Double Dragon Neon Review, 9.0 out of 10 based on 2 ratings
The glory days of the beat ‘em up video game, that once king of the arcade, has long passed us by. Once as prevalent as any genre in all of the video game industry, the beat ‘em up genre has since been regulated to the lower priced environs of the download only games when anyone bothers at all. Nor is it hard to figure out why; everything that made the genre so perfect for arcades are the very same qualities that rob it of strength in this current age of gaming. Designed as quarter sponges, often not very long in length, and featuring some of the cheapest gameplay this side of a blue shell, the beat ‘em up is essentially little more than a relic of a bygone era.

And yet that does not necessarily mean that fun cannot still be had with the formula. If the beat ‘em up in general is a shallow and basic sort of game only good for a few hours of fun at a time, that is still a few hours more of enjoyment than might be otherwise had. And sometimes, just sometimes, it is nice to return to simpler time, when all one needed was a couple buttons for attack and an endless army of palate swapped goons to wail upon. This brings us to Double Dragon Neon, the new game from the growing kings of the 2D realm, WayForward Technologies, that seeks to restore the granddaddy of the golden age of the beat ‘em up back to its once honored place of glory. Does a game that mixes old school gameplay with new school looks manage to take it to the bombdigity of fantabulousness or does the Lee Brothers latest adventure simply remain grody to the max?

While DDN does have a story of sorts, it is very much a token sort of affair that is given as little screen time as possible. It is enough to know that once again a group of bad guys have kidnaped Marion (via that infamous punch) and this time around they are led by Skullmageddon, a deliberate Skeletor knock-off, right down to the voice and mannerisms of speech, on serious steroids. Double Dragon Neon is the kind of game that is perfect to play with a group of friends and not just because of its multiplayer component. While the first level and a half more or less present a straightforward recreation of the original levels from the first Double Dragon game, once the boys enter a building that turns out to be a rocket ship in disguise that then blasts off into deep space, all that goes out the window.

From that point forward it is all balls- to-walls nonsense that will have players scrambling to make their way through levels if for no other reason than to see just what kind of insane wonkiness the folks at WayForward have cooked up next. While there are a good number of deliberate homages to the 80s throughout the game (no more so than in its soundtrack but more on that later), Neon actually does not just fall back on cheap reference humor and instead embraces a level of gonzo over-the-top-and-loving-it weirdness that gives the title some real energy & playfulness that does wonders to make the whole package that much more appealing. So while Double Dragon Neon may not have much in the way of story per se, it still does its best to squeeze every drop of value out of what is present to excellent effect.

To be fair, this is hardly the first time the Lee Brothers have ended up in space. There is precedent.

Moving on to gameplay, at the end of the day it is clear that Double Dragon Neon’s aspirations go little further than attempting to recreate the classic arcade beat ‘em up formula first made famous by none other than the original Double Dragon itself. And to their credit, WayForward does a great job of doing exactly that and it leads to a game that is an above average example of its type even while doing little-to-nothing to actually move said formula forward. Those looking for the grand reinvention of the beat ‘em up should keep on looking; they will not find it in Double Dragon Neon. What they will find however is a game that has a firm handle on how to make gameplay that mostly revolves around beating up armies of slightly different looking goons an enjoyable, if brief, experience.

For one thing, the game does a good job of introducing anywhere from one to three new types of enemies every level. To be sure, players will still ultimately be fighting the same goon again and again, but the numerous different enemy types do at least help insure that the experience is not a completely monotonous or stale one. Furthermore, each type of enemy does generally stand apart from one another and requires different strategies to effectively defeat. Said foes range from classic enemies like the whip wielding Linda Lash (never more explicitly a dominatrix than in this game) and the infamous giant-sized Abobo to newer opponents like an airborne female Rocketeer knock-off and a magic wielding sorcerer whose visual design owes more than a small debt to Big Trouble In Little China. One thing that all enemies have in common is their ability to present the unwary player some serious challenge especially in large numbers.

The perfect time to High Five? OH YEAH!!!

Even on the easiest difficulty setting Double Dragon Neon is no walk in the park to beat. Players start each level with four lives and while extra lives can be found and/or purchased from shops, they do not carry over from level to level. Add in the fact that continuing the game always starts players off back at the beginning of a level and it should be clear that DDN is not afraid to put players through the wringer. Thankfully the game manages to avoid being overly cheap the majority of is running time and also features fairly tight controls; a good thing since, again like the original DD, there are platforming segments present throughout the game. Thankfully one way in which Neon does stand apart from its progenitor is that failing a jump only drains the life bar some instead of causing instant death. This design choice, along with the aforementioned tighter controls, goes a great distance in making the overall platforming in Neon less aggravating than in the original DD. Indeed I even found the majority of DDN’s platforming sequences to be a nice break from the norm and some of the titles best moments are when it adroitly mixes platforming with the need to still beat up foes as well.

While still ultimately a mostly straight forward beat em’ up, WayForward did put effort into giving Neon at least some extra depth past its predecessors. One of the main ways the developers did this is through the inclusion of a dodge mechanic that can serve both offensive and defensive purposes. In addition to allowing players to avoid many otherwise highly damaging attacks and/or deal with being surrounded by a plethora of foes on both sides, the dodge move also grants a power up when successfully pulled off right before an enemy attack would have otherwise connected. This power-up doubles both the strength and defense of the Lees for a short period of time and the two can even high-five in co-op mode to further extend its time and effectiveness.

Combos can make or break a fight. Use them well, use them wisely.

Rounding out the basic gameplay elements of Neon is a run move that both increases travel speed and grants extra height and distance to jumps and a decent array of combos that vary in effectiveness against different foes and/or in different situations. While all of this does little to change the basic overall feel of Neon’s gameplay (certainly no one is going to mistake this for anything but a beat ‘em up), it does go a long way to ensuring that players will need to do more than just randomly mash buttons if they want to progress in the game, especially on the harder difficulty settings.

The final major element of Double Dragon Neon’s gameplay is the game’s amusingly, yet appropriate, named mix tape system. Mix tapes operate as equipment in the game and come in two main varieties: the kind that enhances the brothers various stats and the kind that grants different special moves. The latter are triggered via an energy bar system that recharges with each successful hit made against an enemy. These moves can range from a Street Fighter-esque fireball to a close range punch that sends enemies flying to the ability to summon a bomb out of thin air and more. Tapes are randomly dropped from defeated foes (with each foe dropping its own particular kind of tape) and can also be purchased using cash (which in addition to being scattered throughout destructible items in levels is also dropped randomly by foes) in the game’s main shop. Collecting additional copies of the same tape powers up the ability/stat increase and initially players can only hold ten copies of a given tape.

Nothing like mixing bottomless pits with punching out fools to get the blood going.

There is however a certain shop in the game that, using an item dropped by bosses (and only bosses) as currency, can refine a tape so players can hold up to a maximum of 50 copies of it. Needless to say, a fully powered up ability can be dramatically more powerful and effective than its basic version (for example a regular fireball only damages the first enemy it hits while a powered up one will strike multiple enemies until it leaves the screen) and the stat bonuses granted from a fully powered up tape are the only realistic chance players have of beating the game on its hardest difficulty settings. Thankfully players have the ability to carry over mix tape collections from playthrough to playthrough which makes this task somewhat more manageable as does the ability to replay beaten levels at will. Overall, the variety of moves and stat changes granted by the mix tape system is well thought out and does a nice job of letting players customize how they play the game.

As an added bonus, on the selection menu for the mix tapes, each individual tape will play a 30 sec of clip of the song “recorded” on it when highlighted. The reason this is notable is because each song is perfect parody of music from the 80s and is just one example of how the soundtrack for Double Dragon Neon is easily ones of it best features. Filled with a variety of faux 80s tunes that perfectly serve as both a loving tribute to and hilarious parody of the music of that decade, Neon’s soundtrack is simply a work of art in and of itself. Currently available for free at the following link, http://virt.bandcamp.com/album/double-dragon-neon even those with no interest in the game proper owe it to themselves to give this soundtrack a download and listening to. Easily the most explicitly 80s element of the game, Neon’s soundtrack cannot be given enough praise as far as I am concerned, particularly its end credit song sung by Skullmageddon himself in a tour de force that comes close to matching similar ending themes from the Portal games. And that is not a comparison I invoke lightly.

A recreation of the punch that started it all.

Visually, Neon also fares well with graphics that feature a crisp, clean, colorful, and deliberately cartoony style that perfectly matches the overall tone established by the rest of the title. Character designs are simply brilliant, with all the major enemy types in the games featuring more than a dozen different looks. It is a visual choice that breathes new life into the palette swap approach and clearly speaks of far more effort than the simple color changes employed by many similar games. Combine this with plentiful and well implemented animations that are overflowing with personality and level designs that manage to pack a lot into a stage without ever coming across as cluttered or overly busy, and you have a game with a great overall visual appeal. Humor is a big part of the overall Double Dragon Neon experience and without visuals that worked on this level the whole thing would have fallen apart. Thankfully that is not what happened and once again WayForward proves they are masters of the 2D visual design. If this is what they can do with Double Dragon, I cannot wait to see what they produce on the behalf of the Adventure Time game they are releasing this November.

Does Double Dragon Neon have its share of problems? Yes. For one thing, as of this review of the game, it does not feature online co-op. WayForward is promising to patch this feature into the game at some yet-to-be disclosed point in the future, but until such time the absence online co-op is notable and damaging one. Also, DDN is not a long game, with a single playthrough likely to take players only around an hour and half to two hours at most. And while extra difficulty settings, a number of secret stages and unlockables, and the goal of maxing out one’s mix tape collection do add some replay value, for many a single playthrough of Neon is likely going to be enough. This is especially true since enemy placement remains the same across all difficulty levels. Plus there is the simple fact that for those who do not enjoy beat ‘em ups at all, the sum of DDN’s various parts is unlikely to be enough to overcome such a bias.

For a real old-school challenge turn on friendly fire, but beware: it can be hazardous to your friendships.

While DDN never quite manages to reach the highs achieved by the best of modern beat ‘em up games (which in my opinion are Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game and Castle Crashers), this nonetheless remains an excellent title. It more than justifies its ten dollar price tag and only the current lack of online multiplayer keeps me from giving it an outright Buy It Now recommendation. WayForward has made it clear that they hope to develop more Double Dragon games in the future and even are working towards bringing Battletoads into the mix down the line as well. Personally, I for one hope they succeed because as it is, Double Dragon Neon already comes so close to true legendary status. With the opportunity for refinement and enhancement that a sequel can grant a developer (not to mention the avenues, not the least of which being four-player co-op, that the inclusion of the Battletoads would potentially open), who knows how far they could go. As it is, Double Dragon Neon is a quality title that will appeal to anyone looking for a game that features a mixture of fun gameplay and a compellingly off-kilter sensibility.

A copy of this game was purchased by Blistered Thumbs for the purposes of review. The reviewer spent approximately 4 playing the game and completed its main campaign.

Also, feel free to follow the reviewer on Twitter @bigred_13 please if you feel so inclined.

Double Dragon Neon Review

By Shaun K.

Does a game that mixes old school gameplay with new school looks manage to take it to the bombdigity of fantabulousness or does the Lee Brothers latest adventure simply remain grody to the max?