Streets of Rage 4 (2020)

I love Estel's moveset so much. Her side air attack covers a lot of distance and is good for movement and you can change the direction instead of committing to one. It can also be cancelled by a grenade toss. Her combo can lead into a dash attack and then into a charge attack for high DPS which gives just enough time for a grenade to toss which leads into more combos. Her back throw can lead into a dash attack too. Her grenade toss can push her back to retreat while still dealing damage to set up juggling. Her attacks just flow into each other so well. She's my favorite character so far.

Edit: I started using her charge attack towards the end. Oh my god. It ties literally everything together.

Completed 24/1/2021 -

Few thoughts.

I never got beat'em ups until now.

I played Cherry first and that definitely weaned me on to it well - didn't experiment with other characters until after first playthrough. Impressed to see they play entirely differently.

The music is INSANELY good, and definitely contributes to that all encompassing feeling that results in flow-state.

My end screen grades reflect my real life educational track record. Mostly C's then smash an S out of nowhere for the finale.

Nothing tops that combo feeling.

Altogether this has been a total blindside hit for me, took a chance on it with gamepass and it's frankly blown me away. The art, the music, the gamefeel -MY GOD THE GAMEFEEL- and some razor sharp mechanics that all work together flawlessly.

The difficulty felt perfectly paced too, never so much that you felt to put out, never so little that you're stomping. Pier was the level that made me actually have to figure stuff out properly, wiped multiple times until something clicked - balancing crowd control, combo, invulnerability on specials, and the various enemy types means you're always doing some kind of higher-level thinking/strategising as well as letting out some of that pure button-mashey-power-fantasy goodness.

It's only January, but I feel like this will place high for the games I play in 2021 for sure.

^ earned the 5 million point and platinum trophy at the end of the video.

Streets of Rage 4 is, personally, the epitome of a 3 out of 5 star rated game.

Having been a huge Streets of Rage fan since I was a kid (owned 1 and 2, both on release. Thanks dad!), I had somewhat high expectations for 4. I played 3 much later on in life but appreciated it for its faster pace, experimental soundtrack, and unforgiving difficulty, as I mainly played through the game in co-op with a friend who I'd regularly plow through SoR2 with on Mania difficulty.

Initially, I found Streets of Rage 4's design choices to be awkward, both in its soundtrack and sprite work. Everything just looked too colorful, with tones that felt more fitting for something like a side-scrolling Hotline Miami. Hell, even Scattle was commissioned for a track! Fortunately, over various playthroughs, I was able to appreciate it for what it was. The soundtrack is incredibly hit-or-miss, with some decent tracks peppered in here and there while others are completely forgettable. However, I feel that the soundtrack didn't live up to what it could've been, had it been completely left in the hands of series veterans Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima. Yoko Shimomura being onboard was interesting but her contribution didn't quite fit with the overall theme of the game or the series itself.

As far as the gameplay is concerned, it felt familiar enough, just with some questionable additions/differences here and there. Super armor on every single boss and even various scrub enemies felt really out of place at first but it doesn't take too long to get accustomed to it. Unfortunately, it forces the flow of the action to slow down at points, as you have to wait for a window of opportunity to attack or to position yourself behind or away from enemies. There were no real surprises in level or enemy designs. Star specials feel like a complete downgrade from SoR3 and neutral/defensive specials are almost worthless, as they have no invincibility frames and can't be used to interrupt grabs/attacks. On the bright side, air specials are a welcome addition, as is juggling. I was worried that juggling would make the game too River City Girls-ish but it feels great and requires a bit of skill to keep a juggle going (outside of easy-mode infinites).

Overall, I can say I enjoyed the game. Sure, there's a lot of improvements that I'd like to see made to the game but it delivered a solid enough Streets of Rage experience. I still feel that Streets of Rage 2 (or Remake, if that counts) to be the pinnacle of the series, with 4 being RIGHT under the Japanese Bare Knuckle 3. Hopefully, some dlc and patches will improve upon some things that can help it fight for that second place spot in my heart!

Wow, an old school 2D brawler in 2020. This game is freakin' beautiful, but I just wish it had more depth in the actual fight mechanics. I have never played any Streets of Rage but was a big fan of many of similar brawlers like Final Fight, TMNT Arcade, Double Dragon and X-men.

Unfortunately I think this doesn't quite capture my nostalgia, or maybe I just have different preferences in games these days. Played for a few hours on Xbox Game Pass. Enjoyed my time but probably won't be going back.

Streets of Rage 4 music composers announced...

• Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage 1, 2, and 3, Sonic the Hedgehog, The Revenge Shinobi, Shenmue I and II, etc.)
• Motohiro Kawashima (Streets of Rage 2 and 3, Shinobi II, Batman Returns, etc.)
• Yoko Shimomura (Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, Kingdom Hearts I, II, and III, Legend of Mana, Parasite Eve, etc.)
• Hideki Naganuma (Jet Set Radio and Future, Super Monkey Ball, Sega Rally 2, etc.)
• Keiji Yamagishi (Ninja Gaiden, Tecmo Bowl, etc.)

This is gonna be liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit