Last May, a French publisher Dotemu under the auspices of the company Sega released Streets of Rage 4… The fourth part of the series of bitemaps that thundered in the 90s shone with two-dimensional hand-drawn graphics, interesting characters, a convenient combat system and co-op.
The return of Streets of Rage 4 was welcomed by critics and players, and the example of the developer responsible for LizardCube other content creators followed. However, no one could even come close to the creation of the studio, the bar was raised so high. The only “drawback” of Streets of Rage 4 was the transience of the campaign, the plot of which could be completed in 2-3, or even an hour and a half.
LizardCube promised fans that it will not abandon the game and will add content over time. The latter was promised to be presented in both paid and free form.
A year and two months later, Mr. X Nightmare, which includes:
- 3 characters: Estelle, Max and Shiva + 1 secret;
- survival mode with weekly challenges;
- customization of the hero using a unique fighting style and techniques;
- 30 new enemies, including a couple of bosses, and weapons.
At the same time, a major patch was released for the main game, which added:
- 3 colors per hero;
- increased level of difficulty;
- training regimen.
As you can see, there is really a lot of content, but how high-quality it turned out and how long it can keep players in front of the screen is a question. To answer it, you have to go through all the components. It’s worth starting with “Survival” – a mode that turns Streets of Rage 4 into a rogue bitemap.
The essence of “Survival” is as follows: a player alone or in a company of up to 3 friends enters a small arena, where enemies are advancing in waves. Attacks can consist of weak and strong opponents, as well as bosses. After the passage of each wave, the arena is updated – barrels and other items that can be broken appear on it, weapons and food that replenish energy, and so on. Points in “Survival” are awarded a super-reception, but there is only one life. After the death of all the heroes, the game ends and you have to start over.
After clearing all the waves, several bonuses appear in the arena. They are issued randomly, and one of the players can take any item. This is how the local “pumping” takes place during one game. Among the bonuses there are amplifiers of damage, defense and weapons, additional jump and durability of things, as well as – the most interesting – damage statuses on receptions. For example, you can get an electric shock in a combo or a fire attack technique. You can also hang statuses on weapons, allowing you to throw a poisonous pipe and so on.
The choice of the bonus should be approached with all seriousness, since one character may need a poisonous combo, and another – a lightning attack in a jump. The strategy for passing the mode is simple: you take the necessary bonuses, leaving unnecessary ones to your partner. The main thing is not to take similar characters, otherwise there is a game of catch-up, as in a real RPG: the first one grabbed, and the other was left with a nose.
