Streets of Rage 4

A real throwback to the classic games with modern art and gameplay mechanics.

10/10 never gets old wish there was more arcade beatemups

Nice to see a classic game series come back and be done by developers who love and respect the source material. The art style and animation is phenomenal, the music is just as good as the first two games in the series, and the gameplay is challenging, yet fun to play and smooth to watch in motion. Even if you haven't played the first three games from the Genesis / Mega-Drive, this game is still something that's worth playing through. And a huge shout out to all the developers, programmers, artists, and composers behind the title to make it one hell of a good time!

I spent a lot of time playing the original Streets of Rage on the Genesis. I didn't play any of the follow up titles (which I'm guessing must exist since we are at 4). There was something special among the overcrowded beat 'em up genre back in the days that made Streets of Rage stand out. I recall less than 10 beat 'em ups that I played back in the day and Streets of Rage is probably the one I recall the most clearly. It had 3 similar, but not quite the same characters, a minimalistic, but serviceable number of moves and terrain features, memorable foes that needed to be tackled differently, a nice grim artistic direction (with a good soundtrack to complement it) and a skill-driven gameplay where you really felt yourself getting better without having to do those crazy button mashes that a lot of fighting games required. Playing this game with a friend yesterday, I was definitely reminded of the original Streets of Rage, but with a modern coat of paint. Those simple, but rich skill driven mechanics are still there, you can still play with a friend in the same room with 2 controllers (sad that it needs to be mentioned nowadays), the bleak crime-infested city is the same and they kept the fire-breathing dudes ;). But they added graphics that are modern and beautiful, you got many difficulty settings (playing normal with a friend was a bit easy, we beat the game in 3 hours, but I'm sure higher difficulty settings will recreate the challenge of the original), you got different game modes (arcade, boss rush, survival, training, battle) which I'll try out on my own, unlockable characters (including legacy-looking characters) and apparently unlockable moves even with the dlc (which we had) which I look forward to trying. Overall, you got significant replay value here. I'm not sure how the game would feel like for people who are unfamiliar with beat 'em up or the Streets of Rage franchise, but for people who enjoyed the original, it's a strong recommend from me.

I've played all the streets of rage games, the official ones, and the unofficial ones (beats of rage, SOR remake, etc). This IS SOR 4. The graphics are beautiful and remind me of the old SOR, but also of other famous beat them up (like comix zone, with which it shares its "comic book" look). The colours are vibrant, and it's interesting to see the modern take on some old favorites. Gameplay is excellent, and old school as can be, with a few additions, like combos and furies. I see many people complaining that "there's no online", but in my opinion, games like these are meant to be played with your mates next to you, and not on the other end of the universe. Yet the game is not perfect: It's hard, incredibly hard for an SOR game (the others were pretty easy to beat in normal mode, here, it's gonna be a challenge), more so as there are no continues. Some of the enemies have a bit of an iffy hitbox: most notably the taser cops, who seem to be able to grab you from a solid meter away. Also, I'm a bit saddened that Max in it's SOR4 glory isn't playable, but 17 characters is nothing to overlook, (yeah, we get 4 axels, 4 blazes and 2 adams, but the movesets vary). All in all a very nice experience, and a great new entry into the series. Now I only hope it's the first in many more to come. And keep an eyes, there's a ton of easter eggs, from all levels and bosses that come back to "background" nods, like Roo the Kangaroo as a barman.