Double Dragon & Kunio-Kun: Retro Brawler Bundle Reviews
The best and most flexible way to experience these NES and Famicom titles.
With 18 classic titles with Local and Online Multiplayer for all of the titles on the collections its a perfect addition to anyone collection and a great starting point for anyone who would like to get introduced to the Kunio-Kun series.
Double Dragon & Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Bundle is a great piece of video game history for beat-em-up enthusiasts the world over. The once niche and Japanese-exclusive library of Kunio-kun games are playable in English for the first time, and while some of them haven't aged well enough to warrant extended play sessions, the in-game achievement system and Online Play add oodles of replayability to otherwise minorly novel Famicom classics. The lack of a gallery mode and alternate console editions of each game keeps the collection from being perfect though.
This is one of those collections where you either know and love some of the games in the collection so you're stoked to pick it up or you're the type of gamer who likes to explore classics and try to understand what made some games so popular...
The Double Dragon And Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Bundle is a decent collection that provides a look into a slice of gaming that a lot of people haven’t seen. What it doesn’t do is explain in any way why anyone under forty should care about it. It’s a missed opportunity, one that hopefully Arc might consider taking another shot at with a Volume 2.
The Double Dragon & Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Bundle brings a lot of novelty with its new NES translations, but the retro games on offer will hold little value to anyone not already familiar with the Technōs catalog.
In conclusion, Retro Brawler Bundle sets A new gold standard for gaming compilations, taking untranslated Japanese games and just fully translating them from start to finish, while also improving upon every game whenever possible. From a bunch of achievements to unlock, the extra quality of life features, to rock-solid emulation, this is a must-own compilation for fans of Technos, Kunio, or even Double Dragon. (despite only one of the three games here being a must-play, due to the unfortunate lack of DDIII’s Famicom version)
Also the ice hockey game is legit fantastic. Lastly, the handful of games localized into English for the first time are wonderful to experience, regardless of their overall quality. This Kunio-kun collection might not be the best or even most necessary retro compilation, but it's a damn good one that I'm thrilled to see out in the west.
The games themselves, today, I’d score 2/10. The effort put into this bundle, 8/10. Let’s meet in the middle.
The Double Dragon & Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Bundle is a quirky, cool, unique release that gives players a big dose of retro gaming including several titles that have never been published stateside.