Now that PAX East 2020 is finally upon us, I was finally able to get some hands-on with the upcoming 2D Beat ‘Em Up, Streets of Rage 4.
After multiple sessions, as well as a lengthy conversation with co-founder and technical director of Guard Crush Games, Cyrille Lagarigue, I’ve not only come away impressed. But I also managed to come to not only appreciate the gameplay mechanics but also come away from some helpful nuggets of information.
As it stands right now, there are five playable characters in the game. Alex, Blaze, Cherry, Adam and the recently announced Floyd Iraia. I know many of you were hoping for another character announcement or the return of other characters. However, for the five characters that are already known will be the only playable ones. At least for now. Speaking of the characters, I know there’s some that would rather have Skate from the second and third games to make a return. However, after some extended time with Cherry, I can safely say that she’s a viable replacement. From her rush down moveset, her speed and even an attack where she jumps onto an opponent’s head and repeatedly pummels them in the face. Sounds rather familiar, doesn’t it?
There’s a new life recovery system in place, which takes its cue from fighting games and even Bloodborne. While taking damage, you will notice that you’ll have a bar of green health that indicates a sliver of health that you can recover. By simply bashing enemies over the head, you’ll regain that life, while getting hit will completely remove it. This way, players can gain a bit of energy if they’re low on health and when there aren’t any healing items around.
As you may have noticed by some new gameplay videos, the game now has a combo meter that will keep rising as you are attacking enemies, in both single and multiplayer sessions. This can be dropped if you don’t finish off an enemy with a few seconds or if you’re hit. This will factor into your score, which will also be featured on an online leaderboard which is slated to be added before the game’s release.
Special Attacks and Advancing Special Attacks similar to those in Streets of Rage 2 are also returning, as does the Non-Special Specials (double-tap forward special). Then there are the newly added super moves. These moves can only be used when you earn a star or find them while playing. As you’d imagine, these supers are stronger forms of attack and they can lay waste to enemies quickly. While using them the screen darkens and there’s a cinematic effect. The supers are a nice addition to the game and having them limited helps to balance the gameplay.
Each character has a move that’s unique to them, such as Adam’s dash ability that can be used to quickly close distances or Floyd’s rocket jump ability. This forces players to think about the playstyle they’ll use while playing, and also how to maximize co-op gameplay. Sadly, the ability to grab a teammate and toss them has been removed. According to Cyrille, this caused some issues when more than three playable characters were on the screen. It may make a return, but the developer isn’t sure as of yet. The recovery system has also been tweaked so that now you only have to press jump just as you’re about to hit the ground.
Lastly, I had a chance to check out several stages that weren’t available to the public demo, which all looked amazing. Especially the boss fight with Shiva, a character that Streets of Rage fans should be familiar with.
The Four-player co-op was also recently revealed, and it’s a lot of fun. Being able to play with three other players was interesting as everyone was trying to beat up everything in their path, including the bosses. This feels like something straight out of the arcade era, with games such as the four-player Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or X-Men. Despite having up to four people playing, make no mistake that the bosses will still give you a run for your money. While it wasn’t mentioned, it seemed like the more people playing, the harder the bosses become.
As far as extra modes that are planned, the developer was tight-lipped about not spilling the beans. I grilled Cyrille for as much info as I could, but he would just smile and continue playing the game with me. There are several things planned, it’s that Dotemu and Guard Crush Games aren’t ready to let us know about them yet. Which makes sense, as the game still has a few months before it’s released.
As this was my first chance to check out the game, I came away super impressed. The entire game feels polished, despite there being some work needing to be done. The game is shaping up to be one of the best Beat ‘Em Up titles I’ve played in quite some time. I’m looking forward to this to be released this Spring 2020 for the PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC.
Be sure to stop back for more of our PAX East 2020 coverage.
