Right on brother!
Soooo, can we get Golden Axe next? Might as well continue the revival of classic SEGA franchises if they’re going to get the care and attention to detail that SoR4 has received.
I think Golden Axe has a messier history with a couple of its early iterations never really making it to the west, and an apparently bad revival of the franchise in 2008.
If Streets of Rage 4 is a commercial success it could help pave the way for a similarly “modern-retro” update to Golden Axe, but I’m not holding my breath.
Streets of Rage has always been a wannabe Double Dragon for me. I’ll take what I can get, but Double Dragon is my spirit animal.
Microsoft is also putting out Battletoads some time whenever, but I never played that series.
I never played Double Dragon, so I can’t argue, but I think anyone interested in the legacy would enjoy the retrospective I posted above from Digital Foundry. It was really cool to see a little of the history of the genre, Streets of Rage in particular, and then of course I also enjoyed the analysis of the newest game.
My post sounds more dismissive than I actually am of the game (or series). It’s not like the game isn’t being installed on my Xbox right as I type this.
I solely played these types of games buddied-up with my best friend while growing up and through high school, so I’m positive the loner experience here will pale in comparison. Those experiences are one of the few things I miss from that era.
Floyd can juggle enemies with throws.
I’m getting this.
(and don’t launch Double Dragon again, you’re in for a shock)
Eurogamer only had time with the PS4/Pro and Steam versions in yesterday’s post. Digital Foundry has a follow up today, the game is excellent on all platforms (including both docked and handheld on Switch):
Minor caveat: performance and presentation are the same across all consoles, but the Xbox and MS Windows store versions of the game are missing a few graphics adjustment options, and the MS Windows version wasn’t as stable for them.
Oh man, this game feels great. I love the special moves and small combos the players can do WITHOUT being buried under dozens of pages of complicated move sets and combo so common in modern brawlers. It’s a modern take on beat-em-ups that actually FEELS like a classic beat-em-up, instead of a horizontally scrolling competitive tournament fighting game.
I’ve only played it a little, and just made it to the second map, but as far as I’m concerned the game delivers.
While it’s fun solo, it does feel like it’s missing a crucial component, somebody to bump shoulders with at the cabinet.
Just finished this, and feel like they really nailed it. It’s got the feel of the classic games, but with just enough more going on to feel rewarding and a bit deeper mechanically. When I first started, I felt like I was taking some “cheap” hits that I couldn’t have avoided, but as I got used to it, I was able to make better use of spacing, invulnerability frames on throws, etc. Love the risk-reward mechanic of the special moves, where they have a health cost, but you can recover the health by hitting with regular attacks before you get hit again. And I dig the art style and the music too, and appreciate that they stuck with the classic arcade sensibilities rather than shoehorning in RPG elements like a lot of modern brawlers.
I’d like to try multiplayer at some point, but it was a great time even solo. And having finished the story mode on normal, I’m still excited to jump back in on harder difficulties and spend more time with each of the characters. Highly recommended, especially if you have Gamepass.
They really did nail it, for sure. The music, the art, the move sets, the controls, the dumbass looking bad guys that are just begging to be kicked right in the nuts. It’s just a great game and it seems obvious to me they did exactly what they set out to do.
It’s difficult for me to play solo though because I grew up playing these sorts of games with my friend, and the nostalgia and desire for that sort of player 2 just overrides the immediate fun for me.
But I’d say this is a 5/5 for beat em ups.
Well, I’d be up for trying the online 2P sometime if you want. Generally available most nights after 10 PST.
I dig this game, it definitely evokes that old school beat em up feel for me, but feels like a modern game. Very cool.
I’ve played through solo once and it was fun, but I do think coop would get a lot more mileage out of a game like this. That’s always been the case with beat em ups though, so true to form I’d say.
I was enjoying this until stage 4 with all the holes in the ground.
Use them to your advantage! Throw enemies in them!
Streets of Rage always have holes in the ground to throw enemies into on stage 4. Pffrrt.
Finished Streets of Rage 4. It’s four stars out of five for me but if you aren’t as attached to the original three games as I am, then give it another half star.
It feels like French fan fiction sometimes but the beatings are on point and have the hard hitting feel of the second game specifically. Lots of callbacks to the originals that resonate. Original designs not as strong IMO.
The music is legendary at times though, thanks largely to the brilliance of Yuzo Koshiro and Motohito Kawashima, the OG composers. If the people making this hadn’t gotten them on board it would not have quite the impact it does.
I realize the likelihood of Sega ever making one of these in Japan ever again is near zero, but there is something about the way games are designed there that avoids some of the small things that jarred me at times.
That said, the developers exceeded my expectations at times and that soundtrack specifically ramping during certain stages (especially right before the elevator in the Y Corporation) is incredible and raises the action often. The difficulty is kinda all over the place on Normal, but most boss fights were fair enough. Shiva was tough because the stage wears you down so much. That probably took me the longest to beat. My favorite is probably the brawl with The Commissioner in his office. That was inspired!
Considering how much Capcom has leaned on Final Fight lore for new Street Fighter characters recently, this game’s success seems like it opens the door for a Streets of Rage/Final Fight crossover, which would be a very specific kind of retro catnip.
Actually serious questions incoming . . . .
Is this game significantly tougher single player compared to two player? I am playing a bit of both and it seems like single player has the same number of enemies, same enemy health. Is that accurate?
Is the game also significantly tougher than the original Streets of Rage on MegaDrive or have my beat-em-up skills declined significantly since I was a 13 year old with masses of time to play Streets of Rage over and over and over again?
Questions might be related in some way . . . :-P
Sections of this new game are harder than the originals, but not overly so. I say this having beaten Streets of Rage 2 a few times in the last year on Normal solo. I do not know about multiplayer, but I finished 4 on Normal with Axel with only the Shiva boss level really giving me any serious issues.
One thing I will say is platform and specifically your controller you use on that platform will affect your play. On the PC with an 8bitdo M30 I was breezing but when I switched to Xbox One with an Xbox One controller I had a much harder time executing because the d-pad is much less precise and analog stick is not even an option given the need for double tap special moves.