Streets of Rage 4 Review (on PC)

Review made possible with many thanks to my good friend Mr. Mahjong

The Power of Nostalgia

Nostalgia is a very powerful thing. If your reading this review you probably have those games you remember from your younger days that hold a special place in your gamer hearts. Then for reasons we can’t explain the game gets two sequels and just disappears for over 25 years leaving only memories. Nice memories of course, and for me they’re memories of playing with my older brother. Feelings of empowerment: like I can take on any challenge the world throws at me. For me, that game series was Streets of Rage.

A few years ago Lizardcube revived Wonder Boy The Dragons Trap. A wonderful remake made clearly with love and passion for the original game and its hardware origins. When I heard a few years ago they would be working on Streets of Rage 4, I just knew the series would be in good hands. But that’s enough gushing for the moment. Let’s talk about Streets of Rage 4 and why its truly something special whether your’re an old fan, or new to this iconic series from Sega.

Save the Streets

Streets of Rage 4 (SOR4) is set ten years after the events of the last game (released over twenty five years ago). There’s a new bad in town, and it’s up Axel and his buddies to punch and grapple their way through twelve levels of brawling fun in order to fix the city all over again. It’s just like the old days. If you haven’t played the old games don’t worry, you really don’t need any prior knowledge to get the gist of what’s going on. What I would say is playing this game may convince you to explore the original trilogy. The easiest way to locate the old games is on the Mega Drive/Genesis classics collection available on all systems. If you’re familiar with the series you’re in for a treat; SOR4 features several references to the original games. But rather than just repeating the same old beats, SOR4 feels very much like its own game with its own identity. As opposed to being an encore track for the prior games. It features all new levels, new enemies, new bosses, tons of new weapons and a totally new soundtrack.

Several characters to select from once all unlocked.

Juggle and Flow

The game is a side scrolling beat em up, and it features several difficulty modes making this an adaptable experience for a wide range of gamers. From the gamer that just wants to let off some steam stress free, to the gamer that likes to get stressed playing on mania difficulty. The controls are solid; you can jump, hit and use special moves. You can also grapple enemies and throw them about, which is so much more fun than it reads. There are also plenty of weapons to grab off of the ground and use. Combat just flows comfortably and enemies can be juggled in the air making for a fun pick up and play experience. It took me some time to get used to pressing a button to pick up items to use, but that’s because I played the old games to death where the mechanics were a bit different. You can tweak the controls to your liking in the menu but I was happy with the default. The developers have managed to create a gameplay style that feels reminiscent of the original series but turn it into its own thing. As an extra bonus, the game allows you to unlock retro characters from the previous SOR games. These play very similar to how they did in the original games. Which was a lovely surprise for a fan like myself.

My close friend informed me that the game takes a lot of inspiration from the King of Fighters series. I’m not hugely familiar with this series, but thanks to my good buddy I was shown where some of the moves used by playable characters and bosses came from. So if you’re a King of Fighters fan you’ll be in for a treat here too.

Better Together

Of course SOR4’s biggest draw is playing together. The game is fine alone, but playing co-op is just great fun; especially juggling enemies between the two of you. The game also allows you to turn off friendly fire, so you can’t hurt your partner. This is a huge draw for people that worry about those small gaming accidents we all have. I played locally with my wife which ran fine and smoothly. You can also play up to four players locally; this is something I hope to do someday but not currently possible. I also played the game online with a close friend, and with some random people, to check, and it generally ran smooth with the occasional moment of lag. But it was nothing that broke the experience.

Attention to Detail

The graphics are an absolute delight. Here is a game that makes full use of its resources. Characters feel like living comic book characters and the colour palette is astounding. But it doesn’t stop there, if you look carefully you will even see reflections of your character sprites in puddles and see light reflected off their skin. Which is incredible attention to detail.

The retro characters blend and play well in the game.

The soundtrack is completely new, a composed score giving that 90s vibe you may remember. Even if not, it’s catchy, matches the level design, and becomes memorable. As an added bonus, the developers featured a retro soundtrack which mostly played the score from the Streets of Rage 2 soundtrack. What surprised me was when it also featured music from the Game Gear/Master System game. A very welcome and unexpected surprise. The only issue is the retro soundtrack didn’t always fit with the levels you played. Still it was a nice optional extra for my ears.

Displaying the ‘keep your hands in your pockets’ fighting style.

Play and Play Again

SOR4 is not a long game. It’s twelve levels, and your first playthrough will take between 3-4 hours. However, I found it to be incredibly repayable since the gameplay is just so much fun. I have easily played through the story mode ten times since acquiring the game, and somehow I’m still not bored of the experience. By simply playing the game you can unlock characters from SOR 1-3. There are also hidden bosses to find. I didn’t play much of the battle or boss rush mode, but I was kept happily busy with the story and arcade modes.

Street Score

Streets of Rage 4 is an incredible game. Where I am now, compared to where I was when I played the series originally, is very different. However, this will easily become another nostalgic memory in years to come from playing with my wife, alone, and with a very good friend who lives just too far away for my liking. I think you’ll most likely already guessed my rating for this title –

Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up

Notes

This review is dedicated to my good friend who goes by the code name Mr. mahjong. Since the COVID 19 lock down I have lost my source of paid income. Making new game purchases has been postponed until things return to normal. Without the kind gift from this very good friend this review would not have been possible. I want to end this review by stating if you can check in on your friends please do. Play games together, or simply just message them to let them know you’re thinking of them. It’s cheesy, but love is what’s going to get us through this.