Franchise revivals have become big business across pretty much all forms of media, but rarely are they as good or as boldly willing to fly in the face of modern design trends as Streets of Rage 4, a short but sweet concoction that invites replays not just through brilliantly varied characters, the high of chasing better ranks or funky beats, but for how intrinsically rewarding it is to master its fighting game-esque systems. Look no further than this for proof that bringing back something old can have as much value as making something brand new.
I detest it when "modern" is used as if it automatically means "better," so be sure that when I call SOR old I mean it in the best way possible, i.e. that it’s cleverly designed around its limitations. SOR4 largely refrains from perceived-as-modern features like running not because the devs were too silly to consider it – they did – but because deliberately not including them makes things more interesting. If you want to quickly get from one end of the screen to the other, you have to consider whether to risk losing some health through a special move that lurches you forward, to use a different move that might leave you vulnerable or pick a character who has extra movement options like Adam or Shiva’s dashes (which also bolsters the variety between the cast). One of the best parts of SOR4 is that it’s an exercise in constant problem solving, which isn’t to say that it wouldn’t be if your movement was less limited, but that aspect of it is enhanced because it's the way it is.
Risk taking in general is something that SOR4 excels at encouraging. Being able to regain health after using a special move just seems less punishing on the surface, but it feels absolutely crushing when you get lose it all by getting hit after, and equally as relieving when you manage to get it all back. Using special moves has more layers to it than in its predecessors thanks to this balance of risk and reward. That, plus nothing sends your dopamine tubes on a rollercoaster ride quite like getting all the way up to the highest tier of the new combo system only to have it broken by a sneaky Galsia. It helps that it goes up much quicker if you vary your moves, a bit like DMC’s style meter.
There’s not much else to be said for other areas of SOR4 that hasn’t already been said to death. The hand drawn art’s nothing short of inspiring and the clarity of enemies’ animations means that occasions where you feel like you shouldn’t have gotten hit are impressively rare. The music lives up to the series’ legendary standards and then some. Smart difficulty design and the randomised nature of the survival mode means that it’ll take a long, long time before fatigue sets in. The only reason I don’t rate SOR4 higher is because of a persistent feeling that something’s missing.
It feels almost rude to say so, given that Mr. X Nightmare makes this one of the most feature-complete beat ‘em ups ever made right next to Fight ‘N Rage, but I find it hard not to wish that there was an alternate route through the story or something. While not every beat ‘em up needs Fight ‘N Rage’s 200 gorillion endings, I don’t find SOR4’s stages 5, 7 or 8 especially interesting compared to the rest of the game - I regularly forget stage 8 in particular exists despite having beaten the story six times - and they’d probably be more digestible if they weren’t mandatory. There’s even precedents for this within its own series. SOR3 has alternate stages, and SOR1 has really creative alternate endings where you and another player have to fight each other if at least one of you chooses to join Mr. X at the end. Just a little bit of extra flavour along those lines could’ve made what’s already quite easily one of the very best games of the 2020s even better, and maybe have prevented the occasional labelling of it as Streets of Rage 2: 2.
Let this be a reminder of why numerical scores are so arbitrary, that not every 8/10 is the same, and also that John Backloggd should steal Letterboxd’s like feature at some point. Regardless of a couple of small faults here and there, Streets of Rage 4 is exemplary and everybody with even a passing interest in beat 'em ups or action games should play it. Pop it in and be mesmerised as the system of your choosing becomes a souped up Mega Drive on command.
I detest it when "modern" is used as if it automatically means "better," so be sure that when I call SOR old I mean it in the best way possible, i.e. that it’s cleverly designed around its limitations. SOR4 largely refrains from perceived-as-modern features like running not because the devs were too silly to consider it – they did – but because deliberately not including them makes things more interesting. If you want to quickly get from one end of the screen to the other, you have to consider whether to risk losing some health through a special move that lurches you forward, to use a different move that might leave you vulnerable or pick a character who has extra movement options like Adam or Shiva’s dashes (which also bolsters the variety between the cast). One of the best parts of SOR4 is that it’s an exercise in constant problem solving, which isn’t to say that it wouldn’t be if your movement was less limited, but that aspect of it is enhanced because it's the way it is.
Risk taking in general is something that SOR4 excels at encouraging. Being able to regain health after using a special move just seems less punishing on the surface, but it feels absolutely crushing when you get lose it all by getting hit after, and equally as relieving when you manage to get it all back. Using special moves has more layers to it than in its predecessors thanks to this balance of risk and reward. That, plus nothing sends your dopamine tubes on a rollercoaster ride quite like getting all the way up to the highest tier of the new combo system only to have it broken by a sneaky Galsia. It helps that it goes up much quicker if you vary your moves, a bit like DMC’s style meter.
There’s not much else to be said for other areas of SOR4 that hasn’t already been said to death. The hand drawn art’s nothing short of inspiring and the clarity of enemies’ animations means that occasions where you feel like you shouldn’t have gotten hit are impressively rare. The music lives up to the series’ legendary standards and then some. Smart difficulty design and the randomised nature of the survival mode means that it’ll take a long, long time before fatigue sets in. The only reason I don’t rate SOR4 higher is because of a persistent feeling that something’s missing.
It feels almost rude to say so, given that Mr. X Nightmare makes this one of the most feature-complete beat ‘em ups ever made right next to Fight ‘N Rage, but I find it hard not to wish that there was an alternate route through the story or something. While not every beat ‘em up needs Fight ‘N Rage’s 200 gorillion endings, I don’t find SOR4’s stages 5, 7 or 8 especially interesting compared to the rest of the game - I regularly forget stage 8 in particular exists despite having beaten the story six times - and they’d probably be more digestible if they weren’t mandatory. There’s even precedents for this within its own series. SOR3 has alternate stages, and SOR1 has really creative alternate endings where you and another player have to fight each other if at least one of you chooses to join Mr. X at the end. Just a little bit of extra flavour along those lines could’ve made what’s already quite easily one of the very best games of the 2020s even better, and maybe have prevented the occasional labelling of it as Streets of Rage 2: 2.
Let this be a reminder of why numerical scores are so arbitrary, that not every 8/10 is the same, and also that John Backloggd should steal Letterboxd’s like feature at some point. Regardless of a couple of small faults here and there, Streets of Rage 4 is exemplary and everybody with even a passing interest in beat 'em ups or action games should play it. Pop it in and be mesmerised as the system of your choosing becomes a souped up Mega Drive on command.