Double Dragon Gaiden rises up on Switch

Double Dragon by Technos was the brawler-of-record for a whole generation of gamers. My local record shop's sticky carpet was worn thin in front of it as endless coins were thrown down for a dose of weekend fisticuffs. For such a legacy, its a shame that little else has been done with the series, that tailed off with some 90s duds, until now. 

Enter Modus Games and Secret Base on development duty (behind 2018's Streets of Red), with a fresh mini-toons take on the two-player co-op, cartoony violence of the original across Switch, PC and PlayStation. Protagonists Billy and Jimmy Lee can team up with new characters to take down the bad guys and crime gangs across a strife-ridden New York City

New to the team is Uncle Matin with a defensive riot shield along with Marian (the kidnapped girlfriend in the original) providing some firepower. Players can tag in and out between characters, and there are more to uncover. 

New Double Dragon, from early screens, looks rather more like the Renegade series, but that's no bad thing. And the pace and intensity of the action has definitely been ramped up a few notches. Here's hoping they manage to squeeze in a remote co-op mode at some point. 

The limited fun of the original is also boosted, with dynamic missions, roguelite features and purchasable upgrades for characters at the end of each mission, to jazz things up a little. DD Gaiden, with the rather unnecessary subtitle Rise of the Dragons is out in Summer.

Find out more on the official site, and warm up your brawling skills on the original, available on most platforms through Arcade Archives. Finally, kudos to Arc System Works who own the Double Dragon rights, good to see them doing something exciting with them! 

If you can't wait, the recent Fight n' Rage from BlitWorks is well worth a bash.