is a
2002 tag team
Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...
head-to-head fighting game released for the
Neo Geo
Neo Geo is a family of video game hardware developed by SNK. On the market from 1990 to 2004, the brand originated with the release of an arcade system, the Neo Geo MVS and its home console counterpart, the Neo Geo AES.
The Neo Geo MVS was ...
hardware by
Playmore
is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. It is the successor to the company Shin Nihon Kikaku and presently owns the SNK video game brand and the Neo Geo video game platform. SNK's predecessor Shin Nihon Kikaku was founded in 1978 ...
.
The game was developed by
Japanese company
Noise Factory
was a Japanese video game developer and publisher based out of Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in J ...
, co-developed by
BrezzaSoft and chiefly-designed by the
Mexican team
Evoga.
As of May 2020,
Piko Interactive
Piko Interactive LLC is an American video game publisher based in San Antonio, Texas. Founded in early 2013 by Eli Galindo, the company focuses on physical re-releases of games from older video game consoles and digitally released ports to newer ...
has acquired the game's IP and has expressed interest in using it in some way. Ports for
Nintendo Switch,
PlayStation 4 and
PlayStation 5, and
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
and
Xbox Series
The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 2020, ...
is scheduled for a future release, ported by QUByte Interactive.
Gameplay
''Rage of the Dragons'' features a
tag team
Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...
system, in which the player takes control of two characters and can switch between one or the other during gameplay.
The character who is not being controlled will slowly recover part of his or her energy while the other is fighting. The player can perform special combos in which both characters attack an opponent at the same time for added damage.
An auxiliary meter located at the bottom of the screen that slowly fills up when an attack connects with an opponent. When the meter is full, special moves can be performed (Ex: Counter Attacks, Super Moves, etc.).
Plot and characters
There are a total of fourteen playable characters in ''Rage of the Dragons''.
The player can select from one of the seven default pairings, or create a custom pairing with nearly 80 possible combinations. The player will see a hidden ending if they complete the single player tournament with a Billy and Jimmy pairing.
* Billy (William Lewis): A famous street racer and master of Ryu Zui Ken. He hasn't seen his older brother, Jimmy, ever since the death of Jimmy's girlfriend, Mariah. ''Partner: Lynn''
* Jimmy (James Lewis): After the death of his girlfriend, Mariah, Jimmy abandoned his brother and became a famous street fighter, both for the money and the thrill. He returns to Sunshine City after feeling the resonance of an evil dragon spirit. ''Partner: Sonia''
* Lynn (Lynn Baker): A Chinese American, Lynn has trained with both Jimmy and Billy Lewis. She is a master of Ryu Zui Ken. ''Partner: Billy''
* Sonia (Sonia Romanenko): Sonia was a highly skilled assassin. After leaving her life as an assassin behind, she meets Jimmy Lee and falls in love with him. ''Partner: Jimmy''
* Radel: Radel is one of the last members of the great clan of dragon hunters. He has developed his skills to help those in need. ''Partner: Annie''
* Annie (Annie Murakami): Annie Murakami was born into an ancient family of psychics. Early in her life, the leader of the family noticed that her psychic abilities were exceptionally powerful. He hoped that she would play an important role in the future of the family and the world. Despite her young age, she was tasked with helping Radel find and defeat Johan. Annie, along with her black cat named Qui-zi, traveled with Radel, leaving home and her insular life for the first time. The novelty of the outside world has left her fascinated. ''Partner: Radel''
* Cassandra: Cassandra grew up in an orphanage. There she met Oni Inomura and the two became close. They realized that they both possess strange powers and see each other as siblings. They were forced to leave the orphanage after Oni burned it down. After leaving the orphanage they begin to travel. During their travels, Oni is compelled to fight. It is an urge that he cannot ignore. During one of these fights, Oni is severely wounded, leaving Cassandra to find help for him. With Oni wounded, Cassandra seeks out Elias Patrick for help. Elias quickly notices the strange energy that both possess. They agree to travel together, but their time together does not last. One night, Elias noticed Oni assaulting Cassandra in order to satisfy his hunger for battle. They were forced to flee, continuing on their journey by themselves once more. ''Partner: Oni''
* Oni: Oni travels the world with his sister Cassandra in an attempt to learn the truth behind their past. He constantly struggles with his powers and urges. ''Partner: Cassandra''
* Pepe (José Rodríguez): José "Pepe" Rodríguez is a Mexican fighter. After finding a scroll from the god
Quetzalcoatl, his fighting abilities advance considerably. ''Partner: Pupa''
* Pupa (Pupa Salgueiro): Pupa is a young Brazilian girl and Pepe's friend, who is searching for her missing older brother. She is trained in
Capoeira
Capoeira () is an Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics, music and spirituality. Born of the melting pot of enslaved Africans, Indigenous Brazilians and Portuguese influences at the beginning of the 16th cent ...
and often uses a wrench when she fights. ''Partner: Pepe''
* Alice (Alice Carroll): Alice was born into a wealthy and prominent family in London. At the age of 10, tragedy struck her family. Her parents were brutally murdered, leaving Alice in a state of shock. When she was found, she was covered in blood and unable to tell the investigators what had happened. Some involved with the investigation into the murders suspected the young Alice of being responsible, but they could not prove it. Due to this suspicion, and her depression and erratic behavior, she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for observation. The doctors were unable to do anything for her. Alice would remain in the hospital until she met Elias Patrick. Elias immediately recognized that Alice was possessed by an evil spirit and the doctors would not be able to help her. He became determined to help the young girl and took her under his wing. She reappears in a hack of Sega's ''
Streets of Rage 2'' called Girls' Paradise. ''Partner: Elias''
* Elias (Elias Patrick): After the death of his family, Elias devoted his life to eradicating evil. He has studied exorcism tactics in order to eliminate any evil he finds. ''Partner: Alice''
* Mr. Jones (Johnny D. Jones): Mr. Jones is loosely based upon Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He is a self-proclaimed disco fanatic and movie star who developed his own variation of
Jeet Kune Do
Jeet Kune Do is a primarily wing chun kung fu inspired eclectic martial arts philosophy heavily influenced and adapted by the Taoist personal life philosophy and experiences of martial artist Bruce Lee.
Overview and philosophy
Jeet Kune Do ...
. ''Partner: Kang''
* Kang Jae-Mo: While he was ridiculed for his size when he was young, he eventually became a famous wrestler. He has dreams of becoming an actor someday, and is good friends with Mr. Jones. ''Partner: Mr. Jones''
There are also two
boss characters in the game, who are fought by the player at the end of the single player tournament. Unlike the regular characters, these bosses only fought by themselves, having no partners.
* Abubo (Abubo Rao): A once glorious fighter and former member of the gang that ruled Sunshine City. He was plotting to one day overthrow his boss until Jimmy and Billy barged into their turf and defeated them. He was personally defeated by the older brother and bore a grudge against him ever since.
* Johann: The leader of a big underground cult in Sunshine City, Johann is also a former disciple of Lynn's grandfather and the current possessor of the Black Dragon, an evil entity destined to wreak havoc on the land.
Development and release
Evoga originally envisioned ''Rage of the Dragons'' as a sequel to the
Neo Geo
Neo Geo is a family of video game hardware developed by SNK. On the market from 1990 to 2004, the brand originated with the release of an arcade system, the Neo Geo MVS and its home console counterpart, the Neo Geo AES.
The Neo Geo MVS was ...
fighting game version of ''
Double Dragon
is a beat 'em up video game series initially developed by Technōs Japan and released as an arcade game in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight against various adversaries and rivals.
The origina ...
'' released in
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...
. However, Evoga were unable to use the intellectual rights for the characters (which were purchased by the company founded by former
Technōs Japan
was a Japanese video game developer, best known for the ''Double Dragon'' and ''Kunio-kun'' franchises (the latter including ''Renegade'', '' Super Dodge Ball'' and '' River City Ransom'') as well as ''Karate Champ'', '' The Combatribes'' and ''V ...
staff Million, the developers of ''
Double Dragon Advance''), and thus ''Rage of the Dragons'' was turned into a
homage to the ''
Double Dragon
is a beat 'em up video game series initially developed by Technōs Japan and released as an arcade game in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight against various adversaries and rivals.
The origina ...
'' series instead of an official
sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
.
The two lead characters in ''Rage of the Dragons'', Billy and Jimmy Lewis, share their names with the
protagonists of the ''Double Dragon'' series, Billy and Jimmy Lee, while Kang is based on Burnov from ''
Double Dragon II: The Revenge'', and the
boss character Abubo is based on Abobo from the original ''
Double Dragon
is a beat 'em up video game series initially developed by Technōs Japan and released as an arcade game in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight against various adversaries and rivals.
The origina ...
''. Two supporting characters in ''Rage'', Linda (Abubo's female assistant) and Mariah (Jimmy's girlfriend), are also based on ''Double Dragon'' characters. Jimmy, Lynn, Elias and Annie would later appear as hidden guest characters in ''
Matrimelee'', a fighting game also produced by
Noise Factory
was a Japanese video game developer and publisher based out of Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in J ...
. Coincidentally,
Atlus, the company that originally produced the ''
Power Instinct
''Power Instinct'', released in Japan as , is a fighting video game series created by Atlus.
The series is known for its absurdist humor. Unique to the series was the introduction of the transformation feature: several of the characters can cha ...
'' series, published ''Double Dragon Advance'' for Million. The game was co-designed by Mario Vargas and Eduardo d' Palma, who would later work in the
anime industry
is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
. The soundtrack was composed by Toshikazu Tanaka, who was previously employed at SNK and worked on project such as ''
Fatal Fury: King of Fighters''.
Prior to launch, French magazine ''HardCore Gamers'' noted the inclusion of both Billy and Jimmy from ''
Double Dragon
is a beat 'em up video game series initially developed by Technōs Japan and released as an arcade game in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight against various adversaries and rivals.
The origina ...
'' in the game.
Reception
Spanish magazine ''Gametype'' gave ''Rage of the Dragons'' a positive review.
''
Monthly Arcadia
was a Japanese arcade game magazine, published by Enterbrain.
History
''Monthly Arcadia'' launched on December 8, 1999. It was the successor to the then popular magazine ''Gamest
was a Japanese video game magazine that specialized in covering ...
'' reported on their September 2002 issue that the game was the sixth most popular release in Japan. ''Double Dragon'' original creator
Yoshihisa Kishimoto
is a Japanese video game developer known primarily for his involvement with Technos Japan Corp. He is best known for his work on beat 'em up games, as the original creator of the ''Kunio-kun'' and ''Double Dragon'' game franchises, having worked ...
stated he had "nothing to do with ''Rage of the Dragons''".
In 2012, ''
Complex
Complex commonly refers to:
* Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe
** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
'' ranked this "sequel to the first ''Double Dragon'' fighting game" as the 13th best SNK fighting game ever made.
Kurt Kalata of ''Hardcore Gaming 101'' regarded the game as "an excellent game for anyone into late era 2D fighters, and doubly so for its rad character designs and awesome soundtrack".
Notes
References
External links
*
''Rage of the Dragons''at
Killer List of Videogames
Killer List of Videogames (KLOV) is a website featuring an online encyclopedia devoted to cataloging arcade games past and present. It is the video game department of the International Arcade Museum, and has been referred to as "the IMDb for pl ...
''Rage of the Dragons''at
MobyGames
''Rage of the Dragons''at
Noise Factory
was a Japanese video game developer and publisher based out of Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in J ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rage Of The Dragons
2002 video games
Arcade video games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Neo Geo games
Nintendo Switch games
PlayStation 4 games
SNK Playmore games
Tag team videogames
Fighting games
Video games developed in Japan
Video games developed in Mexico
Xbox One games