Streets of Rage 4 Review
Played on Xbox One (base)
Developed by Dotemu, Lizardcube, Guard Crush Games
Released 30th April 2020
Played Co-op
Before Lizardcube collaborated with the publisher Dotemu and co-developer Guard Crush Games to make a sequel to a classic, 30-year-old franchise, their initial intentions were to remake the original trilogy of games. After they finished the 2017 remake of 1989 'Wonder Boy 3: Dragon's Trap', Lizardcube's Ben Fiquet approached Sega with Dotemu to receive a licence for this sequel and what resulted was a fantastically-made revival of the vintage beat 'em ups.
Story
The story of this retro-styled game is cheesy and fits with the 80s/90s style of designs and soundtracks. With this being my first entry into the Streets of Rage series, I was mildly confused as this game acts as a direct sequel rather than a soft reboot as I expected. Fortunately, it eventually was all pieced together. The series' antagonist, Mr X, exits the evil spotlight and leaves it up to his twin children, Mr Y and Mrs Y, to wreak corruption. Old-time, fan-favourites Axel and Blaze are back to stop this with two new members, Cherry, the daughter of Adam Hunter, and Floyd, the cybernetic armed behemoth. While mildly interesting, this story had nothing going for me other than the well-drawn comic panels to present the narrative. The events unfolding were either so cheesy, that I chuckled and looked past it, or not that intriguing to begin with. However, this didn't falter the experience as I did enjoy this somehow well-strung journey.
Gameplay
The gameplay is that of a simple side-scroller beat'em up. You attack enemies, gain combos, break open containers for health or extra score, and repeat. This basic yet shallow formula was done right and I enjoyed most moments of the game that emulated it. However, on top of this, there was a treat mixed into the gameplay. Every playable character had a defensive and offensive Special Attack which could be executed at the cost of your health. However, if you are successful in stringing attacks together after the Special, you gain that lost health back, meanwhile, if you are damaged before you could string up the attacks, then you forever lose that health. This mechanic was a gamble and for the majority of the game, I didn't use it as it asked for too big of a price, however, as I progressed towards the end, I found myself intoxicated in using these opportunities to deal high stacks of damage in the game's artistic fashion.
Another way you could deal damage is through weapons. Weapons can be picked up from the floor or dead enemies, in which you can either deal a near-lethal attack or throw it. When thrown, the weapon would bounce back, resulting in a split-second chance of catching it, mid-air. This allowed for some smooth weapon combo attacks but because of the stun-locking chaos that occurred, I rarely found myself needing to do this. Another way of dealing damage was in the form of Star Moves. These attacks were essentially ultimate abilities in which you would have one ready to use at the beginning of each of the 12 levels. Alternatively, you could build it up through the level to deal extra damage alongside its crowd-control nature, from Floyd's uni-beam to Cherry's guitar-powerslide. These Star Moves and Special Attacks were a treat to witness and even though the former didn't deal as much damage as I would've liked, the combo potential and distancing it gave you was satisfying.
What is the best part about this is how each character you play as genuinely feels like a different character, rather than a visual change. Axel and Blaze specialise as well-rounded and balanced characters, not offering many switch-ups in combat. However, while Cherry was able to bob and weave through attacks and deal crazy aerial combos, Floyd was able to powerwalk through foes, picking them up and treating them like broken toys.
The problems I did have with the combat were the sudden difficulty spikes. In one level, you could get through it like it was a piece of cake, but the next level would viciously punish you as if you accidentally bumped the difficulty up to the maximum. The variety of enemies and how to deal with them was great, however, most just needed to be grabbed to finish them off. More complexity and mastery should've been on how to deal with enemies and not how to defeat hordes of them.
Bossfights
The boss fights were great. The music is done fantastically and feels tense among the brutal smackdowns yet the character design of each of the bosses looks mediocre. While the moves they delivered were simple, each attack would either be balanced and pleasing to dodge, or it would consist of getting into an unfair grab. Fortunately, each boss was unique and didn't feel copied and pasted except for the actual copied and pasted bosses halfway through the game. However, the difficulty spikes applied to these bosses tremendously. While most duels were easy enough (with me and my friend stun-locking them into a corner), there were two that genuinely felt like an enjoyable challenge and one that was so insanely unfair, to the point that we almost decided to stop playing. While Shiva and Diva felt fair and a fun challenge, Max was not. Having invulnerability frames after every attack and being able to go from one attack to another almost immediately was near impossible, especially when playing on the hard difficulty.
Characters
The characters didn't offer much flavour personality-wise but the nostalgia that must've hit old-school fans probably knocked them out. The designs of each character look incredible and fit with the 80s/90s vibe the game portrays. Axel genuinely looks like he's "too old for this shit" and Mr and Mrs Y look like what IGN says - "a couple of subpar Scott Pilgrim villains".
Atmosphere
The atmosphere is perfect with this game. From the beautiful visuals of Cherry's electric guitar to the toxic spewing sewers level, the comic-like design and approach to story and gameplay is expertly done and was like ecstasy to my eyes. The music nails the cyberpunk-esque, funky tune to the point I added the full soundtrack to my music playlist and I'm indeed bopping to it while writing this. There is not much left to say about the great artistic and amazing, videogame-y music this game gives the player to experience.
Story- 7/10
Gameplay- 8/10
Bossfights- 8/10
Characters- 6/10
Atmosphere- 11/10
Great
A great, fun co-op journey that is as smooth as its visuals and as energetic as its soundtrack.
