Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons from Secret Base and Modus Games might just be the best beat 'em up of the year, but no game is perfect. In fact, this one launched with a common complaint: distracting pop-up notifications that occur whenever a player defeats three or more enemies with a special move. Thankfully, the latest update allows these notifications to be turned off. What's more, a promising balance update is in the works.
Patch 1 release notes:
- You can turn on/off Crowd Control notification in the option menu.
- When you respawn, all enemies on screen will be knocked down to provide you a safe
- entry.
- Fixed and reduced soft lock
- Fixed leaderboard data error
- Fixed trophies that can't be unlocked before (PS4/5)
- The trophy [Beat'em up] unlocked condition is to perform 3,000 special KOs. If you have previously met the criterial before the patch, you will just need to start the game and perform 10 special KOs to unlock the trophy.
- All other trophies can be unlocked by entering the respective menu in the token shop.
- Improved achievements detecting and tracking (Steam)
- Improved controller recognition on supporting two controllers (Steam)
- Fixed lag issue with V-Sync and G-Sync (Steam)
- Improved loading efficiency by 20 to 40% (Nintendo Switch)
The updated Options screen
Additionally, a beta playtest is under way for Steam players. This will allow the developer to gather data on a variety of proposed fixes.
Beta Patch 2:
The big push in this patch is to rebalance the game a little, mostly to reduce unfair hits and juggles, providing some i-frames, improving moves, and so on. This makes the game easier, so we have also increased difficulty for enemies attack, speed, etc.
- Light brake/land no longer limits player's movement
- Heavy brake/land duration are shortened
- Introduced i-Frames for throw and slam
- Introduced i-Frames for some character's SP moves
- Reduce projectile hitbox (Z Axis only)
- Player characters are invulnerable when knocked, unless they bounce off the wall
- Some characters have dodge, push, or armor properties when initiate running
- Reduced enemies attack from out of screen
- Gang evolve cutscene can be skipped
- Difficulty adjusted (Increased overall difficulty, starting off harder, but also decreased M5 Kingpin boss rush difficulty)
- Corpse disappear (This will eventually be an option you can turn on/off)
- Loading hints added (Using placeholder text for now)
"I-frames" refers to invincible frames - points in an animation during which players can't take damage from enemies. In Gaiden, enemies can easily knock players out of special moves, which can be frustrating when facing a lot of enemies at once. Reducing the difficulty of the Mission 5 boss rush also sounds like a welcome tweak. It might take a little while before the beta changes make it to the full game on all platforms, but we'll look forward to it.
The game supports 2-player local co-op. To learn more, be sure to read our co-op review and developer interview!
Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons sells for $24.99 digitally on Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and Steam. Physical versions for Xbox, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Switch cost $29.99. The Steam version is fully Steam Deck compatible.