Retro will forever be en vouge…in music, TV, movies and even in video games. The NES Classic has proved this, selling out nationwide this past holiday season. The $60 mini system was selling for upwards of $300-500 for those desperate enough for some nostalgia from Santa. Everyone’s gone all 8-bit hungry, so it’s the perfect time for Arc System Works to drop Double Dragon IV, a sequel to the classic series that will be available on PlayStation 4 and PC January 30th.
Just in time to celebrate the series’ 30th anniversary, the side-scrolling, 3rd person beat-em-up game will be the first properly numbered Double Dragon sequel since 1990’s Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone. You surely remember that installment as the one where you lost all your lives before reaching the 1st boss. I think I even threw and broke a remote after playing that one. (Sonofabitch, that game is the biggest piece of shit. Every single difficulty feels like a bullshit Very Hard setting. Yep, still bitter.)
But don’t let your less-than-stellar memories of Numero 3 tarnish your fondness for Billy and Jimmy! The trailer for the fourth game looks fantastic (see it below) and features the work of some of Technos’ original series creatives. As noted in the official press release, “Key team members involved in the 1987 arcade version including Original Planner, Yoshihisa Kishimoto, Designer Koji Ogata, and Composer Kazunaka Yamane.”
As shown in the teaser, the game will include some extras. In addition to story mode, there will be a 2-player duel, a Japanese mode, and an uber-mysterious “???”
While it’ll be hard impossible to top the legendary Double Dragon 2: The Revenge, I can’t wait to throw fists with the Lee brothers again.