This is a game for basements that stink of soda and stale chipsīut Streets of Rage, as a series, is a time capsule from a different, simpler era. Streets of Rage 4 is everything I could have wanted from a true Streets of Rage sequel. A beat-’em-up’s appeal is largely in its feel, and this game feels incredible. With a friend, you’ll find yourself volleying enemies like shuttlecocks in a game of human badminton. Hits land with a satisfying crack, each punch and kick growing the combo counter. For fans of the series, there’s a bar fight, a giant glass elevator, and enough neon to melt your eyeballs.Īnd though the combat is simple, it’s an absolute pleasure. You get a short dash through a police station, and a long trek through a mysterious island. I feel like I’m discussing the fries and the drink when most folks just want to know if this is a good burger or not. It’s a novelty, but one I’m glad the developers included. The pile of images shows how the team mapped out the flow of the stages, and how the heroes and enemies evolved from the original Streets of Rage designs to their modern form. Tucked deeper in the menus is a gallery containing concept art. It worked quite well, but obviously isn’t available if you play on console. Steam Remote Play allowed me to host a local game online, a loophole to play with more folks via the internet. I played on PC, and had the option to play with one other person online or host four-player sessions locally. I tried this option once, and I doubt I will ever return. You don’t have to complete the game to unlock Battle Mode, in which you can fight your friends, but this isn’t Street Fighter. Boss Rush pits your single life against a gauntlet of bosses. There’s the self-explanatory Stage Select option, and Arcade Mode challenges you to complete the entire game with a single credit. The game includes a handful of modes that don’t unlock until you complete the campaign, but that campaign remains the heart and soul of the game. This is a game for basements that stink of soda and stale chips it’s built for distracted players who need something to do with their hands while they gab with friends on Discord. Streets of Rage 4 isn’t a competitive mental acuity test, nor should it be. Like Final Fight or Castle Crashers, this is an experience that comes to life when you play with your friends, using the somewhat mindless action on the screen as an excuse to hang out and talk. You can play alone, but c’mon, you deserve better. The game takes skill, in other words, but it’s light on strategy. Image: Lizardcube, Guard Crush Games, Dotemu/Dotemu But most enemies are little more than punching bags with knives taped to their side. The final boss fight is hilariously complex and annoyingly difficult, designed like a classic arcade boss meant to fleece you out of every quarter in your pocket. Endgame minibosses have Punch-Out!!-style tells, cueing you to move out of the way or rush in with an uppercut to the jaw. Kickboxers block attacks, so you must grapple them - accomplished by literally walking into them. Some enemies require a little bit more strategy than others. There’s no button to guard yourself from attacks, so a good defense is moving up and down the screen to avoid getting kicked in the throat, while conserving health power-ups for the moment your health bar is nearly (but not fully!) depleted. The combat has been improved a bit from the 16-bit era, but this is still a game in which you’ll spend most of the time bashing the same attack button, occasionally tapping the jump button to evade an attack, dealing a special move that can cost some of your own life, or unleashing a limited ultra move that slaughters any weak enemies standing in its way. There’s enough neon to melt your eyeballs
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