It's been 15 years since nuclear war and "the city by the coast" has been trying to recover amidst lack of governing rule. Amongst this lawlessness, a rowdy criminal organization called the Shadow Warriors have crept in and caused endless turmoil. Their leader? A machine gun-toting menace named Willy. Worse, random citizens are disappearing at an alarming rate, which is somehow attributed to the gang's recent activities. Eventually, these events cross paths with the Lee brothers, practitioners of the Sosetsuken martial art. As Billy Lee, the blond younger brother in a blue denim outfit, and Jimmy Lee, the brunet older brother in red and black attire, end their patrols, they head to Marian's bar. But as they're about to greet their childhood friend, they've been informed that she's been kidnapped!
Welcome to Double Dragon Revive, a franchise "revival" if you pretend the 10 million other Double Dragon reboots never existed. Advance who? Neon what? Gaiden where? With each of those games having their own unique interpretations of what a DD remake can be, does Revive take the series in a bold direction? Not really. However, the devs have decided to make a 3D rendition of the beat'em up classic, which is something the franchise has seldomly done. Though, this does seem like the logical choice once you realize the developers happen to be Yuke's, the team formerly responsible for making the main WWE games for almost 20 years.
Credit: Yuke's Media Creations/Arc System WorksWhile the characters and environments are fully 3D, the game design is still that of a side-scrolling beat'em up. The best thing concerning this design is how the game is surprisingly easy to get into, due to the devs making the controls very easy to manage during combat. All the basic beat'em up staples are present, from combo-punching and roughing up thugs by grabbing them, to temporarily obtaining weapons like bats and knives for extra damage. You also have special attacks and special attacks, the latter causing a flashy animation and great damage after building a meter. By the end of the first stage, all of these maneuvers become second nature to perform.
This comfortable approach to 3D fisticuffs gives an opportunity for the actual structure of the gameplay to shine through, if there happens to be any. As you battle your way in the streets, through a power plant, across a bridge, and up a pagoda, you'll encounter bruisers and bosses that are series familiars. Against the likes of Roper the bat-menace, Linda the whip-crazed dominatrix, and of course the hulking Abobo, all notable villains from the original two DD games return. As you pummel group after group, you'll do so while occasionally triggering the game's main gimmick: environmental "interactivity." Complete an attack near a dumpster and a thug will fall in, finish an enemy near a fridge and they'll fall in, beat up a gangster near a car window and... they'll fall in. Hmm...
Credit: Yuke's Media Creations/Arc System WorksYou'll unlock new characters, perform obnoxiously easy platforming, and continue to knock thugs into objects between all the fighting, then conclude the journey after confronting Willy and company in his fortress. The game set out to be a Double Dragon reboot, and that's exactly what it accomplished. But is it a good reboot? As mentioned, the biggest predicament overshadowing this particular game is that it is priding itself as a reworking of the first game... in a series that has done that concept countless times over five separate decades. For the current IP holders, Arc System Works, to truly take this serious as a genuine resurgence of the series, they needed to put their best foot forward; they really needed to give this game the type of love that they would typically give to something like Guilty Gear.
Instead, they handed duties over to another studio and hoped for the best, creating something that's functional, but not remarkable. The forgettable backdrops, for instance, displays ruined streets and subway trains in generic fashion; you know something is wrong when the same settings from a 1989 game, Final Fight, appears to be more lively and detailed when compared to this 2025 attempt at a revival. Outside of the final fortress and parts of Linda's casino stage, everything else feels super bland to look at. For some reason, nearly everything visually in Revive is both mundane and washed out, even if the particular room you're in is suppose to be bright and colorful. If anything, the game looks like a slightly touched up port of a Xbox 360 Arcade marketplace game.
Credit: Yuke's Media Creations/Arc System WorksThe combat is no better. Yes, the combat system is simple to get into, but when the actual structure of combating enemies feels generic, across a two-hour session, that's not a great indicator of its quality. There are several enemies that fight differently from one another, but the problem, more times than not, is that your own combat prowess overwhelms the diversity to the point where everything blends together. Just how simple is it to handle most enemies? To put things into perspective, the game also has guard, dodge, and parry mechanics, yet you'll only barely use the parry. If the combat design was better executed, then the game would have placed you in circumstances where you had no choice but to use some or all three to survive.
You know what's really ridiculous? As of this writing, when Revive released on Sony's platform, you can still purchase the other five-plus Double Dragon games on the PlayStation Store; Arc System Works either truly believes this game has enough to differentiate it from the other DD games or thinks the fan base is gullible. Why buy a higher-priced, average interpretation of the original game, when you can buy the actual original game, one of its many remakes, or one of the sequels for the same experience, but at a much lesser price? Double Dragon Revive sadly ends up as another in a lengthy lineage of unremarkable Double Dragon titles.
For long time Double Dragon players, it's just another Tuesday.
