Presentation wise it definitely gave me huge Garou Mark of the Wolves vibes with the very stylish opening. Typical of every Neo Geo fighting game on the planet. As you start the game you get a options screen for game modes, online, options, jukebox, achievements, and the credits.
The game modes include the arcade original which is a straight port of the Neo Geo game. Dragon’s Challenges is an interesting mode where basically learn how to play the game like a pro. Complete a challenge and you will unlock more. Versus is exactly what you are thinking. It is a local couch versus mode. There is an online versus mode too but yeah good luck finding another player that would want to stop playing Marvel vs Capcom 2, Mario Kart 8, or Smash Ultimate to join in on some obscure Neo Geo fighter.
Rage of the Dragons is a tag team fighting game pretty much like Capcom’s “Marvel vs” series but that is where the similarities end. Gameplay wise I would say it is closer to King of Fighters with a few twists. You have a roster of 15 characters to pick as a team of 2 including the mid boss Abubo who wasn’t playable on the Neo Geo original. There is also one unplayable boss character. You have the famous brothers Billy and Jimmy Lewis (can’t use Lee because lawsuit lol), Aztec martial artist Pepe, break dancer Pupa, kung fu fighter Lynn, sexy goth Sonia, super heavyweight wrestler Kang, disco fighter Jones, badass reverend Elias, possessed fighter Alice, psycho punk Oni, scantly clad Cassandra, spandex wearing Randel, “We got Harley Quinn at home” Annie. Definitely a very colorful cast of characters each with their own unique move sets and fighting styles. No one here is a clone of another existing character.
Like most Neo Geo fighting games you can perform super moves that cost a level or two on the gauge on the bottom. You can do short range jumps like in KOF as well as rolling. You can do first impact strikes by pressing hard punch and hard kick simultaneously. When successful you stun your opponent and do a Mortal Kombat 3 style dial-a-combo sequence for several extra hits. Guard cancels are done by pressing hard punch and hard kick while blocking. At the cost of one level on your gauge you perform a counter attack on your opponent.
When the tag meter below your character’s life bar is full you can swap your character by pressing weak kick and hard punch together. Quarter circle forward on the d-pad and the same two buttons has both of your characters perform a duplex attack which is basically a double team special attack. Also costs one level on the special gauge on the bottom.
What is very nice about this version of Rage of the Dragons is the fact you can set a boarder that shows each characters move list without having to pause the game. I wish more fighting games these days would have boarders like that. I think this is a very cool feature. Especially for those who never played this game before.
Typical of Neo Geo fighters the colorful 2D sprites are absolutely beautiful to look at. Each character here is superbly well animated no complaints there. The backgrounds are no slouch either. We got a parking lot with spectators waving, a typical kung fu dojo also with spectators, a wrestling ring, a schoolyard, some creepy church, an abandoned factory, a night club with lots of neon lights, a grimy looking subway stop with a train sprayed with graffiti, and a palace with some fireball burning. The music is all generic techno tracks. Not much to write home about unless you are really into that type of music.
While this all sounds terrific on paper here is one issue I was seriously was disappointed with. That is the game’s performance. The load times were a bit lengthy for a 20 year old Neo Geo game. You would think the game would load on the fly on a console like the Nintendo Switch. Also I felt some really nasty button input delay. Granted I am far from a fighting game expert but when I see a character fire a projectile 2 seconds after I performed the button command I know something isn’t right. The game is difficult enough on Neo Geo hardware. The computer here will absolutely annihilate you even if you set this to Level-1. I tried this with regular Switch Lite buttons. The game felt floaty as all hell. I then tried this with the 8bitDo Neo Geo wireless pad. Still felt the lag. Hardcore fighting games like this should always have low latency. I hope QuByte will soon address this issue and release a patch because this game sorely needs it.
In conclusion, this is a great Neo Geo fighting game that is unfortunately plagued with the most common issue with Switch ports. The lag in its current state almost completely kills the fun. There is a reason why the online lobby is completely empty. QuByte needs to fix the issues with the latency. They are wasting re-release of a Neo Geo cult classic. Most in the fighting game circles are going back to the Neo Geo original for this reason. Great game. Disappointing port until further notice. Save your $20.
Rage of the Dragons Neo is available on the Nintendo eshop for $19.99. A review code was given for the purpose of this review. A physical release will be available sometime in 2025.
David Medina is a hardcore gamer and Japanese import collector owning dozens of systems and games from Famicom to Nintendo Switch. He has an active YouTube channel called "The Karnov Jr Show" and posts retro gaming content there weekly showing off collections, random store tours, and gameplay clips.