Rage of the Dragons Impressions

Just went over to a nearby arcade and found that they had Rage of the Dragons. The good news is that its a pretty decent fighter. The bad news is that the arcade operator must have had it set on high difficulty, because the AI did a 12 hit combo right away!

The character designs are very good. Everyone has a hand drawn anime look and nice animation - Not near the point of Garou animation, but smooth all around. The moves also had some flashy effects attached to them. The combo system involves stringing together weak punch/kick and strong punch/kick with a tag partner coming in to make another hit, or with juggles(it seemed way too easy for the AI to juggle).

The backgrounds are nice. Not as intricate as some of the nicer KOF backgrounds but way better than KOF 2001.

The only part that didn't seem great about the game was the fall down time. When you're hit by a move that knocks you to the ground there's a slower than usual delay before the character gets back up. It takes away from the fast cadence of any fighting game and doesn't really seem necessary.

A more interesting feature was that you could make your tag partner surrender and give their remaining power to the other character - pretty handy if you don't think a current character can handle a certain opponent.

RotD seems like a quality fighter. Lots of different gameplay aspects that we haven't seen in a Geo fighter. Just wish the computer didn't kick me off so fast =)

im glad to hear its a good game
sounds cool to me
thanks alot

I really want to play this game, no arcade near me has it though. I am just waiting for the home release, 26th

I heard the AI is rather combo friendly and cheap at times, other than that its suppose to be a fairly good game.

Thanks for the input.

I have just played this game too, and my impressions is exactly the same as 100megashock.

I think it's a decent fighter for the Neo, definitely refreshing, as it is completely different compared to the likes of KoFs. I like the backgrounds, the animation, and the artwork. The only thing that I didn't like at the moment is the fact that it's a bit slow when compared to other fighters.

Rage is a great game. The gameplay is by far tighter than most of the KOF games.

Yes, the game is slow, but when you "rush down" your opponents, the speed is just right. Once you get down the tag team super combos, it gets pretty insane.

Definitely one of my favorite fighters. Refreshing is the key word here. Different from FF, KOF and SamSho games. Nice mix...for once.

I like this game so much, I normally don't buy the AES version, but this time I am. Given only 200 copies (U.S.), hey why not?

good to see it looks good, it'll be a long long time till i get to play it though

Just played it some more today, and really this game is that good. I'm starting to get a hang on the gameplay, especially the combo system. The animation is definitely top notch.

Guess I'll have to start saving to pay for the AES cart.

WOW! I am so glad to hear some positive things about this game. I have my AES copy preorderd from NCS so now I realy cant wait for the game. There is one MVS around my area and the only games the guy as for it are the ones that I sold him oddly enough. Oh well. I am really pumped about ROTD. I am sure it will get lots and lots of play.

damn is good to hear some more impressions of this game the release is right around the corner. i preordered one but cant find it @ any arcade near me, im starting to hyped about now <img src="graemlins/drool.gif" border="0" alt="[Drool]" />

It's good to hear that people that have played it like it as well.I'll have to wait for the homecart to come out.Which I am going to preorder shortly.