We are in 1994, when Streets of Rage 3 makes its debut on Mega SEGA Drive, being developed and published by SEGA itself. After the third chapter of an extremely loved and subsequently iconic brand, the saga was inevitably abandoned due to the passage of time. The backwardness of the vertically scrolling fighting game genre thus ended up being appreciated only in very rare cases, mainly in surviving arcades and in emulation contexts. However, thanks to the courageous hand of the software houses Dotemu e Lizardcube - former authors of Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap -, but this time also supported by Guard Crush GAMES, the original SEGA brand is ready to surprise us in 2020 with Streets of Rage 4.
We are talking about a work that has now arrived on the PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One stores, which has also been included in the Xbox Game Pass. We are not dealing with a title developed with an eye to the 90s, but with a reiteration of the brand ready to amaze players at the end of the current generation, giving life to the vertically scrolling fighting game genre. Did Streets of Rage 4 succeed in its intentions? Let's find out together in the next few lines!
Wrestlers in Wood Oak City
From the very beginning, Streets of Rage 4 wants to be particularly appreciated by those who lived the saga at the time, without however forcing the new generation of this medium to recover works that are now difficult to appreciate as it would have been possible in the 90s. the story of Wood Oak City starts in style 10 years later the conclusion of the previous chapter, presenting himself in a state of total chaos that the wrestlers will try to remedy. Two well-known faces: Axel Stone e Blaze Fielding, however accompanied by the massif Floyd and agile Cherry, daughter of Adam Hunter. The latter will be added later in the roster of playable characters, bringing the base number to 5 - even if it will still be expandable with retro versions of the wrestlers - simply grinding hours of play.
There are few premises, because after choosing the difficulty and the character, the moment of action comes immediately, as long as you do not want to put your hand on the graphics settings for PC. We are ahead of horizontal arenas, which flow together with the character played, creating invisible walls, useful for combos and as delineators of the passable areas, as it is never possible to retrace one's steps to recover a lost object. Avalanches of enemies are ready to take out the impersonated fighter, who can be accompanied by three additional characters locally or from a single guest in case you interact with an online friend.
Despite being repetitive over the hours, the gameplay of Streets of Rage 4 is undoubtedly successful
First the violence, then the words, the enemies are all armed to the teeth with their fists and kicks, or with more or less blunt objects of extreme variety, which will end up being yours in case you manage to make them fall from the hands of enemies. The combos present have increased significantly, even if in the long run they do not guarantee infinite fun and almost immediately end up getting tired because of the remarkable repetitiveness. However, in the early stages, the fights are extremely exciting, unless you have failed to adjust the difficulty, as you will eventually be forced to use post-death bonuses to simplify the experience, avoiding the somewhat easy-to-reach frustration at the inside in such a game.
Each character shares the same moveset of possible combinations, but at the same time the combat formula totally varies, from grappling to basic strikes, passing through running attacks and special abilities. It is the latter that make the fighting styles of fighters more characteristic, but they cost a specific amount of life to be used, which can however be recovered by hitting enemies without allowing them to do the same. In this case the penalty becomes la permanent loss of energy spent on skills, which can only be recovered through the healing items scattered around the levels.
The style hit from Streets of Rage 4
The graphics sector of Streets of Rage 4 is sensational thanks to its breathtaking animations and the attention paid to the realization of the details
It is undeniable that the nostalgic impact is presented in infinite quantities, but to give a real glance is the style set for the realization of Streets of Rage 4. The gaming graphics sector is simply sublime, and will leave you speechless due to the magnificent animations on more than one occasion, whether it is breathtaking fights or the narration carried out with the help of special comics. Also the playable characters have been extremely accurate and diversified from each other, as opposed to the enemies that, although initially surprising, are remarkably repeated with few aesthetic and functional variants. However, the artificial intelligence has been greatly improved, and the enemies can often give a hard time, but it is also possible to exploit their differences to bring home victories with ease. A parenthesis should also be opened for the sound sector, mixed with slight nostalgia and enriched by today's melodies that are often impactful and pleasant, but sometimes not very present.
The level design is obviously very linear but maniacally accurate, for all 12 levels present in the campaign, which can be completed in a matter of hours. We are talking about many and different environments, such as objects well arranged on the map to allow the obtaining of health when necessary or points capable of providing additional lives, to avoid the KO that would inevitably bring back to the beginning of the current chapter. If in normal mode this could happen infrequently, the increase in difficulty provides a considerable dose of death, significantly increasing the replayability of the work, which joins the other contents present such as the Battles Arcade Boss rush he Online clashes.
