The Lee bros are back, with the return of the legendary Double Dragon

Getting back to its roots is the classic side-scrolling action series Double Dragon. A brand new entry is set for this summer with Rise of the Dragons.

Flame on

When you talk about side-scrolling action games, there are few with histories as far-reaching as Double Dragon. The series originally debuted in the arcades in 1987, before making the jump to the NES the very next year. The rest is history, as the property has had several sequels across the decades, and even teamed with the Battletoads for a few adventures.

That was a line that came to a seeming end with the retro-styled Double Dragon IV back in 2017. But while the series has been publicly quiet since, there’s apparently been some big stuff happening behind the scenes. That’s culminated in Double Dragon: Rise of the Dragons, which was just revealed today by Modus Games.

Developed by Secret Base, Rise of the Dragons is very much in the classic DD mold. It’s a side-scroller for sure, loaded with action, but also changes the formula slightly, at least it does in terms of looks. Rise of the Dragons definitely doesn’t look like an NES title.

Take a first-look:

New York City in the year 199X: the city has been devastated by nuclear war. Its citizens fight for survival as riots, crime and chaos flood the streets. Criminal gangs terrorize what remains as they vie for dominance. Unwilling to endure these conditions any longer, young Billy and Jimmy Lee take it upon themselves to reclaim their city. 

Modus Games press release

As you can see there, Rise of the Dragons actually shakes things up quite a bit. It has a roster of 4 playable heroes, with a tag-team mechanic, both of which are a first for the franchise. But Secret Base didn’t stop with that, as there’s a really interesting way that missions play out.

While levels do appear to be linear, how you play them isn’t. Players can pick from missions in any order, and how you do that will affect each one’s length, as well as how many enemies you’ll encounter. As you can imagine, that will change the way you tackle those stages, and presumably alter the difficulty quite a bit.

Ready to brawl? Double Dragon: Rise of the Dragons is set for release on consoles and the PC some time this summer.