Rage of the Dragons (NGM-2640?)

SNK Neo-Geo MVS cart. published 23 years ago:

Rage of the Dragons (c) 2002 Playmore Corp.

Rage of the Dragons is an original fighting game with 14 selectable fighters plus Abubo (sub-boss, hidden character) and Johann (final boss).

- TECHNICAL -

Runs on the SNK "Neo-Geo MVS" hardware.
Game ID: NGM-264

Players: 2
Control: 8-way Joystick
Buttons: 4
=> [A] Weak Punch, [B] Weak Kick, [C] Strong Punch, [D] Strong Kick

- TRIVIA -

Released in June 2002, Rage of the Dragons is the first fighting game developed by Evoga Entertainment. This game is a collaboration between Evoga (Mexico), Brezza Soft (Japan) and Noise Factory (Japan).

Evoga tried to make a new "Double Dragon" game and attempted to acquire the rights to "Double Dragon" from Technos Japan but they refused to sell. Without the proper rights to use the Double Dragon property, Evoga decided to do a game that pays homage to the Double Dragon series instead. For example, William 'Billy' Lewis, James 'Jimmy' Lewis and 'Abubo' are analogous to the characters Billy Lee, Jimmy Lee and Abobo from "Double Dragon". One funny thing about these Evoga characters is that they appear in Noise Factory's "Matrimeele", which is based on the Power Instinct series by Atlus.

Pupa Salgueiro & Cassandra Murata are the only characters in the game that have two super moves instead of just one. These being the Ultimate Quexada (for Pupa) and a ground version of the White Wave (for Cassandra).

Linda, the famous lady with the whip in the Double Dragon games makes an appearance as one of Abubo's girlfriends in his intro pose as well as in the second Abubo cutscene.

Alice Carroll's name seems curiously inspired in the famous children's book "Alice in Wonderland" and by the name of its author Lewis Carroll. Odd...

Jones features many funny references to Bruce Lee such as his outfit (Bruce Lee's famous outfit in the 'Game of Death' movie), a few of his moves & poses, and a suspicious quote in his ending! :)

The stage of Radel and Annie is a night club called 'Noise Factory' just as one of the 3 companies which worked on the game.

On the parking lot stage, there is a TV screen displaying credits for a movie. It contains Engrish text 'Special Sanks' instead of 'Special Thanks'.

Noise Factory released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Rage of the Dragons Original Arrange Album) on 13/09/2002.

- TIPS AND TRICKS -

* Play as Abubo : at the character select screen, press quickly Up(x4), Down(x3), Left(x2), Right. A little melody indicates that the cheat worked and Abubo should appear on center.

* The game encourages the use of team up attacks. In fact, by finishing each opponent with a team up attack will get you some nice grades & a respectable score! (perfect lifebars with this tip will get you a handsome SSS grade every time!!!) :)

* Jones' air version of his First Impact combo is broken against Alice since the last hit will always miss! Beware! :/

* Johann, the last boss in the game cannot be dizzied since he lacks a dizzy animation, this can be seen by performing a team up attack on him. This makes this already cheap boss even harder to defeat! :/

* After each battle, a rank is determined based on your fighting level. Here are the different levels and the bonus points awarded to the player if he reaches them :
SSS : 100,000 points
SS : 75,000 points
S : 50,000 points
A : 25,000 points
B : 10,000 points
C : 7,500 points
D : 5,000 points
E : 0 point

- STAFF -

Producer : Boss
Directors : Angel Sword, Mamaro, Hidenari Mamoto
Sub. Directors : Mr. Vo, Tetsu
Planners : Mr. Vo, EDU
Main Programmer : Hidenari Mamoto
Sub. Programmers : Kazuaki Ezato, Hirosi Hisikawa
Character Designers : Super Dotter K', Mr. Vo, Mamero, Dessy, Nankin, Bel Mont, Hikaru Suf, Shio Shio Shio, Rinkenedu, Edu, Shuhey Kawasaki, Jaga Danshaku
Background Designers : Miyukichi, Kuramoyan, Reiko Nagasima (Reiko N), Fukkie, MR.Vo, Darb, Shin Ryu
Illustration : Ooma Bunshichiro
Sound Producer : Studio Aqua
Testers : Bel Mont, Orochi, Shin Ryu, G. Miyazaki, Y. Takahasi, S. Adati, Y. Karu, Y. Sinihara
Special Thanks : Y. Jinno, Keiko Ijuu, Muking, Tozani, Vic Dom Cas, Eri San, Moon Dragon, Zhila, Ryuushika, Rau, O-841, Kaiware

- PORTS -

* CONSOLES:
[JP] SNK Neo-Geo AES (Sep. 20, 2002) "Rage of the Dragons [Model NGH-264]"
[US] SNK Neo-Geo AES (Sep. 20, 2002) "Rage of the Dragons [Model NGH-264]"

- CONTRIBUTE -

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