Review of Streets of Rage 4. Retro with fists – review

Since then, echoes of this classic can be found in cross-genre games (Yakuza, Guacamelee!), and some players consider slashers as heirs to bitemaps, like Devil may cry or God of war. Capcom produced two interesting experiments with the genre – two-dimensional Viewtiful joe and three-dimensional God hand. But if we talk about the classic 2D scuffle with a cooperative, then successful examples are extremely rare. Ten years ago it was Castle crashers and Scott Pilgrim vs. The world: the game, in the mid-2010s – Mother Russia Bleeds, last year – River city girls. Microsoft is still threatening to revive Battletoads, but it can be seen that compared to platforming and metro-diving, which has not been released in recent years, classic bitemaps are in short supply.

Although we were waiting for the continuation of the whole 25 years, only a dozen have passed in the game world. Wood Oak City has taken over a new crime syndicate, led by the children of Mr. X, an antagonist of the original trilogy (of course, their names are Mr. and Miss Igrek). Axel and Blaise, the irreplaceable duet of former policemen, come out to fight the villains. They are joined by the young guitarist Cherry – the daughter of Adam from the first Streets of Rage – and the big guy Floyd with mechanical arms, the protégé of Dr. Zan from the third part.

Streets of Rage 4 is designed in the spirit of classic releases, so the scenario in it is minimalistic – short screensavers only represent bosses (among which there are a lot of old friends) and connect stages. The game does not take itself seriously, but it does not turn into a parody, casting memories of the 30-year-old action movies.

The essence of Streets of Rage 4 is extremely simple: we go from left to right, we meet opponents – as a rule, all kinds of bandits – we beat them, then we beat reinforcements. They use punches and kicks, throws, super-moves and melee weapons brought by the enemies themselves.

When all opponents are defeated, we will be allowed to go forward. There are no objective reasons why it is impossible to go through the level, it is a classic convention. Which is here wrapped in a part of mechanics: the border of the screen is considered a wall from which abandoned objects and enemies will ricochet. What opens up scope for the juggles – because if you do not let the enemy land, he will not be able to launch a counterattack! A significant part of tactics is built on this.

And the other part – at special receptions. In classic bitemaps, they were made on a health scale, which strongly demotivated them to resort to. Streets of Rage 4 slightly changes this mechanics: health spent on a super can be restored by beating enemies, as in Bloodborne. But this rule is valid until the first missed strike. So you have to figure out when exactly it is worth investing health in excess damage, so that there remains a safe opportunity to recapture it back.

Supers themselves now come in the amount of three pieces: protective and two attackers – on the ground and in the air. Of particular interest is the first – after all, there is no block in Streets of Rage, and you have to walk away from enemy attacks (well, or by jumping). The defensive super offers an alternative – you can win a second of invulnerability, and inflict damage on the enemy. True, if he goes into milk, then he will have to run to restore his health.

There are “ults” – large-scale attacks on the split-screen. They are activated for stars, which the heroes have one per level – but they, like healers, can be knocked out of the scenery. Where the money also lies: Streets of Rage 4 for each level gives the heroes a limited number of lives, but their number can be increased by gaining enough points, as in the good old days.

With cooperative passage, it is reasonable to split the loot: one takes more first-aid kits, but the second collects all the money and gets an extra life

The main achievement of Streets of Rage 4 is that it, without changing the original formula of the classic bitemaps, does not feel outdated. Largely due to the greater tactical depth and responsive management – this is exactly what was missing thirty years ago. Perhaps its success will inspire other developers to try themselves in this genre?

Because I want supplements right now: like all classics, Streets of Rage 4 is extremely fleeting and takes literally a couple of hours. There is an incentive to cross – for each of the characters there is a different style of play, plus there are different modes and bonus characters – but this is still not a “bagel” to return dozens and hundreds of times. And for a particular character there is nowhere to turn around: there are not as many receptions as we would like.

In the case of games for a couple of evenings, which Streets of Rage 4 undoubtedly refers to, the price plays a decisive role. On Steam, a game costs four hundred rubles with copecks – so the question of whether to buy or not, disappears by itself. The main thing – invite a friend: together more fun.

Pleased

• Superb graphics
• Responsive Management
• A variety of heroes, stages and bosses

Afflicted

• Heroes don’t have many tricks
• The game is very short

How we played

In what: Key purchased by author

On what: RS

How many: 4 hours

Editors Achievement

“Full immersion”

After passing, shake off the dust from the old Sega.

Verdict

Streets of Rage 4 is another successful comeback of the classics of the 90s, of which there are more and more recently. This is not a new word in the genre and not a game that can make bitemaps relevant again. But for those who really missed the good old cooperative scuffle, this is a great gift.