It seems that our favorite series of games are not dying out, even if we think they are in limbo, perhaps they will return in a moment and surprise you just as you will surprise us all with the return of the Streets of Rage fighting series, whose first trilogy was released on the Sega 29 years ago, and its latest release was Streets of Rage 3 In 1994, after 26 years it was strange but wonderful at the same time that the series was back again with the fourth installment, Streets of Rage 4.
I was one of the lucky ones who had the chance to try this ancient franchise when I was a kid on a Sega Genesis, I still remember that nostalgia that never leaves my mind.
The most interesting thing is despite the long life between the two versions, but the classic experience of the game is still the same where in Streets of Rage 4 you will still be roaming the streets or "arenas" as you like to call the game while hitting various street gangs and bad police elements but in the spirit of 2020. The graphics in the game could make it feel just as modern as possible while preserving its core and core gameplay ideas.
the story
The story of this part takes place 10 years after the events of the third part, while preserving the same characters of the original game that we got attached to and adding more new characters, Axel Stone, our classic hero seems to be more macho than ever before and the mesmerizing Blaze Fielding appears They are beautiful, the two characters of the original game as well as three other characters, the crazy Cherry who uses the guitar in combat, the strong fat Floyd, and another character that will open for you with the age of the story.
The story is presented as if it were an animation magazine or graphic stories, as there is no real audio performance or cinematic clips here, but just a text translation that appears during the presentation of these sequential images, and in fact the story looks straight and there is no plot here and its age is not long, and to be honest is a natural thing in The point is, in fact, I wasn't so much interested in the story in the Streets of Rage series as I was interested in going right, then right and beating enemies.
Play style
The basic gameplay in this part is identical to previous games in the series, Streets of Rage 4 is a 2D game of Beat 'em up (a type that was very popular in the early 1990s in the gaming world) that relies mainly on your fighting a group of enemies on the right. And to the left with a limited number of places that you can move in, every time you beat them you will be able to advance to the right until you reach the "boss" or the hero of the stage and when you defeat you will move to the next stage and so on until the end.
The basic idea may seem very simple, but it does not fail to provide the necessary amount of fun even as the world of games develops the way we are now, but its basic spirit still does not make you bored.
During the confrontations in different arenas, there are many elements that you can use to your advantage in order to defeat your enemies, and while the game relies mainly on directing the combo strikes, which to be honest will be your strongest way to win, but you will find yourself using these elements also in order to surprise him Your enemies, for example there are explosive barrels that you can use to harm many enemies around you, but beware that they explode with you, as well as knives, canes and many other tools that are available throughout your progress in the arena that you can use in fighting, whether by throwing them at the enemies directly or hitting them .
You can also use the game environment to your advantage, for example throwing enemies at some stages from the edges will make it easier to defeat them, in one of the tasks you will also be on the roof of a moving express train and the attic panels of trains will be an obstacle, bypass them and let them shock the enemies and you will get free damage to the enemies that you can defeat them easily.
The matter does not stop at this point, as the game provides a new type of strike that inflicts serious damage on the enemies, but in return it directly drains your health, but the great thing is that you can restore that health as long as you do not receive direct damage from the enemies after using those overwhelming strikes, where you will find After you use those hits, the health meter is at the top in green with the value that you will lose from your health if you receive damage, which is a great way to reward and punishment in the game, which increased the experience and made it more dynamic than the basic parts.
Like all games of that period, it is not possible to restore health in the game "automatically", which continues in the fourth part of it, damn the games of the current generation! , Restoring health lies in obtaining "apples" that restore part of your health, or "turkey" that restores your full health, which you can obtain by breaking the boxes scattered very evenly in different arenas.
What I liked the most about the game is the enemies and their diversity, as the game will not stop introducing new types of enemies throughout your progress in the events of the story, the enemies not only vary in shape, but in the way they fight and the way you will defeat them, you will need with the emergence of each enemy to know his way of movement and the ways in which He attacks you so that you can dodge him.
The same applies to the bosses, as each leader in the game has a specific way of attacking as well as using his abilities, and thus you will need every time to read the leader's combat movements in order to be able to defeat him.
As for the characters in the game, in fact there are characters that I mainly preferred in some tasks over others depending on the nature of the stage and its difficulty and the enemies that they face, despite this, all the characters in the game have, besides the basic strikes, two types of special strikes, which as I mentioned one of them drains health, and the other You obtain it by collecting the stars that you find as you advance in the ring.
The good thing is that the game allows you to change the character with each stage, and this means that you will often experience all the characters as you progress in the events of the story, even if you fail you can repeat another character as you want, each character has a way of fighting and also has certain characteristics in terms of speed And endurance, for example, the character Floyd is slow-moving but has the toughness and strength to hit enemies, while the character Blaze is agile and fast-moving, but receives more damage.
Graphics and sounds
Although the spirit of the game is preserved in terms of gameplay, the sense of modernity in terms of graphics is the most wonderful thing in Streets of Rage 4, the graphics in the game appeared as an integrated and wonderful work of art. As if it were a game in 2020 and it is really like this, but with the character of the nineties, this is the most prominent description that I can say about the game, and the design of the stages is indescribably diverse, each stage was in a different and different place?
It was amazing to replace those pixels and looks that we used to see in nineties games with this elaborate artwork and wonderful colors to keep up with the times as a game released in 2020.
The music in the game was also wonderful and that ignites your enthusiasm for fighting these gangs and corrupt police elements in the streets, the Streets of Rage series has always been famous for this electronic music and was in this part a continuation of this.
last word
It is wonderful to return this classic series again, but the most wonderful thing is that it preserved the same experience that stuck in our minds since childhood in terms of playing and fighting style, while combining it with artistic drawings that keep pace with the times, I was surprised on a personal level from my enjoyment of this type of games in 2020 which is The kind that has been absent from the scene and gradually disappeared with time, it is undoubtedly a bold and successful attempt by the developer after all this long period of absence.
It is good to watch this kind of games that do not have to die even with the development of the games, still these games related to our childhood provide a great deal of fun, especially with trying them again with advanced graphics and gameplay elements such as Streets of Rage 4.
Also, it was good to have cooperative play on the network, which of course was not present in the early nineties, so you can play the story phase with your friend and enjoy fighting the waves of enemies and gangs scattered in the streets of playing together, there is no doubt that there are some flaws in the experience in general, such as short life The story, but there is always something for you to replay and try the game with higher difficulties as well as bigger challenges.
Positives
Preserving the spirit of the original game and returning after an absence of 26 years.
Beautifully illustrated graphics keep pace with the times.
A great variety of enemies and their fighting method.
Different group of characters that you can play with.
The ability to run the story with your friend via the Internet or Local.
The design of the stages is characterized by diversity.
The game environment can be used to defeat the enemies.
Negatives
The life of the game is short.
There is no voice acting in the movie clips.