Free Double Dragon Gaiden DLC will bring new modes and a ninja

Secret Base has announced the first free content update for Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragon will bring survival and versus modes, online co-op, and new characters. The Sacred Reunion will be released on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch platforms on April 4.

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragon was released last year. I reviewed it then, and it was… enh. It was all right. I felt that the combat wasn’t that great and, at the time, you couldn’t really do much with the character swapping. You couldn’t tie your second character into your combo. I’m not sure how much has changed since then, as there have been patches to tweak the mechanics.

There are three characters being added. One has been revealed, while the other two are shadowed out. I bet one of them is Sonny Lee, the disappointing and unremarkable third Lee brother. The revealed character is Ranzou, who was a character in both Double Dragon 3’s and also an unlockable combatant in Double Dragon IV. He’s a ninja who fights with shuriken and a katana (or maybe a wakazashi).

Also being added is survival mode, which I assume is wave-based. There’s also a versus mode where you can give your friends a savage beating. Also included is online co-op. That should be good news for people with distant relationships, but I prefer to be able to “playfully” punch the person I’m playing with. There will also be new upgrades.

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragon is available on PS4, PS5, Switch, PC, and XBox. The Sacred Reunion DLC will be available for free on April 4.