Streets of Rage 4

 Xbox One
User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 168 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 135 out of 168
  2. Mixed: 21 out of 168
  3. Negative: 12 out of 168

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  1. guiletheguiles
    May 15, 2020
    5
    Streets of Rage 4 definitely brings retro-nostalgia back in a fun way, but with it, old flaws return.

    First: This game is very entertaining! Especially when played with friends. The beat 'em up is top notch, levels are beautifully designed, secrets and unlockables are a treat and graphics are AMAZING! I could kiss this updated art style. Also, it probably has one of the best OSTs of    Streets of Rage 4 definitely brings retro-nostalgia back in a fun way, but with it, old flaws return.

    First: This game is very entertaining! Especially when played with friends.
    The beat 'em up is top notch, levels are beautifully designed, secrets and unlockables are a treat and graphics are AMAZING! I could kiss this updated art style. Also, it probably has one of the best OSTs of the year. I love how semi-accessible and party-like it manages to be, while also putting a HARD challenge. It just works!

    SOR4 certainly does what it sets out to do, but by dragging this feeling back, it doesn't fix mistakes.
    Difficulty is a bit unbalanced, you do no damage but takes a bunch of it, your star power is weak, enemy variety is a joke, getting an extra life is a bore (especially during multiplayer), strong attacks drain your life instead of having its own bar and YOU CAN'T DASH OR DEFEND! This game would've been A LOT better if it had a dash button, a dodge move and a defense command. Bosses are too fast and just landing a hit on them is very annoying.
    Also, the story sucks. Why didn't they even try to make a good one? The ending is as bad as previous entries.

    I can only really recommend SOR4 if you're not playing solo. This is a beautiful and fun game, but its unnecessary flaws keep it from being very good or consistent.
    But that's something you can probably overlook when having fun with friends, through all of the stages.    … Expand
  2. ElSeano89
    May 12, 2020
    7
    I was surprised to see SOR4 added to gamepass as I had been a big fan of the series back in the very early days of my playing video games. What they have made here is a great callback to a brilliant game and kept everything that made the originals great beat 'em ups. However inconsistent difficulty, annoying enemies and a short run time bring down the overall product. Also just becauseI was surprised to see SOR4 added to gamepass as I had been a big fan of the series back in the very early days of my playing video games. What they have made here is a great callback to a brilliant game and kept everything that made the originals great beat 'em ups. However inconsistent difficulty, annoying enemies and a short run time bring down the overall product. Also just because something is nostalgic doesn't necessarily mean it still holds up to modern standards and this is a modern game and should be judged as so.

    There is a lot of good here. The hand drawn graphics look brilliant and are a great modern, more advanced take on the graphics of yesteryear (which you can also unlock and play as in a nice touch) the stages are vibrant and full of life and almost hilariously varied in how quickly they change. One moment you're in a police station now you're on a boat, now you're in chinatown and now you're on a plane. It is a relatively wacky stoyline anyway so the rapidly changing backdrops can be forgiven for at least giving you some variety.

    The soundtrack is brilliantly done also given the iconic status of the original games it was trying to reproduce. This is a very good refresh it must be said. Everything has sort of maintained the charm and appeal of the originals whilst giving them a modern touch.

    The action feels fun, fast paced and is surprisingly tactical for such a simple combat system. If you just mash attack all the while you won't be getting through levels by the games end. Spotting priority enemies and knowing their attack methods and how to go at them is important as well as varied use of the different combat mechanics. You can't get away with just hammering X once you get to the games midpoint. It's great fun and I've replayed levels and indeed the entire game two or three times in my 13 hours.

    The game is quite short however and whilst this isn't being marketed as a full price game rather a cut price Indie it really should have been a little longer and some of the later levels feel very much shoe horned in to add length rather than adding anything substantial. The game is also guilty of retreading material towards the end. Often you will get thrown a mini-boss from earlier in the game or even a group of them and it feels uninspired and repetitive. There is replayability with 5 different characters having 5 slightly different playstyles but it doesn't feel like it could engage you for too long.

    But I've gotten 14 hours out of the game so far, having finished it twice and I'd imagine I'll jump in a few more times in the future because it must be said SOR4 is a great pick up and play option and it caters to that fact.

    The bad brings things down a touch however.

    Difficulty is inconsistent. They put arguably the 2nd hardest level of the game at level 9 out of 12 and it feels like a real roadblock in the game and not in an enjoyable way. It's just a badly designed level that expects you to do way too much before taking on probably the hardest boss in the game. The spike in difficulty really detracts from your first playthrough and frustrates you.

    My main gripe with SOR4 is that the difficulty really comes cheap. You often get stuck because the game is simply overwhelming you with enemies not because they are difficult to fight. When combined with some very irritating enemy types this can make the last third of the game deeply frustrating.

    Once the Muay Thai boxers with unblockable, stunlocking attacks come into the game it begins to fall down somewhat. Once the biker helmeted girl enemies with their infuriating "knock you halfway across the screen, into the wall and take half your health" move and the equally irritating "unblockable piledriver" move come into it then it becomes deeply irritating.

    The worst thing a game like this can do is over-play the enemies ability to stunlock you and thats what most of the late game enemies can and will do. If there were less enemies thrown at you at a time this might make the game a fun challenge but instead it gets to feel cheap and irritating. it also devalues the bosses because honestly I'd rather fight the boss than 3 or 4 of the Biker Chick enemies.

    Bosses also fall into a rut of predictability. They all have 2 stages triggered by damaging them halfway and the second stage is just a slightly upped version of the first. It's the same attacks just done quicker or with a wider radius. They nearly all summon enemies to help them too which also feels cheap and detracts from their effect as boss characters.

    Overall, for the asking price, this is very well made and a great callback to the originals and indeed even its downfalls are the same as the games it is emulating. But that isn't necessarily a good thing, games have moved on from then obviously but SOR4 doesn't learn from the mistakes of the past rather it makes them again in a prettier, albeit entertaining, way.    … Expand
  3. emporio2866
    May 29, 2020
    6
    Всё же зря, я считаю, игре присвоили цифру "4" в названии, ну не тянет она на полноценное продолжение, согласно требованиям современного среднестатистического геймера. Она, словно, давно была готова, но стеснялась показаться людям, а позже набралась смелости и вышла как есть, забыв посмотреться в зеркало и свериться с последними каталогами популярных и общепринятых трендов. Лет 15 назадВсё же зря, я считаю, игре присвоили цифру "4" в названии, ну не тянет она на полноценное продолжение, согласно требованиям современного среднестатистического геймера. Она, словно, давно была готова, но стеснялась показаться людям, а позже набралась смелости и вышла как есть, забыв посмотреться в зеркало и свериться с последними каталогами популярных и общепринятых трендов. Лет 15 назад прокатило бы на ура, а сейчас это, максимум, середнячковый ремейк, играющий на струнах ностальгии гораздо чаще, чем удивляющий новизной.
    По итогу могу сказать следующее — это хороший проект в рамках своего устаревшего поджанрового поджанра.
    Иерархия такова: файтинг → бит ‘эм ап → олдовый бит ‘эм ап.
    Вот, именно, в этом узком поджанре для ретрогеймеров ему самое место.
    Если вы таковым являетесь, то уже давно купили себе копию или оформили подписку, и я вам ничего нового не поведал.
    Всем остальным советую перед покупкой подумать хорошенько и поглядеть стримы или записи геймплея, оценив их атмосферу, может зайдёт. Также ничто вам не мешает дождаться скидок, ведь проект делали не для вас, а для фанатов 16-бит, пущай они и покупают за полную стоимость, а я, лично, готов поддерживать новые игры, а не инвестировать в прошлое. Старьё же можно запустить из подписки или со сборника Streets of Rage Vintage Collection.
    5,5 из 10 баллов за открытие ящика воспоминаний о счастливом и беззаботном детстве    … Expand
  4. sergio123456
    Jun 14, 2020
    7
    Buen juego clásico de las recreativas, para los que tenemos 30 o más te hará revivir épocas pasadas. Juego entretenido pero corto, mejor si se juega para 2.
  5. KlaatuHorror
    May 7, 2020
    6
    Juegazo de la antigua escuela. Grandes peleas y personajes, nos hace soñar con que vuelva este estilo que tan feliz nos hizo en nuestra juventud.
  6. BaggySirSwaggy
    May 1, 2020
    7
    First off let me say, I enjoyed this game quite a bit, especially playing with my friend online.

    The good: - Fun beat 'em up - Awesome art and character design - Nice unlockables - Cool secrets - You can switch the audio to retro soundtrack - Solid length for a $25 game, also free on Gamepass (beat it in 2-3 hours) The Bad - The bosses felt kind of forgettable; most of them    First off let me say, I enjoyed this game quite a bit, especially playing with my friend online.

    The good:
    - Fun beat 'em up
    - Awesome art and character design
    - Nice unlockables
    - Cool secrets
    - You can switch the audio to retro soundtrack
    - Solid length for a $25 game, also free on Gamepass (beat it in 2-3 hours)

    The Bad
    - The bosses felt kind of forgettable; most of them seemed small. I remember original Streets of rage bosses being huge. They have early concept art of Abadede who looks awesome...I wonder why they cut him out of the game? Also, when you got to a boss in the original games, you knew Sh*t was about to get real when those awesome beats started playing. I didn't get that feeling in this game, which brings me to my next point.
    - The new music was okay at best. There were a few solid tracks, but most of them I didn't care for.

    (Update: I played through a second time with the retro sound track and the placement of tracks is off. "Never Return Alive" should play on boss battles, but instead it plays a random level song.)

    - There's a character you see later on in the game who should be an unlockable, but unfortunately he's not.

    Overall, I think this is a good game, and I would recommend it, especially if you're able to play it with friends.    … Expand
  7. Metacriticizer
    May 11, 2020
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I was a huge fan of Streets of Rage back in the day, so I was very excited for this one. SOR4 is very faithful to its predecessors, to the point of being detrimental in some cases.

    First, the good. The audio/visual is wonderful. Excellent artwork and animations for the characters, the music is solid, and they even included the original soundtracks. The controls are also spot on, with some minor improvements. You have your standard attack, jump, and special buttons, which are all responsive and effective. Additionally, there is now a pick up button that allows you to continue attacking while near items without fear of accidently using them. Finally, each character has new special moves and combos that make it feel like you're doing more than just button mashing.

    Now to the bad. Remember when I said it was too faithful? Well, the enemies are just as effing cheap and frustrating as before. You will get hit, knocked down, and thrown by a plethora of enemy attacks, against which you will have no recourse. Why do you have no recourse? Because the enemy "strategy" involves them moving about 1 cm out of your reach every time you try to advance on them, and then counter attacking you the moment you attempt to hit them. They will circle strafe you until you get frustrated, then do something stupid like do a jump kick that can't be dodged or countered. Just like the original games, how fun! Seriously, it's not fun. The hair-pulling cheap AI is something they could have done away with; it definitely shatters the rose-tinted lenses of nostalgia.

    Going hand in hand with the cheap AI is the fact that, for all the cool abilities your characters have, they all move as slow as molasses and lack the ability to parry/block/counter. One or two can do a short dash or run, none of them can do the up/down roll that was available in SOR3. Yes, they actually took abilities away, very basic ones that only served to reduce the frustration of cheap enemy attacks. Watching the scrub minion bad guys dodge and guard against your attacks while you have to stand there like a dumbass and get hit is another thing that could have easily been done away with.

    Finally, the unlockables are lame as hell. SPOILERS if you wish to avoid this paragraph. There are 12 unlockable characters, hooray! Unfortunately, they are just the old characters from SOR1 2 and 3, boo. Why tf do we need THREE versions of 16-bit Axel and Blaze?? The old characters are nice for the retro factor for about 10 minutes. For pete's sake, Max and Shiva are already in the damn game as bosses, would it have killed them to make their modernized versions playable?

    This game is fun and a great throwback to the old days of beat em ups...for a little while. The inability to block/counter/dodge combined with the lackluster unlockables seriously hampers this game's replayability for me.    … Expand
  8. LadyAux
    Jul 3, 2020
    7
    While not being a huge fan of the beat em up genre nor being a series that I am too familiar with, as a noob its pretty easy to get into. Heaps of personality, rad beats, simple gameplay and beautiful sprite art. I would have rated it higher if it had more to offer and was a little more balanced. See my review here: https://youtu.be/8EQC5afbj00
  9. DanMaul
    Nov 17, 2022
    7
    I'm not entirely sure how younger gamers will feel about this game, but for someone like me who grew up playing the original trilogy this is a fantastic throwback sure to tickle that nostalgia bone. I'm really amazed how they were able to capture the look and feel of the previous games so perfectly. From the soundtrack to the level design and artwork, it's all there. And the combat is SOI'm not entirely sure how younger gamers will feel about this game, but for someone like me who grew up playing the original trilogy this is a fantastic throwback sure to tickle that nostalgia bone. I'm really amazed how they were able to capture the look and feel of the previous games so perfectly. From the soundtrack to the level design and artwork, it's all there. And the combat is SO satisfying. I found myself restarting the story mode with another fighter immediately after I finished it which is something I never do. There's a level of difficulty out there for everyone (it can get quite challenging), and you can even go for the full arcade experience with just one 'credit'.

    It might feel too short for some (depending on your difficulty level you can easily finish it in about 2 to 3hrs), but on the other hand, it's a great option for those who don't have much time or like to go through whole games in one sitting.

    A solid 7.5/10 for me. Definitely recommend it at least for older generations, but I think younger ones would appreciate it too for what it has to offer.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

21
#21 Best Xbox One Game of 2020
19
#19 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. SomosXbox
    May 12, 2020
    80
    A new adventure from the Streets of Rage universe, with all the essence, with the main characters and with all the spirit of the 90s. Go back into the streets and fight with all the villains to clear the city of crime and corruption.
    Read full review
  2. TheXboxHub
    May 9, 2020
    100
    Playing Streets of Rage 4 is an absolute no-brainer and it is without doubt one of the best games of the year.
    Read full review
  3. Xbox Tavern
    May 7, 2020
    100
    Whether you’re a fan of the originals or not, Streets of Rage 4 is a blast from start to finish. Satisfying combat, incredible music and visuals and tons to unlock mean this should be sticking around on your hard drive for some time yet. A lack of 4 player online is a disappointment, but otherwise what’s here more than makes up for the long wait.
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