Hard to believe that it’s been a whole 26 years since Streets of Rage 4. So almost 3 decades later, we get the 4th installment of the game. The latest take on it is a collaborative effort by Dotemu, Guard Crush Games, and Lizardcube. It’s been out for a week now and we’ve been playing every here and there. We got a code for PC but my computer was acting up so I wound up buying a copy for the Nintendo Switch. I did manage to finally finish the game on Wednesday morning around 5AM ish. So let’s talk Streets of Rage 4 or SOR4 for short.
SOR4 brings forth the addictive side-scrolling game w/ button-mashing combos. You’re still walking the streets while listening to 90s-inspired music and beating anyone that comes your way. The game itself takes place only 10 years after Streets of Rage 3. You got the usual SOR suspects like Axel & Blaze present but adds big man Floyd w/ robotic arms & Adam’s daughter Cherry to the mix. Adam gets unlocked halfway to the game. I started off w/ Floyd but find my way switching between Axel & Adam.
We recommend you master their combo system for a more fun & rewarding gameplay.
There is good attention to detail here like the physics that allows you to pick up or backdrop bad guys. The bigger the bad guy, the slower the backdrop or throw. The smaller the bad guy, the easier the backdrop or throw is. I would recommend you to master or get a great handle on their combo system and make it work for you. I went for the slamming, throwing, and keeping them bouncing off the walls w/ combos. Especially if you’re playing by yourself as I did. I finished the 2nd half of the game using the 8Bitdo SN30 Pro Controller and that thing helped out a lot.
Tasering the arcade machines will transport you to a 16-bit world of the past games. Not only that, but you can also unlock 16-bit versions of the Street of Rage characters from part 1 to 3. You got Stage Select but it makes sense to complete the game to access them all. Along w/ the Story Mode, you got Arcade Mode which asks you to complete the game w/ a single credit, Boss Rush gives you 1 life to take on all of the bosses of the game, and lastly, you got Battle Mode to fight against your friends.
This is how you revive a retro game.
While I missed out on the Final Fantasy 7 Remake for the PS4, I didn’t get the unanimous raving reviews I was expecting. More so mixed ones. But that is definitely not the case for the 4th chapter of the Streets of Rage saga. From the artwork to the music to the gameplay, the developers did an amazing job in handling the game. The only thing missing is all of the previous SOR characters aren’t available to be unlocked. Whether you’re a fan of the series or not, I think that this will be greatly appreciated for the button-mashing, combo-connecting gamer.
We were provided a digital copy of the game for PC by Dortemu and purchased retail code for the Nintendo Switch.
I used this 8Bitdo SN30 Pro Controller playing Streets of Rage 4 on the Switch. But it can also be used on Android devices as well as PCs via Bluetooth.
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