Double Dragon & Kunio-kun: Retro Brawler Bundle

Genre: Compilation / Arcade Brawler / Sports (Various)

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local, Online), 2-4 Competitive / Team Competitive (Local, Online)

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Review:

Double Dragon & Kunio-kun: Retro Brawler Bundle is a Compilation of various games in the Double Dragon and Kunio-Kun series, all originally released on the Nintendo Entertainment System (or its Japanese version, the Famicom) from 1984 through 1993.

Here’s how these games hold up by today’s standards:

Game	Genre	# of Players	Grade	tl;dr
Double Dragon	Brawler	1-2 Alternating (Local / Online), 2 Competitive (Local / Online)	B-	Double Dragon is one of the formative classics in the Brawler genre, but this version of the first game clearly had to make cutbacks to get it to work on the console, not just downgrading the graphics, but also removing the genre’s signature 2-player co-op mode and limiting the number of enemies onscreen. Despite these cutbacks, this is still a fun game with some amazing and iconic music, and this version even added a fun skill progression system and one-on-one fighting mode that weren’t in the Arcade original.
Double Dragon II: The Revenge	Brawler	1-2 Co-Op (Local / Online)	B	While not quite as iconic as the first game, the NES version of Double Dragon II benefits from having 2-player co-op play and a slightly expanded move set, including the series signature cyclone kick move.
Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones	Brawler	1-2 Co-Op (Local / Online)	B-	This entry in the series adds additional playable characters that players unlock as they work through the game, as well as a new weapon inventory system, but the combat doesn’t feel as fluid as the second game. It’s still enjoyable, but not quite as good as its predecessor.
Renegade	Brawler	1-2 Alternating (Local / Online)	D	The controls in this Brawler are frustratingly unresponsive. It feels like half the time I press a button to punch or kick, it doesn’t register at all. Don’t bother with this one.
Super Dodge Ball	Sports (Dodge Ball)	1-4 Competitive / Team Competitive (Local / Online)	D+	This odd game of Dodge Ball has some potential for fun, but the low framerates interfere with the gameplay. At the very least it doesn’t have the nasty visual problems that are in the Nintendo Entertainment System App version of the game.
River City Ransom	Brawler	1-2 Co-Op (Local / Online)	B	This is the third game in the Kunio-Kun series, and probably the most well-known game in the series outside of Japan. It takes classic Brawler-style gameplay and adds RPG elements that bring a lot of depth to the game. This is one of the more influential games in the genre, and a must-play for fans of Brawler-style games, even if it’s a bit dated and the amusingly bad localization makes it a bit hard to understand at times.
Crash ‘N’ the Boys Street Challenge	Compilation / Sports (Misc.)	1-4 Competitive / Team Competitive (Local / Online)	D+	This is an unusual compilation of various sports events (most involving some element of fighting). There are some interesting ideas here, but the controls are unintuitive, and this often results in repeatedly losing while trying to figure out just what’s going on. There may be fun to be had here, but it requires a lot of work figuring out the various events in the game.
Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-kun	Brawler	1-2 Alternating (Local / Online)	D+	This Famicom version of Renegade has more responsive controls than the NES version, but it’s still an unforgiving game that has enemies spawning incessantly and exploiting the most minute of openings. It’s just not very enjoyable.
Nekketsu High School Dodgeball Club	Sports (Dodge Ball)	1-4 Competitive / Team Competitive (Local / Online)	D+	The Famicom version of Super Dodge Ball, this version has different visuals, but suffers from the same low framerates.
Downtown Nekketsu Story	Brawler	1-2 Co-Op (Local / Online)	B	This is the Famicom version of River City Ransom, and plays pretty much the same, but with slightly different visuals. It takes classic Brawler-style gameplay and adds RPG elements that bring a lot of depth to the game. This is one of the more influential games in the genre, and a must-play for fans of Brawler-style games, even if it’s a bit dated and the amusingly bad localization makes it a bit hard to understand at times.
Nekketsu High School Dodgeball Club – Soccer Story	Sports (Soccer)	1-2 Competitive (Local / Online)	C+	This is a decent but unspectacular Soccer game, made a bit more interesting by adding in various attacks. Worth a look for sports fans.
Downtown Nekketsu March Super-Awesome Field Day!	Racing / Action	1-4 Competitive (Local / Online)	C+	This is an odd game that has you racing through an obstacle course. It’s unique, but the the way things shift when you go from one screen to the next is disorienting, and also acts as frustrating rubber-banding.
Downtown Special Kunio-Kun’s Historical Period Drama!	Brawler	1-2 Competitive (Local / Online)	C	This game has potential to be a decent follow-up to River City Ransom, with some good Brawler-style action. Unfortunately, it’s unclear just where you’re supposed to be going or what you should be doing. Still possibly worth a look for fans of the series though.
Go-Go! Nekketsu Hockey Club Slip-and-Slide Madness	Sports (Hockey)	1-2 Co-Op (Local / Online), 2-4 Team Competitive (Local / Online)	C+	This is would be a solid game of hockey if it wasn’t for some flaws that mar the formula – players move just as fast with the puck as they do without it, goalies are apparently useless at defending shots angled from the sides, and computer-controlled players seem oddly hesitant to take the puck at the puck drop. These take a really good hockey game and turn it into a flawed one.
Surprise! Nekketsu New Records! The Distant Gold Medal	Compilation / Sports (Misc.)	1-4 Competitive / Team Competitive (Local / Online)	D+	This is the Japanese Famicom version of Crash ‘N the Boys Street Challenge, and bears largely the same issues. It’s an unusual compilation of various sports events (most involving some element of fighting). There are some interesting ideas here, but the controls are unintuitive, and this often results in repeatedly losing while trying to figure out just what’s going on. There may be fun to be had here, but it requires a lot of work figuring out the various events in the game.
Nekketsu Fighting Legend	Brawler	1-2 Co-Op (Local / Online)	C+	This game takes the brawler style of gameplay the series is best known for and turns it into a tournament of sorts. It’s decent, but the low framerates mar the action, and the limited scope keeps this from being nearly as engaging as River City Ransom.
Kunio-kun’s Nekketsu Soccer League	Sports (Soccer)	1-2 Co-Op (Local / Online), 2-4 Team Competitive (Local / Online)	C+	For the most part I feel like this game plays better than Soccer Story, but the characters move slow as molasses. If it weren’t for that flaw, this would be a solid game of soccer.
Nekketsu! Street Basketball All-Out Dunk Heroes	Sports (Basketball)	1-2 Co-Op (Local / Online), 2-4 Team Competitive (Local / Online)	C	This is an odd version of basketball with bizarre rules, and it definitely makes for an interesting interpretation of the sport, it’s too chaotic to be fun for very long.

It bears mention that if you have Nintendo Switch Online, you already have access to some of these games via the Nintendo Switch Online Nintendo Entertainment System App. Specifically, Double Dragon, Double Dragon II, Super Dodge Ball, and River City Ransom. Also, all of the US-released games are available to buy as separate purchases, so if you only wanted a few of these games, you may have better options.

What’s more, other than the Double Dragon series, all of the US-released games are mirrored in the Japanese Famicom releases, and while it’s nice that players have their choice of which version to play, it does seem like an artificial way of inflating the game count – while this collection nominally has 18 games, if you remove the repeated titles, that number drops down to 14.

Pushing all of that aside, just looking at the quality of the games themselves, it’s pretty clear that the stars of this collection are the Double Dragon games and River City Ransom, and three of those four are already included with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, making the value of this collection somewhat dubious. Of the remaining games, there are definitely some interesting experiments here, but all are either fundamentally flawed, have aged poorly, or both. That’s not to say they’re not worth playing, as these games pretty much all bring something unique to their respective genres, but I’d hesitate to say they’re likely to draw your interest for very long in the modern day.

As for the package containing these games, each comes with a controls list, display options, and save states, but there’s no rewind feature and no supplemental art. It’s not a terrible package, but it’s far from a great one.

Overall, it’s hard to recommend this compilation to anyone but the most die-hard fans of the Double Dragon and Kunio-kun franchises. The best games in this compilation are already available with a Nintendo Switch Online account, and the remainder don’t really justify this package’s $40 price tag. Barring series fans, this bundle just won’t be worth it for most players.

tl;dr – Double Dragon & Kunio-kun: Retro Brawler Bundle is a compilation of 14-18 games (depending on how you count) in these respective franchises, largely in the Arcade Brawler genre along with various Sports games, all originally released on the Nintendo Entertainment System and Famicom. Unfortunately, most of the games here are fundamentally flawed in some way, and the best games in this collection are already available in the Nintendo Switch Online NES app, or able to be purchased separately. As a result, only the most dedicated series fans should bother with this package.

Grade: C-

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