Double Dragon Revive promises a refresh of the venerable beat 'em up in 2025

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A new game in the Double Dragon series of beat 'em ups is coming next year. Arc System Works has announced Double Dragon Revive, which promises to revisit some of the locales and enemies from the earliest entries in the series. Revive, however, has a decidedly modern look to it with 3D models rather than simpler sprites. The name Revive is in line with what the developers say they want it to be: "the same simple and intuitive gameplay, with controls and balance refined for the modern era."

The teaser trailer released shows off some pretty classic Double Dragon stuff: Punching a guy. Punching a guy who tried to hit you with a bat. Glowing with martial fury and uppercutting a guy while a swirling spiritual dragon flys skyward.

There's also punching a guy so hard he falls into a dumpster, or shoving a guy into a refrigerator so hard that he's knocked unconscious and also the refrigerator closes on him, which is probably murder. Tongue firmly in cheek here on my part, because the team of Arc System Works' fighting game devs and the brawl-happy wrestling game devs at Yuke's is an intriguing combo for a beat 'em up brawler series.

Double Dragon hasn't been dormant in the last few years, with the most recent release being roguelike spinoff Double Dragon Gaiden. It was decently well received for its design, from studio Secret Base, that focused on tag-in mechanics with over a dozen characters to hot swap in as you fight in singleplayer or co-op.

Double Dragon revive will be developed by Yuke's, who are better known in the US for making the WWF, then WWE, then AEW wrestling games. It's published by Arc System Works.

You can find Double Dragon Revive on Steam and on Arc System Works' website.

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.