“Double Dragon Revive” Review

Double Dragon Revive isn’t a terrible game. It’s good, but it’s brought down by the platforming sections. It’s not that they are impossible. It’s merely that they take away from what you really want to be doing, fighting bad guys.

To say I was excited at the announcement of Double Dragon Revive would be an understatement. I’ve been a fan of the series since the very beginning, and I’ve seen it through ups and downs over the years. What I was seeing was a modernization of the classic that seemed to be hitting all the right notes.

That seemed to be the case when I first started playing it, but that feeling bent to frustration as the game progressed. Before we get to what didn’t work for me, let’s go over the areas that did.

First and foremost, the combat in Double Dragon Revive is fun. The attacks all have a weight and momentum to them, which admittedly takes a bit of time to get used to. Once you do, though, the normals, special, combo attacks, aerial attacks, grabs and throws, just work. You can even attack low in this game, which helps spice things up.

The game also introduces stage gimmicks to the mix. These are areas of the stage that glow, which will do damage to the enemies if you throw them into that area, so the levels themselves can assist you in clearing them. That’s a nice touch, and it’s a detail that I always appreciate when it’s included. 

There’s also a number of weapons you can use, both weapons you can carry or others that are one-time used throughout the stage. 

I’ll also touch on the presentation here, because I quite like the look of the game, along with the soundtrack which features remixes of classic Double Dragon tracks. During cutscenes, you also get voice acting, which is nice, though there does seem to be some occasional awkward pauses between sentences that sometimes makes the conversation between characters a bit stilted.

Unfortunately, now I have to talk about the things that I did not care for, which brought the game down for me.

Double Dragon console games have always had a mix of fighting and platforming, but the platforming sections. The problem is these platforming sections have never been what I’d call fun or well executed, yet they’re always included. Double Dragon Revive continues to follow this convention to its detriment, offering platforming sections that become tedious and frustrating after falling multiple times and having to try them over and over again. When I did get through them, I wasn’t satisfied–I was more relieved that I could get back to the punchy-kicky, but dreaded the next section, wondering if I was going to have to struggle through another platforming section. 

The reason these scenes feel so bad is the jumping and collision detection aren’t really suited to precise platforming where never very well executed. This is, of course, also on-brand for Double Dragon, since every single home version has had issues with this. That isn’t to say I don’t like the more complex levels; the game doesn’t need to be a straight brawl from left to right all the time. Some levels have you moving right to left, or climbing stairs and ladders. And a jump here and there, as the original arcade games had in various parts, is fine. But entire sections of conveyors, hazards, bombs, and bottomless pits… that just gets frustrating.

I also didn’t particularly care for having to dismiss a dialog box every time the game launches, asking me to link my Epic Games account, even though I had already done so. The “Do not show this” checkbox does not work at all and the link dialog popped up each time I launched the game, despite having checked it previously. That one is easy enough for the devs to fix, I’d imagine, but really, this is basic stuff.

We now get to the point in my reviews where I go over accessibility options. Right, we’re done, there aren’t any. Apart from the difficulty selection and being able to turn the player indicator on, there is zero consideration for accessibility. The biggest one that would have made this playthrough more enjoyable would have been a way to warp past platforming sections. 

All of that said, Double Dragon Revive isn’t a terrible game. It’s good, but it’s brought down by the platforming sections. It’s not that they are impossible. It’s merely that they take away from what you really want to be doing, fighting bad guys.

Maybe with a bit of post-launch updating some of this stuff could be worked on and enhanced, but as the game is now, Double Dragon Revive is only recommended if you have a Double Dragon shaped hole in your life that needs to be filled immediately. Otherwise, wait on it a bit. It’s not an outright pass, but Double Dragon Revive is a game you’re going to need to be in a very patient mood to play.