Luigi Mario

Rage of the Dragons

Devloper: Evoga/Noise Factory   Publisher: SNK/Playmore

Intorduction:

Okay...so 2002 wasn't THAT long ago, but this game is pretty mucgh long forgotten. RotD has a pretty interesting development history. You see, the game was first consumed to be a full fledged sequel to the 1995 Neo Geo Double Dragon game. Why did it take so long you ask? Well because after the not so much success of the first game, and the death of Technos, SNK decided not to follow up. Jump to the year 2002, a few small companies named Evoga, Noise Factory, and Playmore decided to release somewhat of a sequel to Double Dragon '95 (aka Neo Geo). The reason I say "somewhat" is because the developers couldn't get the rights and license to the actual Double Dragon characters. So for that reason, Billy and Jimmy Lee became Billy and Jimmy Lewis. And Abobo became Abubo. It's kind of weird seeing the characters with different names, but you can tell that the Double Dragon influence and spirit is behind each and every character. The storyline is pretty dumb however. It goes like this; Billy (Blue Dragon) and Jimmy (Red Dragon) are somewhat rival brothers, but quickly try putting that to the side while going after to take down Johann...who possesses the Black Dragon...and killed their master. There are other colored Dragons too...but to be honest, the storyline is just too retarded to fully cover here. The gameplay is that of tag team fighting ala Marvel Vs Capcom series.

Reviewed By: Legend

Graphics: A  

This pushes the aging Neo Geo hardware to the limits! But at the same time, it shows how much power the system has...even after 15 years of it's release! The characters have the cool anime look going on...as opposed to the kiddie early Saturday morning cartoon look of the first game. The characters are also very bright and colorful with great detail put into them. Although the characters are very well animated and move very fluidly, they lack the finesse of the CPS3 games (Street Fighter III: Third Strike anyone?) in terms of flawless detail. Also, while some backgrounds look good and very well detailed for the most part, others just look rather bland. Actually, in one stage, the night club to be exact, the sprites in the backgound are actually copied over and over again! What's up with that?? I know the Neo Geo was more capable than this...despite it's age. This just shows laziness on the developer's side and is just uncalled for! But but despite those minor flaws, this is definitley one of the best looking 2D fighters ever released!

Sound: A+     

Yes you heard me right! The sound in this game is excellent! The thing that stands out the most, though, is the music! Again, it pushes the system's hardware to the limits! Pretty much each song in the game has a real cool melody that will have you find yourself sometimes humming during the day! It's that good! My personal favorites are Billy & Lynn's stage, Pepe & Pupa's stage, and Radel & Anne's sage. Great pieces of work! If I had to gripe about something as far as the music goes, it's the fact that it might sound a little low-fi. But that's because the Neo Geo is not a powerhouse when it comes to music...and the tiny speakers really don't help much. So basically, it's the hardware problem and not the game itself. The sound effects are great too! The characters yell the name's of their moves like other 2D fighters, and the punches and kicks sound surprisingly good too! They actually sound pretty realistic to be honest! If I only had one gripe as for the sound effects it would be that pretty much every character (except Billy and Jimmy) speaks Japanese. I know that this is a Japanese game and all...and it's supposed to have an anime atmosphere, but damn come on! Have the english characters, actually ya know, speak english! But this is only a VERY minor gripe for an otherwise superb sound department.

Control: B+  

The controlling isn't bad at all to be honest. So why did I give it a B+? Well because, eventhough the controlling is very accurate and responsive, it can get very difficult to perform a move! At times I ended up getting very frustrated because I would sometimes try to do a special move, but would get confused because of the cheesy button inputs you have to perform to pull them off! What happened to the standard hcf, hcf specials of most 2D fighters? I guess they were just trying to be different, but in the end...it's not a very pretty site. Also, I hated the fact that you sometimes had to input other commands so it would do more damage while doing one of your moves (i.e. Billy's blue rage jump kick). That's just pointless! But other than those gripes, the controls respond right on time and it should be no problem getting used to them right away.

Gameplay: A    

Well this is a mixed bag. As far as playing against another player, then it's an A+! But as for going against the AI goes, however, then it would be a C...possibly even a D! The computer AI only has one word to describe it...CHEAP! Even during the first level, the computer will have no problem taking it's agression out on you and trying to show you how to play! Sure that might sound like a good challenge right? WRONG! The AI will constantly rape the same move over and over. And sometimes, you can't do a damn thing about it! Also, I can't help but strees the fact that you need to watch out for Abubo and Johann! These guys can be just as cheap as Cleo "freakin cheap as hell" patra from Double Dragon III! Abubo can get very frustrating due to the fact that no matter whenever you tag your partner in, he will know it and then quickly does his cheap ass special which does a ton of damage! Just look at what he's doing to Jimmy above!! And I had just tagged him in!! It's so damn retarded that words can't really can't explain the thoughts I was thinking when that crap was going on! Johann is even worse! This cheap bastard (and that's the nicer name to give him) BARELY takes any damage that you try to inflict on him! And if you thought Abubo was horrible when it came to tagging your partner in, this guy will actually grab you and drain your energy...only to follow up with a stupid little gay fireball (or whatever the hell it is) combo! All of this happens once you're tagged in!! The only possible solution I can give about beating this douche is just to constantly drop kick him in the air and follow it with a sweep. But then again, half of the time he'll catch on to the pattern and continue to lay the smackdown on you! He'll also rape the same moves over and over until you die! Make sure you have another controller around...because you might find yourself breaking your first one from frustration and anger!

Now, onto the good things. There are some pretty innovative things in this game! For one, you can do what is called a "Surrender", meaning that the person that you're currently playing with in the fight will give up and give everything to their partner (the rest of their health, giving them 2 extra specials). It might sound pretty dumb, but it's something new that hasn't been in other 2D fighters. You can also do air combos! But be warned, they're not the same type like the Marvel Vs Capcom series, which means you don't really have the full freedom to customize them. Instead you hit the commnds that are displayed on the screen and then you can quickly follow up with a combo on your own before your enemy hits the ground. I know some might be pretty disappointed about that, but I personally thought it was a cool idea! You can also counter your opponents moves! You do this by waiting for them to complete their move and then quickly push the launch buttons. this sends them flying back to the other side of the screen. But be warned, this takes a special away from your meter. Also, you and your partner can perform a double team move to further give the beat down to your enemy! This actually goes better togehter than the Marvel Vs series in my opinion. The special meters are pretty unique. The higher the number gets, the more damage your special will inflict! The moves are very flashy and are a site to look at! You can also roll and evade attacks from your opponent too! It should be important to note however, that there's a tag meter that prohibits you to constantly tag in and out like the Marvel Vs Capcom games. That's actually a really good idea because that can just get annoying in those games!

Overall: A                                                             

I would've given this game an A+ if it wasn't for the sucky AI. Rage of the Dragons is a truly classic game! The gameplay, the music, and the graphics are just a site to behold! Eventhough it would've been cooler as a Double Dragon game, Evoga and Noise Factory did a hell of a fine job without the license! Playing this with another human player wil provide hours upon hours of fun and you'll quickly forget what time it is! I know I did! This is also one one of the best tag team fighters ever created! I would go as far as to say that this might actually be on par with tekken Tag and the Marvel Vs Capcom series! That's how much fun this game is! I highly recommend this title to any fighting game, or any video game fan that's looking to try something new and refreshing! You won't be disappointed!