Streets of Rage 4 definitely brings retro-nostalgia back in a fun way, but with it, old flaws return.

First: This game is very entertaining! Especially when played with friends. The beat 'em up is top notch, levels are beautifully designed, secrets and unlockables are a treat and graphics are AMAZING! I could LICK this updated art style. Also, it probably has one of the best OSTs of the year. I love how semi-accessible and party-like it manages to be, while also putting a HARD challenge. It just works!

SOR4 certainly does what it sets out to do, but by dragging this feeling back, it doesn't fix mistakes. Difficulty is a bit unbalanced, you do no damage but takes a bunch of it, your star power is weak, enemy variety is a joke, getting an extra life is a bore (especially during multiplayer), strong attacks drain your life instead of having its own bar and YOU CAN'T DASH OR DEFEND! This game would've been A LOT better if it had a dash button, a dodge move and a defense command. Bosses are too fast and just landing a hit on them is very annoying. Also, the story sucks. Why didn't they even try to make a good one? The ending is as bad as previous entries.

I can only really recommend SOR4 if you're not playing solo. This is a beautiful and fun game, but its unnecessary flaws keep it from being very good or consistent. But that's something you can probably overlook when having fun with friends, through all of the stages.

My gf bought this because she likes to punch things. And also because I told her SOR4 had a reputation.

Here's an opinion I try to establish as a fact : SOR4 might have the most beautiful 2D animated graphics currently available. It is candies for my eyes. Everybody, from Blaze to the most random punk have tons of animated moves that both capture the essence of early 90s SOR and benefit from the 20 years past since. I must point out chara design, which is peak.

The gameplay isn't in rest. Punching thugs lessen their health. If you press a magical button called X on the switch controller, you do a special powerful move. Using this move is an interesting tradeoff : it diminishes your health, but you can regain it by doing normal damages. Nonetheless, if you're hit on your way to recovery, you definitly lose your health. That's the salt of SOR4. It is fun. Oh, and if you're an hardcore player, be sure the combat system is deeper than that and there are many difficulty level to choose from.

Overall, a very good retro beat'em all that is definitly a 2020 game, that knows where it comes from and respects its legacy. The only "default" is the game announces 17 characters whereas in fact there are only 5 characters made out of 2020 standards, while the other ones are retake from the genesis era.

I've never been good at beat-em-ups, but I do like the idea of them. But I thought the games would have progressed more in the last 30 years. Still the same flat characters that you can't hit if they're an atoms' length above or below you. I get that it want's to stay 2D and I really like the look of this, but constantly missing enemies that are seemingly right in front of you is endlessly frustrating. Maybe even more so because the CPU can't make that mistake. And I couldn't do any other character than Cherry, as none of the others could run and it makes managing enemies around you a pain. I'm also not a fan the lack of crowd control. I know there's the super move, but after getting slapped right after using it a certain amount of times, that became a no go. How people play this beyond normal is beyond me. It was fine on normal, even if the last stage with its endless lengths did start to stretch it. And there's 4 after that. The videos I've seen of higher difficulties seem to be cheesing the same move over and over and knowing where every enemy spawns. I guess it's possible, but I can't fathom how anyone gets any joy from that grind.

If you're in to this old school gameplay I completely get why you'd love this. But as someone who rarely plays them, I really feel the whole genre needs an overhaul. Add some move lists in there, let me do crowd control with grapples. Most importantly though, add some lock on or at least an indicator if I'll hit the person 1 pixel away from me. Even Tekken force had that some almost 30 years ago.

Es con diferencia el SoR que más he jugado, no porque sea el más completo o la experiencia definitiva de la saga, sino porque no me llena. Es divertido, los golpes se sienten con fuerza y es satisfactorio hacer rebotar enemigos contra la pared, pero la tensión está tan extendida en la hora y media de partida, que se diluye y lo terminas jugando en automático. Los beat em ups son juegos de prioridades, donde entender qué ataques tienen prioridad frente a qué otros es clave para no recibir hostias a cada rato. Una vez interiorizas sus reglas, el resto es un tema de ejecución y saber moverte por las verticales. Es misión del juego situarte en situaciones suficientemente comprometidas para que no te resulte fácil seguir el plan. Por eso muchas veces los jefes rompen las normas, no se aturden con los golpes, te interrumpen a mitad de un combo o no se dejan agarrar, para que busques otras soluciones. Pero con tantos recursos a mano, ataques rápidos, cargados, en salto y especiales con tiempo de inmunidad, acabas encontrando la prioridad la mayor parte del tiempo. Nunca llegas a apretar los dientes y nunca llega ese momento de pulsaciones subiendo y ejecución estricta bajo presión para superar un desafío. Por todo lo que hace bien de base, siempre es agradable de jugar y siempre tienes ganas de más, pero personalmente me quedo con el juego que en una partida sea capaz de saciarme.

Given that a full 17 years passed between the release of Streets of Rage 3 and the superb fan-made Streets of Rage Remake, and another 9 years between Remake and 4, I still can't fully believe they announced this, never mind released it - it feels like a fever dream. It would be like if they suddenly announced Phantasy Star 5, or Megaman Legends 3, or SatAM Sonic season 3!

The updated hand-drawn art style is really slick, but the core beat-em-up gameplay remains intact - with a new element that adds an extra layer of depth. I'm referring, of course, to the big flashy combo counter which increases in number whenever you land a hit on anything (an enemy, a destroyable item, a falling KO-ed enemy) and awards you points based on the length of combo you can build. These points can be used to get extra lives (which you absolutely will need on the higher difficulties)... and thanks to the addition of wall-bounce and air-juggle mechanics, combos are relatively intuitive to learn and satisfying to perform. SOR4 is a game that not only rewards you mechanically for mastering its core gameplay gimmick - it ensures that gimmick actually feels good to do. Few things beat the visceral satisfaction of grabbing an enemy and wailing on them, then throwing them into a wall and hitting them with a blitz as they bounce off.

In this way, this new and evolved iteration of Streets of Rage kind of feels like a shmup! It rewards points not on progression but on skill - your main source of points is no longer stage completion or item pickups, but the abovementioned combos as well as picking up health items with full health (i.e. not getting hit). The fact that you get ranked on your performance after each level on story mode and can eventually unlock a stage select to try and improve on those scores really pushes you to get better at the core gameplay - and makes it feel more like a 'score attack' game than any of the previous entries.

That said, one of the biggest virtues of SOR4 is that it has something for everyone to enjoy, whatever your skill or experience level is. Because of the addition of charged attacks and a more robust move-cancelling system, some of the more fanciful combos available require finger dexterity and timing not unlike what you would need in a modern fighting game! But you can also stick to basic beat-em-up stuff (start a combo and then switch to a more damaging move/throw before you knock them down) and the game still feels like a lot of fun. The basic story mode (where your lives are reset every level and you can restart from the beginning of the level if you get a game over) is simple enough for casual players to get through, but the game also has an Arcade Mode for players looking to get that 'original hardware' experience.

Streets of Rage 4 looks great, feels fantastic to play, and has that new combo counter that appeals to the dopamine addict in all of us - ordinarily that would be the end of the review, but being the overthinker I am I also do want to add in some thoughts on how this could have been better.

- A relative lack of content especially compared to Streets of Rage Remake. You can unlock the 'classic' pixelated versions of the characters from earlier SOR games, but that's it really. It has 12 levels and no branching paths, which means you know exactly what to expect after going through them once. A bit like death by snu-snu, it's possible to have a bit too much of a good thing.

- Shadows. In previous games, the characters' shadows were a useful way of lining yourself up with enemies, as well as knowing their position when they jumped. SOR4 handles shadows more realistically - we don't have round black blobs underneath our feet at all times - but not having a clear way to tell exact character placement affected the game feel a little. I found myself whiffing a lot more often, and not being able to easily tell if we were aligned horizontally or not does get annoying in some sequences (for example when fighting enemies that jump offscreen, or those Galsias that walk diagonally across the screen holding a knife in front of them).

- For as much praise as I give it, the combo system in the game could have been better executed. While the game doesn't tell you this, if you get hit in the middle of a combo, you lose all your combo points. And I get that this is a risk-vs-reward, mechanic, but if you want to get the points (which you need for extra lives, remember), how it plays out is that you will rack up a big combo, and then just walk around idly for a while so you can 'cash in' your combo for points, which really breaks up the momentum of the game.

I think it's cool that between SOR4 and the fanmade SOR Remake, they basically have created the perfect beat-em-up. SOR4's combo mechanics (perhaps slightly tweaked) on top of Remake's branching path structure and wider variety of unlockables, SOR4's graphical style with clearer character shadows like in previous games. Which of the two games you prefer is entirely down to personal preference - a lot like choosing your favorite character.

I think Remake still takes the edge for me in the way that its gameplay is simpler but almost as satisfying, and its greater variety in the form of branching paths and host of unlockables. Still SOR4 is an absolute triumph of a series revival. It's a great entry point into beat-em-ups and an equally great game for veterans to refine their skills, and (I foresee) an early contender for one of the best games I play for the first time this year!

(Beat story mode on hardest, arcade mode on hard. Mained Adam)

Randomly went through the game with Axel in one sitting + tried a bit of Survival Mode.

I was really enamored with the game on release but never finished it for whatever reason. I'm so glad I went back and cleared it - a perfect blend of SoR excellence, but also repurposing it from a modern difficulty and feature approach. I've always worried with some beat em up titles of a "well, what next" thought once you finish the main campaign, but this is one I can envision myself revisiting just as much as the classic 3.

When Streets of Rage 4 got revealed I was apprehensive. This is a series I love. I've gushed about it on Backloggd on other reviews of the Megadrive games (well two of them anyway...). My first thoughts on seeing 4's reveal trailer though was simply "that's not Streets of Rage". Where is the pixel art? Why is everything so bright and clean? What is with Blaze's walk animation? To be honest I wrote the game off without giving it a chance.

The reviews came in extremely positive to my surprise and piqued my interest. People I knew started playing it. Apparently it had tight controls, unlockable pixel art characters from the original game as bonus content. Was I wrong? Still I harboured doubts. What really turned my head though was hearing the soundtrack. It's a huge part of the franchise. The original and legendary composer Yuzo Kashiro was adding some music to the Soundtrack but hearing On fire by Oliver Deriviere on youtube absolutely drew my attention in a way more than any other news took. I had to buy it. When a friend of mine bought it we finally got into it playing co-op along with the Mr. x Nightmare DLC and have been playing every night now for several weeks. I happily admit I was wrong because Streets of Rage 4 is a Streets of Rage game, it is a fantastic beat 'em up and right now I am thoroughly addicted to it like I'm 12 years old all over again. You'd think someone of my age would know better by now not to judge something so effortlessly.

It's wonderful, it's everything Streets of Rage 4 should be. It brings new things to the table whilst still paying homage to the series roots. The game starts 10 years after Streets of Rage 3 with Mr. X's children having taken over what must be the world's most easily corruptible city. Original characters Blaze and Axel take to the streets along with newcomers Cherry and Floyd to take them back. As the game progresses you earn points which unlock more characters from the older games until there is quite an ensemble of choice of 18 with their own move sets though many of them are different versions of each other from older titles.

The game has the standard punch, kick, jump, and back attack as well as grapples allowing for throws, floor slams and extra damage. On top of this characters have forward dash blitz moves and specials. The specials use health but leave the chunk of your health bar you lost in green allowing you to get it back whilst doing regular blows. If you are hit however you lose it all on top of that blows damage. It's a great reward system and the special attacks can use invincibility frames to avoid damage or used in part of a combo with normal attacks and blitz moves to devastating combo effect in practice. Lastly in the character's arsenal are the star moves characters can use, these are limited and generally used to try and screen clear or at least give you some room.

Each character plays differently. The Streets of Rage 1 characters are more limited in their move sets but hit extremely hard and fast. The Streets of Rage 3 characters can all run and roll vertically making them quite manoeuvrable with the streets of Rage 2 and 4 cast as a mix somewhere in the middle. There is enough variety here you can find a character you are comfortable with to make it through to the credits and it's easy to change midway if you aren't grooving with who you have or you unlock someone new. For me though the joy has been playing through as every character aiming for S ranks and higher scores and combos for every level. Even characters I initially haven't enjoyed have turned out to be brilliant with some practice and understanding how their move sets all work.

The art style I initially hated at the game's reveal I came to love very quickly. I love the animations and character designs. It feels fresh and retro all at once with great usage of colour. If you don't like the look or feel of it thinking this isn't the game you wanted, please try it. In motion with the feeling of the controls and music it all clicks together. The aforementioned music really is perfect for the game, I mean check out the main theme. It could fit in with any of the game's in the series. Really perfect.

That's it in a quick review, Streets of Rage 4. I love how it plays, looks, sounds and feels. It's got great character and move variety, looks and sounds the part and is simply fun to play. My hat off to the dev team and I apologise for doubting you. Adding the Mr X's Nightmare DLC with extra characters and modes really seals the deal for those who want more. As my friend I play this co-op said to me the other day that all he could think about was "I really just wanted to play Streets of Rage 4".

Yeah, me too my friend, me too. What a first game to review for the start of the year.

+ Feels great to play with a large cast of characters and moves.
+ Hits the right notes for both new and old.
+ Great art and music.
+ Surprisingly addictive.

Really fun game, and the only one so far to me to make great use of the lives mechanic.
I've seen debates online about how lives are from a bygone era and don't hold up to todays games.
I understand how they were in older games, but games nowadays are quite balanced, challenging, and fair. The lives system is moreso to me an inconvinience, since all that happens is that you're sent back to the beginning of the level (which oftentimes aren't even that long to begin with).
But this game solves that by being insanely hard, and sometimes straight up unfair. There are segments in this game which you NEED some lives to spare. It works nice in Story Mode but works amazingly in arcade, which sends you back to the start of the game if you run out, and even rewards you with extra points if you make it with a bunch. It let's this game still have that old-school, arcade feel, while bringing it into the modern age.
There's other things I love:
The fact your combo is based around damage dealt instead of number of hits, so slower characters aren't invalidated.
The SPECIAL MOVES mechanic where it replaces your health with a green health bar, and getting hit destroys it and leaves you with little health. It encourages players to not get to aggressive with the games powerful specials.
The really fun characters with distinct move sets and combos.
This game is just really fun and engrossing.