Admission time. Aside from the Double Dragon games, I was in the dark about what exactly this bundle was. There were a couple of games I’d heard of, but many were almost alien to me.
To ease you in to this rather impressive collection, in terms of size and quality, there are some familiar titles. Double Dragon I-III, River City Ransom, Renegade and Super Dodgeball should be recognisable to many gamers of a certain age.
They all hold up well today, with Double Dragon III being the only one of that bunch that is really terrible to actually play. I didn’t like it as a kid and I still don’t like it today. Hut as bad as that was, I still really enjoyed the other two Double Dragon games.
Super Dodgeball was a favourite of mine at one point and this chance to play again brought some fond memories flooding back. It feels like a perfect emulation of the game I loved all those years ago.
In fact that rings true for pretty much every game in the bundle. Whether you like the games themselves is a matter of taste, but they all feel faithful to their original releases.
Whilst I\d heard of River City Ransom, I hadn’t actually played it. Or if I did I can’t remember. However it is a wonderful title that nearly made me forget there were a ton of other games to play here.
There is a lot on offer too and the joy comes from the discovery of titles you may never of had a chance of playing previously. It is one of the reasons digital distribution, whilst having many downsides also has some wonderful upsides too. These games never made their way to the west originally, but here they are for a wider audience to experience for the first time.
I won’t do a list of the Kunio-kun titles on offer, as I previously mentioned, the joy of from discovering these titles for yourself. Then being surprised by what you actually get to play.
I was expecting a whole bunch of fighting games in the style of Double Dragon and River City Ransom. But instead you get so much variety. With games based around various sports, including ice hockey.
Then there are more open world styled games set in other time periods, a more traditional fighting game and more. So much on offer and so much variation.
This is what a bundle should be and whilst it may cost north of £30, there is plenty of value for your money. You won’t like every single thing on offer, but you will enjoy the journey of discovery.
I played this with my 13 year old son, who initially decided these old game were going to be bad. Yet soon he wanted to find out what the next was and play that. Watching him discover gaming past in front of me was worth the price of entry alone.
“Today’s games are better, but your old games are still fun” was his final evaluation of this bundle after spending a few days with it. You know what, I think that sums it up. We can see how far many genres have advanced over the past 30+ years. But DOUBLE DRAGON & Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Bundle, is like going to a museum to see where it all started.
For younger audiences it a chance to get their hands on some history and for those who were around first time around… Well sometimes those spectacles don’t need to be rose-tinted, because the games are still a joy to play.
