Sega has a lot of iconic franchises to their name, and amongst those from the early 90s would have to be Streets of Rage, or Bare Knuckle as it’s known in its native Japan. This flashy two player brawler came at the height of the genre in the early 90s, and any Genesis owner (or brawler fan) would be remiss if they didn’t have at least one, if not all three, of these classics in their collection.
Many months ago, word of fourth game in the series was announced. The story would take place ten years after the end of the third game, but release some thirty years after the original. The crews at Dotemu, Lizardcube, and Guard Crush Games teamed up for Streets of Rage 4 (SOR4), and the production value and blend of fan service nostalgia with modern day brawler elements is commendable. While I still can’t say that Streets of Rage if one of my top favorite brawler series, it certainly ranks up there, and this fourth release is a must-have for any fan of the series and genre.
Right away I was impressed with the presentation package of SOR4. The catchy electronica music was directly inspired by the original mood and atmosphere of the series, as is the color palette and artwork. Lizardcube, who did the revamped visuals of Wonder Boy not that long ago, did a stellar job conveying that late 80s/early 90s fictional big city that has been overrun with crime. Graffiti, trash cans, neon lights, a variety of bad dudes to combat, it’s all here and it’s presented in such a skillful manner. I appreciated how the color palette changed across the different stages and each area has its own edge or mood to it, but the overall atmosphere is conveyed coherently. Even though the atmosphere felt similar and familiar to other games in the genre I have played, I didn’t mind that at all, and Lizardcube did a fine job of presenting a big city that is under the grips of crime.
As far as the story goes, I couldn’t remember how things had played out with Streets of Rage 3, but an opening cutscene sets the stage for ten years after the fall of Mr. X and his massive crime network. Unfortunately, his twin sons, known as the Y Twins, have resumed his operations. Three badass cops, Axel, Blaze, and Adam, along with two new playable characters, Cherry and Floyd, are up to the task of fighting back. Each has a special move and the means to fight off the hundreds of Y Twins cronies, including what was for me an uncomfortable amount of female characters. Call it what you will, but I don’t like to have female characters in a brawling game, and there’s always going to be something that feels off, no matter the game, about beating a female character up.
Anyhow, it didn’t take long for me to realize that SOR4 was not Final Fight on Free Play as my 1Up Arcade cabinet next to me is. Better said, SOR4 is pretty tough on normal and higher difficulties, but five different difficulty levels make it much more enjoyable when playing with less experienced and younger players. Also, of note, you can change your character in between stages, which is great if you favor more tank-like abilities in some areas versus the speedy finesse of other characters at other times. With a dozen of retro characters to unlock, and given the game’s pretty brief length (like any brawler), having a lot of unlockable characters makes for ripe territory of additional playthroughs. Side note: I liked the ability to toggle Friendly Fire when I was playing co-op (two player online and four player local is support, with the latter being much more recommended).
All that to say, SOR4 does a great job of balancing arcade like button-mashing accessibility with much more nuanced and skillful play that has you ratcheting up your combo meter and using your special moves without sustaining any health loss. In other words, there are layers to SOR4 that you won’t find in many older brawlers, even some within the same franchise, and that’s a credit to the developers’ vision to combine the old school elements with more modern ones, and finding an impressive balance therein.
Every old school franchise should be so lucky to get such a great sequel that obviously had a lot of thought and care put in by the teams involved. Clearly, if you enjoy Streets of Rage or the side scrolling brawler, especially when playing with up to three other people, Streets of Rage 4 should be on your list of titles to get.
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