As I wait to complete the game 100%, and gather enough screenshots to make an article vibrant in appearance, I find myself unable to contain my excitement: I must give my initial impression of Streets of Rage 4.
To start, I must say the game is visually gorgeous. Upon reveal, the new hand-drawn style was a little jarring, but I quickly grew to appreciate the modern interpretation of my favorite beat-em-up series. Sprites and backgrounds are all incredibly detailed, and animations are crisp and smooth.
While visuals are important, aside from gameplay, my most major concern was living up to some of the best video game music of all time, from the legendary Yuzo Koshiro. In my opinion, the collaborative approach to the OST was a major success. The primary composer, Olivier Deriviere, does an incredible job capturing the Streets of Rage vibe, while managing to differentiate his work from previous entries in the series. All the composers on the album do an incredible job, and the synergy is palpable. Importantly, Yuzo Koshiro graces the album on a significant number of tracks, and is in top form. His tracks are almost on par with the incredible work from the SEGA Genesis originals.
As critical as the music was in my mind to this game’s success, the most important question I had was: Does Streets of Rage 4 manage to do justice to the gameplay SEGA’s legendary beat-em-up created in the 90’s?
Thankfully, the answer is a resounding YES! While in my opinion, the movement takes a small step back from Streets of Rage 3, it is seemingly a design choice taken to better differentiate the characters from each other, making the small oversight forgivable.
The combos are vastly superior to the original series, with the ability to chain combos between players to gain additional points, which in this game are critical, considering extra lives are very hard to come by.
This new entry also has 2-player online co-op, as well as local play up to 4 players.
I have only played the game in 2 player local co-op at the moment, so I can not fully assess the other modes, but I will say the experience thus far has been everything I’ve wanted since the series became defunct post-1994.
The addicting gameplay is still there, with an added roster of weapons and characters to bolster an already deep experience.
Five fully updated characters are in the game, including Blaze, Axel, and Adam, the Streets of Rage 1 original cast, with the addition of two completely original characters: Cherry and Floyd.
Cherry is the daughter of Adam, and is essentially the guitar-toting replacement for Skate. With fast attacks, and the ability to dash, she fills the void left by her uncle.
Floyd on the other hand, feels a bit like Max, but only slightly. He is pretty unique and has an incredibly punishing laser beam super special, some pretty useful grab attacks, and very high strength.
The return of Adam, is also well executed. Until this point he was only ever playable in the first mainline Streets of Rage game. Players, for years, had to rely on fan-games to play as their favorite yellow-clad hero in another outing, with the best iteration being BomberGames’ Streets of Rage Remake. Streets of Rage 4 lives up to that high standard, and brings Adam into modernity, with an expanded moveset and a boxing-like half step that allows him to bridge the gap with the enemy before striking. Adam was my main in the original game, so his involvement here holds a special place in my heart.
The most exciting inclusion is an entire collection of retro characters from the three previous game’s rosters. This importantly, allows me to play as Skate, which is all that truly matters. This ensures every fan will be totally satisfied, and the developer’s really went above and beyond in the realm of fan-service.
The fan service does not end there however, customizable controls, the ability to use the OSTs from the original games, and a variety of galleries and game modes allow for a truly all-encompassing experience.
Much more will be discussed, like additional game modes, including my personal favorite, Arcade Mode, when I release my detailed review, after 100% completing the game. Again, I just couldn’t resist discussing probably the most anticipated game release of my life.