After several great modern releases in classic franchises and indie titles that add new elements to the aging genre, it’s safe to say that fans of beat ‘em ups have had a full plate in the last few years. It’s also no surprise that one of the earliest franchises in the genre,Double Dragon, is set to receive a new title soon withDouble Dragon Gaiden. And whiletheDouble Dragonfranchiseis one of the main archetypes of the beat ‘em up genre, it actually shares its genesis with another core genre franchise that has seen recent entries,River City Ransom.
TheRiver City Ransomgames (along with several other titles from developer Technos) are actually part of a long-running series known as Kunio-kun, with the first title in the franchise to receive a Western localization being the NES classicRenegade. TheDouble Dragonfranchisecan trace its roots back to the Kunio-kun series as an offshoot of Technos’ other beat ‘em ups, with all newer entries in the series (Double Dragon GaidenandRiver City Girlsincluded) handled by Arc System Works since its purchase of the intellectual rights to all of Technos’ holdings. Game Rant recently spoke with Secret Base founder Raymond Teo onDouble Dragon Gaiden’s connection to the Kunio-kun games, with the dev providing some insight regarding how the upcoming game honors its Kunio-kun roots alongside other modernRiver Citygames.
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Arc System Works, which is handling publishing duties ofDouble Dragon Gaiden, has made a name for itself in preserving classic titles. In talking aboutDouble Dragon Gaidenand its non-linear progression and light RPG-style mechanics, the conversation naturally shifted toward Arc System Works’River City Girlsgames and how both the classic and modern Kunio-kun titles have influencedDouble Dragon Gaiden.One of the first things mentioned by Teo is thatGaidenwas heavily influenced by the team’s extensive research on both classic and modern beat ‘em ups, including games in the Kunio-kun series.
When I first came up with the idea, I did research not just on Double Dragon but a lot of ’80s, ’90s beat ‘em ups. I tried to give as much as I could get my hands on a go. What I did was attempt to break down the gameplay and repackage it into, you know, a more complete package for the player.
Speaking about the similarities betweenDouble Dragon Gaidenand the mechanics of the Kunio-kun games, Teo mentions “So, in our game, you have this thing where you earn cash. If you do well, you can earn more cash, and you can spend some of that cash to revive if you have to.” Earning cash is, of course, one of the staples of theRiver Citygames, with series hero Kunio (or his girlfriend Misako in the case ofRiver City Girls) earning cash as well as experience for each enemy taken down. Players can then use this cash at in-game shops to purchase health-replenishing food or special moves.
Another classic staple of the Kunio-kun games is non-linear progression and the potential for players to discover alternate routes rather than a simple series of horizontal screens taking the player from point A to point B. Here again is whereDouble Dragon Gaidenis looking to honor its roots as an offshoot ofthe Kunio-kun games, with Teo explaining that the potential for non-linear progression and repeating stages was a key component they aimed at including during the conceptualization and early design phase of the title.
“I wanted to make sure that when you replay the game, there are different things that you can explore and alternate routes. With each run, the players can actually change to a different character or a combination of characters. They can explore different routes. Each time they play, they will see different things.”
Since the early days ofRenegadeandRiver City Ransom, the Kunio-kun series has evolved and proven itself to be continually popular with the successfulRiver City Girlsoffshoot. Although theDouble Dragonseries was always intended to be a different sort of beat ‘em up compared to Technos’ other titles, it seems as ifDouble Dragon Gaidenwill continue the Kunio-kun leanings ofDouble Dragon Neonbut also establish itself as a new twisted on this specific franchise.
Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragonsreleases July 27 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC.
