Monday, 27 January 2025

Rage of the Dragons NEO Review (Switch)

Neo Geo games have been hitting the Switch at a rapid rate. Many of them get the ACA treatment, but every now and then we get something slightly different. Rage of Dragons Neo falls into the latter category and is obscure even for the hardcore SNK fanbase.

Most of you will have heard of Double Dragon and know something about the legacy of the franchise. You may even be aware that a one-on-one fighting game was developed, though it wasn’t received particularly well. Well, the original plan was for this game to be a sort of follow up to that. At some point rights were lost and it continued development under a different name.

This re-release has had some work done on it. It comes with an online mode and a host of video and audio options. There is also a training mode to help get yourself familiar with the games more intricate systems. There’s also a challenge mode for those few out there who might think the game is too easy for them.

The combat takes the form of a two-on-two tag fighter. Characters can dive in and out when a tag bar is filled, and this forms a key part of your strategy. The game is tough with the computer a fairly merciless and brutal opponent. Luckily you have unlimited continues and the option to save your progress as you go. The biggest challenge is the sheer amount of damage you can be hit with in one combo. One mistake can you see an entire life bar wiped out if you aren’t careful.

It follows the familiar SNK template in terms of both look and combat buttons. If you think about a hardcore The King of Fighters with two on each side, you wouldn’t be a million miles away. The combat itself is precise, and the move sets of the characters are varied and will take a serious amount of time to master. Although certain names and designs have been changed, it’s also pretty easy to see which characters are meant to be which when it comes to Double Dragon.

The graphics are suitably detailed and impressive as well. Characters are well animated and well designed and the backdrops are full of action and life which helps to make each fight more of a spectacle. If you can crack the difficulty and systems, then this is likely to become a favourite among fight fans.

Overall, Rage of the Dragons NEO is going to appeal to a niche audience. It’s far more complex than a lot of both SNK’s and Capcom’s output and there’s no real easy way to get used to it. You are likely to be pounded down over and over until you work out a few things to help you hold your own. If you stick with it long enough to get into it though you’ll find an incredibly deep and rewarding game that is well worth sticking with.

Overall 7/10

Monday, 13 January 2025

Tetris Forever Review (Switch)

Digital Eclipse are back again with another one of their interactive documentaries, this time covering everyone’s favourite block stacking puzzle game. We’ve covered both their Jeff Minter and Karateka retrospectives before and found them to be informative and well worth looking at.

The mix of detailed documents and interviews mixed with selections of games is an enticing mix and when done well lifts these collections above some of the money grab compilations out there. It’s always trickier when collections surround one particular game though as you are effectively going to get multiple versions of the same thing, as is the case here, although there is more variation than you may be expecting.

Before we get on to that, it’s worth saying that if you are a fan of Tetris and want to know about its history then this has been expertly put together and curated. It follows in great detail the intriguing story that had people rushing around Moscow trying to get hold of the rights. A story so compelling it was turned into a half decent film. There’s also a lorry load of documents and interviews that cover pretty much every aspect of Tetris up to about 1999.

While the history is complete, it does show up some of the gaps in the game library. There always going to be rights issues and limits to what is possible when it comes to these documentary style compilations and unfortunately there was no way that Nintendo was ever going to release the rights to Tetris on the NES or Gameboy. This is of course problematic as the Gameboy version in particular is the one most closely associated with the franchise and the global conquering success that is had. All the information about it is present, but the game itself is nowhere to be seen. Nintendo has since released both the NES and Gameboy versions on its own Online service so at least they are out there somewhere.

If that doesn’t put you off though you get a sizable catalogue of block rotating action. There are 19 games in total, and they aren’t all Tetris in its traditional sense. You get a host of different versions of the classic title ranging from the Electronika 60 up to Super Tetris 3 on the Super Famicom. Along with this there are versions of the various spinoffs such as Hatris, Welltris, Bombliss and the Battle Gaiden versions. All of which have their own appeal and work the format well.

Exclusive to this collection is a new version of the game called Tetris: Time Warp which is a fun take which occasional throws in random versions of retro Tetris games into the mix as you are playing, allowing players to earn bonus points. It works very well and while it’s probably not worth buying the whole collection for, it certainly is a very good and welcome addition to the collection that takes the sting out of some of the key versions being missing.

Overall, whether you need to get this collection rests on a couple of key things. That being, how bothered are you going to be that the most iconic versions of the game aren’t here, how much you care about the Tetris story and how much a new version of the game excites you. It’s enough for us to recommend it though as the whole package is so well put together.

Overall 8/10