As a lifelong fighting game enthusiast and someone who has spent countless hours honing my skills against the most formidable opponents (my younger brother, mostly), I find myself intrigued by the peculiar charms of Rage of the Dragons NEO. This is a game that, much like me, hails from a time long past, with a history as quirky and unique as its gameplay mechanics.
Occasionally, delving into the background of peculiar or lesser-known games can be quite entertaining, as their histories often prove to be equally unusual! For instance, Rage of the Dragons, a Neo Geo fighting game, has long piqued my interest after I stumbled upon it while reading up on Wikipedia during one of my deep dives into a topic (in this case, it was the history of Double Dragon, the iconic beat ’em up series). Later, we’ll explore their connection. The latest version of Rage of the Dragons, called Rage of the Dragons NEO, is a re-release designed to make the game compatible with modern systems, and includes modern features like rollback netcode. However, a few aspects prevent it from gaining more attention, but it’s still an intriguing, unique fighter in its own right that’s definitely worth playing with friends.
An unusual path
I’m captivated by the history of this game; it’s quite peculiar. In 1994, an incredibly odd version of Double Dragon was brought to life on the big screen. This movie was then transformed into a video game by Technos (the now-defunct creators of Double Dragon), but instead of the typical beat ’em up style, it became a fighting game for Neo Geo systems. However, due to Technos closing down and the Double Dragon rights being transferred elsewhere, the developers had to create a new game from their work. Thus, Rage of the Dragons was born, and what’s fascinating is how clearly different it is from Double Dragon. The main characters, Lewis (previously Billy) and Lewis’ brother (originally Jimmy), resemble Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter, while some characters, like Burnov and Abobo, seem to have been repurposed. In fact, Abobo’s name was even altered to Abubo. It’s quite impressive!
In a delightful twist, playing Rage of the Dragons seems reminiscent of a follow-up game. The initial screen, humorously enough, boasts “THEY ARE COMIN’ BACK” in bold capitals, suggesting a reunion of an iconic troupe, rather than a fresh and independent Intellectual Property. Despite its modest narrative, the game provides amusing opportunities to discern connections if you have the right knowledge.
Double, uh, tag team action, with brothers!
It’s unfortunate that the IP issue fell apart and may have impacted the popularity of this game due to its unique concept as a tag team fighter. The choice of characters is less about their immediate usefulness and more about your familiarity with them, since there are no “assist” moves like in other fighting games. Instead, you must tactically switch between your partners at key moments, with the tag meter taking time to recharge. You can also choose to sacrifice a character during a fight, which will provide benefits to your remaining partner. Furthermore, a dual attack system allows you to spend your meter for an offensive tag, and you can use another meter to transform a regular tag attack into a more visually impressive super move. The most exciting aspect of this mechanic is that each character has a designated partner, making the tag super more elaborate when using canonical pairings.
In this game, both the use of tags and an emphasis on long, powerful combination moves are key features. While it may seem intuitive for a fighting game, there are unique mechanics designed to facilitate starting combos more easily. Each character has what’s known as a command combo, which allows you multiple free hits and sets up a juggle state when executed correctly with a mix of punches and kicks. Additionally, each stage features breakable barriers that cause an opponent to bounce if knocked into them, enabling continuous attacks without requiring extensive mechanical knowledge. However, there are stricter rules for performing typical fighting game actions, resulting in many hard knockdowns to prevent things from becoming excessively chaotic after a single hit.
So what does NEO mean?
In this section, we’ll be discussing the examination of the latest launch, Rage of the Dragons NEO. I find it impressive because it revives a game that might have been lost to emulation otherwise. Last year, QUByte Interactive did something similar with Breakers Collection, resurfacing another collection of cult fighting games from obscurity. That’s fantastic, as it helps preserve these niche games alongside the more popular ones. However, it’s important to note that this isn’t a remaster or update; instead, it’s a port of the original arcade version with some bug fixes for a problematic boss character. A revised version is planned for exA-Arcadia arcade machines, but this is not that version. Despite this, it offers several commendable features to enhance the gaming experience, such as an included CRT filter and the option to pin your character’s move list on the screen, which is always useful in learning new moves without needing to pause immediately.
QUByte Interactive acknowledges the challenge level and has made attempts to adjust it. There are various difficulty settings you can customize before starting a game, some of which provide health restoration between fights and remove barriers. However, the AI in this game is tough even at the easiest setting, making combat less conducive to learning the game. The new survival mode-like feature also features a challenging AI, so playing solo mostly involves figuring out how to exploit the AI’s programming, which isn’t beneficial for understanding or mastering Rage of the Dragon’s core mechanics or competing against human players effectively.
Online warriors? Anyone? Hello?
In Rage of the Dragons NEO, additional functionalities have been added to the main game, including online play. However, one downside is that there’s no cross-platform functionality, thereby limiting the player base for this niche fighting game. During my playtime on PlayStation 5, I found myself unable to connect with other players online, as it seemed that nobody was playing during the first week. Though I don’t solely rely on concurrent users to gauge a game’s quality, the lack of other players in the first week is concerning. However, there are still local versus modes and extensive training options, allowing you to enjoy the core aspects of fighting games, such as practicing in the lab and competing against others in person.
In essence, Rage of the Dragons NEO finds itself in an unusual spot – a game within a game subculture that caters to a very particular type of player. Given its status as a fighting game, competing against heavyweights such as Street Fighter and Guilty Gear is already challenging. The absence of cross-platform play further isolates the online community, making it almost deserted. This is regrettable, but if you’re intrigued by gaming history, niche fighting games, or the peculiar intersections between them, Rage of the Dragons NEO could be quite fascinating. It might be released as a brief distraction between major titles, a fun side act at local tournaments, or simply a captivating curiosity for enthusiasts. The involvement of the Bleem! IP adds an extra layer of uniqueness, potentially making even this new version a rare artifact in its own right.
right now, you can get your hands on Rage of the Dragons NEO across multiple platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, as well as Xbox One and Series X|S. For this review, I received a PS5 code from the publisher.
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2024-11-21 17:27