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I know that one should never ever get blinded by nostalgia, fandom and childhood memories. As it does indeed cloud your vision and judgement. So I´m going to put all that aside and bebrutally honest about Arc System Works “Double Dragon IV” announcement trailer (you can watch the video further down the page). Right of the bat, the first “Double Dragon” game was released back in 1987, and over the years, there have been quite a few “Double Dragon” titles for various platforms. Well, that´s great news for the fans right? One would think that, but that´s far from the truth. As the DD series has had quite a few ups and downs since the first game launched (“Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls” and “Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone” are the worst DD titles to date. Well, at least, in my opinion).

The very first “Double Dragon” game was originally released back in 1987.

Nevertheless, I still think that the two latest DD titles (“Double Dragon Trilogy“, 2013 and “Double Dragon Neon“, 2012) were pretty darn good. So I´ve been dying to see a brand-new “Double Dragon” game. Especially since I (we) haven´t seen a new official DD title for years. So as you might imagine, I got pretty excited when I heard that Arc System Works (“Guilty Gear”, “BlazBlue”, “Persona 4 Arena” with many more) had announced a brand-new DD game called “Double Dragon IV” (the game’s story takes place directly after the defeat of the Shadow Warriors in “Double Dragon II”). So far, so good. Well, everything was all good, but then I watched the actual trailer for “Double Dragon IV”…(let´s just say that my previous happiness got turned into something less “joyful”).

Yes, Billy and Jimmy (not “Bimmy”!) are back in “Double Dragon IV”.

So I´m going to share my thoughts, concerns, ups and downs based on the very first trailer for “Double Dragon IV”, and I´m going to start with the ups:

The ups of Double Dragon IV:
+ A brand-new Double Dragon game is in the works, yay!
+ Double Dragon IV will be released for PC (via Steam) and PS4 (via PSN) on the 30th of January next year (Japan)
+ Arc System Works has assembled most of the original staff that worked on the original “Double Dragon” arcade game
+ DD fans can expect to see and experience the same kind of visuals and kick-ass content that they enjoyed in the original DD games
+ There will be new gameplay mechanics in “Double Dragon IV”
+ A Western release is very likely to happen shortly after the Japanese release in January next year
+ Every game mode in “Double Dragon IV” can be played with two players
+ Billy and Jimmy is back, and the duo is not called “Billy and Bimmy”

I´m really happy that “Double Dragon” is back and everything, but I have no idea (whatsoever) why Arc System Works went for an 8-bit look instead of 16-bit?

As for the downs of Double Dragon IV:
– The visuals look far too 8-bit NES for my taste. I think that Ark System Works should have gone for 16-bit visuals instead (think “Final Fight” or Neo Geo)
– What´s up with the cutscenes? They look anything but exciting
– The name of the game makes no sense at all. As “Super Double Dragon” was “Double Dragon IV”, and there has already been a “Double Dragon V”
– The lack of platforms is rather disappointing (no Switch, PSV, Xbox One, 3DS or mobile? Seriously?…)
– It´s hard to tell if the control scheme is a nightmare or heaven in “Double Dragon IV” (based on what we´ve seen from the first trailer), but i truly hope that the buttons won´t get reversed depending on where you stand
– There seem to be lots platforming in “Double Dragon IV”, and I find that to be somewhat worrisome. As classic “Double Dragon” platforming has always been more frustrating than fun
– Will there even be an online mode?

Yes, Abobo is back in action as well.

Other than that, I´m somewhat concerned that “Double Dragon IV” might just be a new “Double Dragon III” (the game is super hard. The controls suck, and the dialogs are a pure nightmare to read through. I just want to fight!). I hope that´s not the case though, as it would ruin “Double Dragon IV” for sure (one of my old friends from school actually smashed his NES controller because he hated DD III´s control scheme so much). Well, time will tell. Nevertheless, we will know for sure once the game launches in Japan in January next year. So let´s pray to the Gaming gods for a really good “Double Dragon” experience! Especially since Double Dragon´s 30th anniversary is coming up in January as well.