Review of Streets of Rage 4, go out without remorse
Almost three decades since its birth, the saga that began in the "me against the neighborhood" returns to an entire generation, "Streets of Rage 4" comes updated but with all the essence of the saga
2020 has just begun and is set to be a complex year, such is the reality that the pandemic has given us that the big companies do not know how to navigate a river of cancellations of events and delays. Some will say that the apocalypse was averted thanks to Nintendo and its "Animal Crossing: New Horizons". Others, on the other hand, are more likely to think there are better ways to weather the storm. Some of us have set our sights on the great competitor of the Kyoto-based family business, and "Streets of Rage 4" is the latest installment in one of their most iconic sagas.
It's been a weird year, so much so that it has raised the ghosts of the great console war. Sega and Nintendo are the undisputed protagonists of this year, leaving aside the future new generation. Today, the most veterans, those of us who remember the "Brain of the Beast" and the "Blast Processing", can decide whether to face the confinement in an isolated island or go out to the streets that saw a generation grow up. I have chosen the latter and there are no berries in the world that can wipe the smile off my face.
The streets of anger
Those of you who know about me will know that "I against the neighborhood" is a genre that I enjoy a lot, a genre that fortunately is experiencing a resurgence in the indie world, jewels like "Mother Russia Bleeds", "River City Girls" or "Fight'n Rage" are ample proof that beat'em up is still in full swing. It's true that, as a genre, it lives more closely bound to its conventions than other more popular ones, continuing to be more or less tied to slow and heavy rhythms (to avoid becoming a hack'n slash), poor narratives and, in general, to an atmosphere that, for more than one, takes us back to our childhood clinging to arcade machines or neighborhood bars.
It's not a bad thing, for the record, the Japanese tea ceremony has been unchanged for centuries and today is as beautiful and evocative as it was in the beginning. By this, I don't want to say that the "me against the neighborhood" is a cultural landmark, but without titles like "Kung-fu Master", "Final Fight" or the first "Streets of Rage" we wouldn't have "God of War", "Bayonetta" or, probably, anything from the Souls saga (I'm one of those who thinks that Dark Souls is a beat'em up long before an RPG).
Now that I've had my moment under the spotlight to talk about my madness, let's get on with what we were coming to, let's get out on the streets, not our streets, better ones, whose sickness, crime, is one that can be stopped without maintaining social distance. Lizarcube, the studio behind the fantastic remake of "Wonderboy - The Dragon's Trap", brings us this time a full-fledged sequel to one of the most influential sagas in the video game world.
A saga that, I must confess, I didn't play at the time, in my house the Megadrive didn't land and when the emulation brought me all those titles, the adventures of Axel, Blaze and Adam were hidden by titles like "Cadillacs & Dinosaurs", "Knights of the Round" or "The Punisher". With this in mind and before the release of this fourth installment I took a walk through the streets of the previous titles. Don't get me wrong, you don't need to have played the previous ones to enjoy "Streets of Rage 4" like a cat surrounded by catnip. But if it has helped me to see how, in the French studio, there is love for the saga and mime and dedication in their work as many other companies would like.
We put ourselves in Axel and Blaze's shoes again, this time accompanied by Cherry Hunter (Adam's daughter) and Floyd Iraia. Four heroes who will be joined by other names from the saga, but who serve as an example of Lizarcube's love for the saga. Axel and Blaze control themselves exactly the same as their namesakes more than a quarter of a century ago, a control that was already excellent then and has been updated in form, but not in substance. The blows, combos, and specials of both characters are recreated frame by frame in an exquisite way, it is not a simple wink for the most veterans, it is a tribute in full right to the original creators, a tribute that feels good at the controls whether you are a veteran or just arrived at the saga.
On the other hand, Cherry and Floyd are the contributions of the French team. Unfortunately, it's very easy for new characters, more if they are incorporated by a different studio, to break the balance with the old. Luckily, the Parisians have known how to integrate the old and the new, letting everything shine, resulting in a title worth playing at least once with each character. Each one has his or her own distinct fighting style. From the forcefulness of Axel to the agility and speed of Cherry (particularly my favourite character) each of the initial characters (and the thirteen unlockable ones) feels different, enough to at least justify giving the title one more twist.
With a clean fist
I say a lot about giving "Streets of rage 4" several turns, I do it because it is a short experience by today's standards. My first lap took me about three hours and the second one (with a second player) was done in two hours. It may not seem like much for the time being, but it is twice as long as its three predecessors and is playable enough to exceed ten hours in the first week of play. In spite of its problems (which it has and now we're going to get them) the only thing, my body has asked me every time I've reached the credits has been to start over. And you don't even have to, once you finish the title, you have an arcade mode available, a mode to hit the bosses alone and a versus mode to measure the back of other players.
But the bad news is that I'm going to start with a decision that I can't explain at the moment and that I hope will change one day. The game's online work is really bad. It has been difficult to find games where there was no significant lag (with 600 MB symmetrical fiber optics). Also, although the game has cooperative up to four players, it's only like that in local mode, online we are left with a sad two players, to finish, there is no crossplay between platforms or between stores, the most amazing example is that on PC people who have the game thanks to the Game Pass can not play online with those who have it on Steam or GoG. It's absurd, that online is so half-baked already in 2020 and with a global pandemic that has us all isolated from the rest. It's something that could be fixed with patches and that I hope, one day, will be done.
On the other hand, there are two points in the game's design that I personally didn't like. The first one is the lack of variety of enemies, and no, I don't mean the turntables, I mean the mid-phase bosses, which are quite repeated in a game that lasts about three hours and is not subject to the size restrictions on the cartridge that its predecessors suffered. I know it may be a wink or just a classic way of doing things, but personally I think it is unjustifiable that there is so little variety in them.
To this, we add that the final bosses, although on an artistic level they are (like the rest of the game) great both visually and sound-wise, once you get them into flour they are a bit lazy. In simple words, it's more challenging to get to the stage boss than to fight it. And they're not bad at all, but they lack a push to be memorable on a mechanical level, which is one of the reasons why the body asks me to restart the story mode or the arcade before I go to Boss rush.
Neons and violins
It has escaped me that the art of the game is excellent, and I must confess that I was one of those who, with the first images that were presented, thought it was going to be a bit of a mess. Maybe the fact that I like a good handful of pixels more than a dumb guy with a double pistachio ball has something to do with my first reaction to the stylized drawing of this "Street of Rage 4". You don't know how I like to be so deeply wrong. The hand drawing, the light effects, and the animations are excellent in every way, whether you like the artistic style or not. Street of Rage 4 is an art in motion, so much so that the classic characters, which can be unlocked and which are still the original sprites, seem to me to be an abortion when you put them on the new stages. I don't think that's a bad thing, because they're still an unlockable that will add more or less depending on the player, but in no way detract from the overall experience.
On the other hand, the original soundtrack is a marvel worthy of being in any music lover's collection, but it also has themes that should be studied in all conservatories throughout the world. And if I said that putting in classical characters broke completely with the aesthetics of the title, putting in the soundtracks of the first and second title (the soundtrack of the third title is an abomination that we will not talk about in this holy house) is a clear success.
Contusions, Street of Rage 4
The new installment of the saga, despite its shortcomings, is undoubtedly one of the games of the year, one of the best "me against the neighborhood" of the generation and a clear vindication of a genre which, despite its popularity on the indie scene, has been relegated to a niche from which the big companies do not seem to want to take it.
Lizarcube's work oozes love and knowledge from all four sides and the result is an essential game for lovers of beat'em up and highly recommended for the rest of the users who are unfamiliar or uncomfortable with the genre.
You can find "Streets of Rage 4" on PC (Steam, GoG, Microsoft Store, Gamepass), Xbox ONE, PS4 and Switch