimately leaving the main characters as simple guest characters in other games or making them into parodies. There was even a live action movie that, at one point, was labeled as the final nail in the Lee Brothers coffin.

Double Dragon Neon (wish Arc System Works also published) was one of the last times we saw Jimmy and Billy Lee fighting for their lives against the shadow warriors, while trying to rescue Billy’s girlfriend. This game was great, but was really ramped up with goofiness and silly jokes. None of this hindered the gameplay, as the game was still fun to play, but it didn’t feel like classic Double Dragon. Revive aims to rectify this and it does it well.

First off, Yuke’s is known for their fantastic artwork and animation in their games and this one is absolutely no exception. They did a marvelous job recreating the world of Double Dragon that was intended by the original developers. When you hear Yuke’s is taking control of your franchise, you are in good hands. You alone or with a friend, take control of either Billy and Jimmy Lee (plus Marian and Ranzo later on) as they move through a devastated city to stop the Shadow Warriors from experimenting on a group of kidnapped people. Your task is to fight the generals (or bosses) of each area and gather information on that the Shadow Warriors are up to. The story is played out with static cutscenes which move the narrative along, but are completely skippable if you wish. It’s a simple premise that is reminiscent of the original 2 Double Dragon games where there is one goal to achieve and tons of battles in the way of completing that goal. The overall feel of the game is more gritty less humor, along with a touch of supernatural and anime style story elements that all blend together into a coherent narrative.

Control is tight and responsive, with all of your basic and special moves laid out nicely. You can edit them as you wish to feel more comfortable, but the standard layout works very well. It can be a little awkward to use a shoulder button to pick up dropped items and weapons, but it becomes natural quickly the more you do it. Jump kicks can also be a little difficult to land, due to the 3D aspect of the play area, but over time, you’ll learn to position yourself correctly without jumping around like a weirdo. Some background objects like dumpsters, crashed cars and even refrigerators can be used to launch an enemy into to instantly end the fight and earn some special moves. This also works on the mini bosses you encounter. I was shocked when I kicked a mini boss into a dumpster thinking it would not effect him and BAM, he was out and I completed the area with just one kick. Some of the more difficult areas either don’t have or are limited on these background objects, so when you see them be sure to use them. Your special moves can be used to down a difficult boss, or to clear a gang of enemies that are surrounding you, you just have to be making contact with an enemy before using it or else the move will fail to execute.

One thing I wish they added was the ability to change characters between chapters. You can only change your characters after being defeated in a chapter and are stuck with the character until then. Plus, when you are defeated, you go back to the beginning of the chapter since you only have one life per game. Not a huge deal, but an option that I wish was included.

The visuals are stunning. Your characters are constantly running through the streets, but sometimes you may want to do a slow walk to the next area just to check out the great looking backgrounds and the detail in the smallest foreground objects. Other areas do lack the detail of others but that’s due to the location represented, you can only too so much with a dirty warehouse after all, but what they do with everything is simply amazing looking. The character models and animation all look great and perfectly keep your attention. Music is a little uninspired, as I really don’t remember any of the tunes having an impact, but I didn’t hear anything terrible. Overall, everything looks and sounds good, and everything blends together nicely.

Double Dragon Revive is exactly what the series needed to come back from obscurity. Veterans and new players alike will enjoy what Yuke’s has brought out here. It may not be groundbreaking, or even a AAA title by today’s standards, but it’s a lot of fun and can be picked up and played by almost anyone. I really would like to see this series continue with remakes based on sequels, or even an original story. Check it out, you won’t be disappointed.

Note: Arc System Works provided us with a code for review purposes.