Rage of the Dragons NEO | PS5 Review

Returning from the original NEO GEO release of 2002 is an all inclusive port of "Rage of the Dragons NEO". A fighting game spin-off of an old spin-off of Double Dragon. This Mexican (EVOGA), and SNK made 2D tag team fighter takes on some unique mechanics with a roster of 16 different competing characters as well as a boss character strictly playable in select modes from the start. 

It is a four button fighter at it's core with light, and heavy versions of punch and kick. Complete with input specific specials, supers, a first impact dial-a-combo move, and a tag duplex team juggle starter. That and a 3 level gauge for executing the more costly moves. The game itself looks like a proper SNK fighter with hints of KOF's character designs throughout. Leaving the tag mechanics to set it apart from the competition.

As a fighting game in the vein of former SNK franchises "Rage of the Dragons NEO" brings with it all the positive and negative aspects of that studio. Featuring a few offline modes, and two ways to play online via matchmaking with settings parameters intact it delivers a lot of content, but to it's own detriment. Offline, itself, is plagued by a difficulty setting that holds no sway in the abusive arcade experience where the CPU opponents read button presses, and spams attacks nonstop regardles of difficulty setting. No matter if you set it to difficulty Easy (1-3), Normal (4-6), or Hard (8-9) you will be hard pressed to utilized the mechanics even after training via the training mode. Every time you press a button the CPU is programmed to aggressively counter, and with expert precision. Making each fight just as notoriously bad as the infamous SNK boss battles of old.

When it comes to modes you'll find an Arcade mode with several stages, a Dragon's Challenge mode which is a survival gauntlet with bonus life earned at set percentages per each successful defeat, and a versus mode for offline play against the CPU or local players with all the settings one could ask for in matchmaking. Everything from handicaps to clock speed, rounds, and timer length can be adjusted beforehand. 

Last, and certainly not least is the Training mode, and trust me when I tell you that QUByte went all the way with modern settings for the perfect training session. CPU teams can be set to act/react, and the gauge plus all the usual stat based readings outside of frame data can be fine tuned to playout in a training stage without GAME OVER limitations. This training mode is vital for mastering the mechanics and tag team features used in-game, and in my opinion, should be where you begin.

Speaking of mechanics there are a handful of them. Unique to "Rage of the Dragons NEO" is the 'First Impact" attack that is basically a dial-a-combo move in which you have to hammer out the correct sequence of attack buttons in order to dish out a combo string in slow motion within a small window of opportunity. It is a mechanic which can be performed both on the ground, and in the air if you have enough gauge to spend on it. This and the 'Tag Deluxe' starter which performs a short character combo with a launcher and calls in the tag partner afterwards for a combo opportunity are the game's two main stand out mechanics. 

Other than that each of the 16 characters aside from the boss gets their own set of special moves, super moves, and a finisher alongside command normals. Super moves like the game's character specific finisher cost a certain amount of gauge to use. This is set at 2 levels of gauge where as the finisher exhausts all three levels. The First Impact does seem to use 1 level of gauge per use. When there is no gauge left this First Impact is reduced to a knockback. For mobility sake there's a dash, and a dodge roll as you'd see in one of SNK's KOF releases. 

The roster of 16 characters is a blend of male and female archetypes some of which have been shown in some form or fashion within the Double Dragon world. Returning as the Ryu & Ken of the collective is Jimmy and Billy in all their Double Dragon glory. Also included is Abobo as a singular sub-boss that Double Dragon players of old will most definitely know of. The rest are mostly similar SNK blends with slightly modified, and combined normals, specials, and supers. Stuff that SNK fans will be familiar with as it is mostly copycat. Some of the character models seem to even take inspiration from other SNK fighters. 

You'll find charge characters, shotos, rekkas, grapplers, and some that are a mixed bag of fighting styles. Each are brought to life through the game's various filters that include pixel perfect, CRT, scanlines, and a more polished presentation. Every character also comes complete with four optional color palettes picked by one of the four face button presses from the character select menu.

With tag mechanics in mind you will obviously understand that this "Rage of the Dragons NEO" is a two character tag team kind of game at it's core with manual tag-ins as well as the Tag Deluxe starters. That being said this particular game takes that tag team mechanic a step further in offering what amounts up to three extra side bench characters that will fill in a character's position once they've been defeated in a round. Something that can be set from the main menu. Allowing for the standard two character teams or up to teams of 5 per player. The game does also feature the traditional two round matches with some exceptions per mode, so length of the match will be impacted by those settings along with the timer settings, and time handicaps.  

In the way of visual tweaks you there are three different screen sizes to choose from within 'Rage of the Dragons NEO'. This includes Fit, Fullscreen, and Normal. With Fit, and the latter option you are left with borders that you can opt to fill in with character art, or wallpaper designs. Additionally you can set to have overlays of your characters move list shown on these borders, but they do over-extend onto the playing field leaving the breakable walls to be obscured from view. 

In the way of extras the game has a Jukebox menu listing with character voices, and stage music for your listening pleasure. The stage music that's included from the beginning can be set for playing on the main menu with a checklist that includes and option for specific tracks, a selection of favorites in cycle, or randomly played tracks. In addition to these bonus features you'll also find a trophy listing complete with the listed requirements for obtaining each. A little something extra for the trophy hunters out there.

As far as online is concerned it too seems to be a total loss in comparison to it's offline counterparts. It is a virtual ghost town decorated by all the options you'd want in a modern fighter. Whether it be the number of characters on your team (2-5), round limit, region specifics, player reputation, match type (casual/ranked), or connection quality you'll find it front and center on the Online's versus menu. Leaving the Lobby menu to facilitate only two options pertaining to creating or joining a room initially, before the other settings are made available. For bragging rights in all of this there exists ranks in the form of medals as well as leaderboard listings for all modes. Think Street Fighter 5/6.

The Verdict ...

I'm never impressed with a fighting game whose Arcade experience is button reading nightmare. It showcases lazy design which SNK is notorious for doing. I'm also not impressed with the fact that online play is dead. These two glaring issues alone have killed all hype for this game, for me. I will likely not play it again it is that bad. 

As a part of the FGC you'll be interested in knowing some characters in the roster are broken, and that the game needs balance patches ASAP. This is a possibility as it is mentioned in the EULA you have to agree to before playing the game. I found out that there are touch of death combos, and infinites for at least a few of the characters. This is problematic when going up against players who can execute them.

The EULA itself is a problem in that it is filled with legal terms telling you you basically don't own what you paid for, and that you are legally bound once you agree to things like that of conduct while playing or streaming. You don't want to offend anybody, trust me. It is stuff that can be upheld in the court of law. This is yet another thing I hate to see in a fighting game.

While I do admire the twist on tag team play in "Rage of the Dragons NEO", and the First Impact mechanics I can't help but feel it disappoints more than it delivers. Sure, the character roster has it's interesting characters, and the game does look like it was designed mostly by SNK, but it even with that going for it it's not enough for me to recommend it. Not even at the $19.99 asking price for nostalgia sake. A game this frustrating to play does not warrant a purchase. That is my honest take when considering all of it's features, and gameplay offerings.