A couple game trailers popped up recently that I felt like commenting on quickly. I’ll probably keep these thoughts after the break, but long story short, I gave them a shot, decided they’re not for me, and here’s why.
Double Dragon Revive (Coming 2025)
How many times have we gone back to the well and remade the original Double Dragon? I swear that every few years, they do another new take on the classic game. So this one is one of those 2.5D beat-em-up type things, which isn’t the most appealing thing, but at the very least, isn’t another 90s retro throwback thing I’ve seen lots of games go back to. That having been said…
The Karate Kid: Street Rumble, a 2D retro throwback game similar in vein to Shredder’s Revenge or Rita’s Revenge or Toxie’s Revenge or Cobra’s Revenge. This feels like once you got that Shredder game up and about, everyone else would find some other nostalgic thing from 30-40 years to turn into a generic brawler. This Karate Kid looks about as cookie cutter as it gets, but at least it’ll be better than the NES game.
I do feel a bit disheartening that this is becoming the new default for nostalgia. The retro-styled beat-em-up thing with modern super moves and stuff like that… that was fine for something like Shredder’s Revenge, but honestly, the upcoming Splintered Fate has me more excited because it’s something different. And that’s a style of game that I wish was done for something like Power Rangers instead of another generic, cookie-cutter brawler.
That said, I’m probably gonna give Rita’s Rewind a shot when it comes out. I’m sure it’ll be fine… but it’d be nice if something else were done with the concept instead of… well, you know.
dtm666 