Rage of the Dragons

Rage of the Dragons is a 2002 tag team head-to-head fighting game released for the Neo Geo hardware by Playmore (currently SNK). The game was co-developed by the Mexican team Evoga and the Japanese company Noise Factory. Evoga worked on the initial planning and designing, while Noise Factory worked on the final graphics, sounds and programming. The main illustrator for this game is Ooma Bunshichiro. Character designs were done by Mario Vargas "Mr. Vo" and Jose Luis Belmont.

In May 2020, Piko Interactive announced that it has acquired the IP rights for Rage of The Dragons. The ports for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, and Xbox One and Xbox Series is scheduled for a future release, ported by QUByte Interactive.

Gameplay
Rage of the Dragons features a tag team system, in which the player takes control of two characters and can switch between one or the other during gameplay. The character who is not being controlled will slowly recovers part of his or her energy while the other is fighting. The player can perform special combos in which both characters attack an opponent at the same time for added damage.

An auxiliary meter located at the bottom of the screen that slowly fills up when an attack connects with an opponent. When the meter is full, special moves can be performed (Ex: Counter Attacks, Super Moves, etc).

Characters
There are a total of fourteen playable characters in Rage of the Dragons. The player can select from one of the seven default pairings, or create a custom pairing with nearly 80 possible combinations. The player will see a hidden ending if they complete the single player tournament with a Billy and Jimmy pairing.

Bosses
There are also two boss characters in the game, who are fought by the player at the end of the single player tournament. Unlike the regular characters, these bosses only fight by themselves with no partners.

Stages

 * Note: With exception of Ring, Disco and Subway stages, all the other stages have a wall between the ends of the fight and can be broken at any time.

Parking — Jimmy & Sonia: A drive-in in an evening day. Features some people, veichles, a ladder, trees and buildings, besides a screen showing some credits.

Dojo — Billy & Lynn: The courtyard of Lynn's dojo. Features some buildings, lamps, the main gate, Billy's car, some vegetation, two boilers, one steaming and a small balcony, besides Lynn's students cheering.
 * Wall: a building construction board.


 * Wall: a wooden obstacle.
 * Note: the students react differently when Lynn wins or loses; for other fighters, the crowd continues to vibrate non-stop.

Ring — Kang & Jones: A fighting ring common in boxing matches. Features the name EVOGA (one of the producers of the game) in the floor and the pillars, a crowd watching, flashlights and a neon sign with the name DRAGON. Similiar to Tizoc's stage in Garou: Mark of the Wolves.

School — Pepe & Pupa: The sports court of an high school. The fight takes next on a bus accident. Features the students (some athlets), a metal and concret fence, trees and the school outside, in the background, besides other bus.
 * Wall: a metal fence.

Church — Elias & Alice: A church partially destroyed. Features bricked pillars, a crashed floor and the pews, besides some lights.


 * Wall: empilhed chairs.

Factory — Oni & Cassandra: An abandoned factory. The fight takes in a platform. Features gears, pipes and machines. Similiar to the Factory stage in The King of Fighters 2000.


 * Wall: a steel barrel.

Disco — Radel & Annie: A disco rave. Features a DJ balcony, a stylized floor, a plastic palm tree, a crowd and A neon sign with the word NOISE FACTORY (other producer of the game).

Subway: An abandoned subway station. Features a ladder, homeless people, a bonfire, columns and a wagon. Associated with Abubo.


 * Wall: a steel barrel.

Palace: A balcony of a palace. Features blue curtains, a red floor, white pillars and a energy fireball, in the center. Associated with Johann.

Production
Evoga originally envisioned Rage of the Dragon as a sequel to the Neo Geo fighting game version of Double Dragon released in 1995. However, Evoga were unable to use the intellectual rights for the characters (which were purchased by the company Million, the developers of Double Dragon Advance), and thus Rage of the Dragons was turned into a homage to the Double Dragon series instead of an official sequel. The two lead characters in Rage of the Dragons, Billy and Jimmy Lewis, share their names with the protagonists of the Double Dragon series, Billy and Jimmy Lee, while the boss character Abubo is based on Abobo from the original Double Dragon. Two supporting characters in Rage, Linda (Abubo's female assistant) and Mariah (Jimmy's deceased girlfriend), are also based on Double Dragon characters.

Jimmy, Lynn, Elias and Mr. Jones would later appear as hidden guest characters in Power Instinct Matrimelee, a fighting game also produced by Noise Factory. Ironically, Atlus, the company that originally produced the Power Instinct series, published Double Dragon Advance for Million.

Development
Evoga originally envisioned Rage of the Dragons as a sequel to the Neo Geo fighting game version of Double Dragon released in 1995. However, Evoga were unable to use the intellectual rights for the characters (which were purchased by the company founded by former Technōs Japan staff Million, the developers of Double Dragon Advance), and thus Rage of the Dragons was turned into a homage to the Double Dragon series instead of an official sequel. The two lead characters in Rage of the Dragons, Billy and Jimmy Lewis, share their names with the protagonists of the Double Dragon series, Billy and Jimmy Lee, while Kang is based on Burnov from Double Dragon II: The Revenge, and the boss character Abubo is based on Abobo from the original Double Dragon.

Two supporting characters in Rage, Linda (Abubo's female assistant) and Mariah (Jimmy's girlfriend), are also based on Double Dragon characters. Jimmy, Lynn, Elias and Annie would later appear as hidden guest characters in Matrimelee, a fighting game also produced by Noise Factory. Coincidentally, Atlus, the company that originally produced the Power Instinct series, published Double Dragon Advance for Million. The game was co-designed by Mario Vargas and Eduardo d' Palma, who would later work in the anime industry. The soundtrack was composed by Toshikazu Tanaka, who was previously employed at SNK and worked on project such as Fatal Fury: King of Fighters. Prior to launch, French magazine HardCore Gamers noted the inclusion of both Billy and Jimmy from Double Dragon in the game.

Critical Reception
Spanish magazine Gametype gave Rage of the Dragons a positive outlook. Monthly Arcadia reported on their September 2002 issue that the game was the sixth most popular release in Japan. Double Dragon original creator Yoshihisa Kishimoto stated he had "nothing to do with Rage of the Dragons". In 2012, Complex ranked this "sequel to the first Double Dragon fighting game" as the 13th best SNK fighting game ever made. Kurt Kalata of Hardcore Gaming 101 regarded the game as "an excellent game for anyone into late era 2D fighters, and doubly so for its rad character designs and awesome soundtrack".