We liked retro beat-‘em-up roguelite Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons when it first released, but outstanding post-release support has quietly transformed this into a PS5 and PS4 essential.
Dev Secret Base has been adding free character content to this game for over a year now, culminating in the release of four new characters last week.
For those who don’t know, this is inspired by the classic brawler gameplay of the original series, but it adds a roguelite twist – with a seemingly never-ending list of unlockables – to reduce the repetition the genre is generally known for.
And with new characters Jackson, Jim Mackey, Bimmy Lee [Yes, the typo became a character! – Ed], and Armored Okada now available for free in all copies of the game, there’s plenty of reason to return – or try it for the first time if you haven’t already.
Of course, it’s not the absolute best brawler on the PS Store; the likes of Absolum and even Streets of Rage 4 top it in terms of consistent quality. But if you’ve already beaten those and you’re looking for a deeply replayable retro release with a roguelite twist, the sheer amount of post-launch content added here has transformed this one into a must.
