Streets of rage 4

[Nu-Eclipse]

The SF3 artstyle comparison keeps being made and I really don't see it, tbh.

That said, I acknowledge the rave reviews that Bare Knuckle IV is getting.

[Team Andromeda]

Sega have had the best part of 30 years to do something with the IP. They’ve done nowt. If they had the appetite for old retro sprites (again, not new), then they have had ample opportunities to do it.

True, but like with Panzer that doesn't mean I should like or be happy with how the new games look.

[prinnysquad]

Fair play. If you don’t like the style, you don’t like the style. If it’s a dealbreaker, it’s a dealbreaker. I respect that you’ve given it a go.

It plays great, that’s the main thing. They’ve got the gameplay, level design and sound effects down to a tee.

Question: Had they done the sprites thing, would you feel differently about it as a whole? Would it be a worthy entry?

[eastyy]

Found a cool secret on the second stage

->Open Spoiler<-

[randombs]

I have it, thanks. No there's not much new and stuff was taken out like the dash and roll moved from Streets Of Rage 3 and the new music isn't great at all.

I wish it had dashing and rolling, too. At least dashing.

[samanosuke]

Burn the heathen!

He’s correct though - the original was a poor man’s Final Fight. The second entry in the series pissed on it in every conceivable way, however.

[Paddy]

brilliant now if only konami would do gradius and new castevania, or sega a new golden axe with this much love,

I would very much like SEGA to greenlight a new Golden Axe (another numbered entry or a sequel to The Duel as it had some great ideas but the execution was not quite there). They seem to be allowing passionate devs. to take their beloved IPs and give it a go so its quite possible it'll happen.

[Team Andromeda]

I wish it had dashing and rolling, too. At least dashing.

Like I said it feels very much like Shinobi on the Saturn and it didn't make sense to me in that game, to take out the magic system and it doesn't make sense to me, to take out the dash and roll in this. Also, the separate button for pickups just doesn't work or feel right.

Can't moan too much mind, since it's including in Gamepass

[BearBoy]

It took a bit of getting used to at first but I think the separate pick up button is a huge improvement. The amount of times I used to get a kicking because my character kept trying to pick up some discarded weapon when I wanted them to hit some scumbags was infuriating.

I played 3 far less than 2 back in the day so personally not bothered about the missing dashes/rolls.

[Nu-Eclipse]

He’s correct though - the original was a poor man’s Final Fight. The second entry in the series pissed on it in every conceivable way, however.

Nope. He's wrong.

At best, SoR is all about style over substance. Always has been IMO, especially when 2 (admittedly the best in the original trilogy) and 3 (which was a hot mess) are taken into account. SoR4, for all of the rave press it is getting, clearly shows this too.

Final Fight endures because it is simply the tighter gameplay experience. SoR 2 definitely isn't a better game. In fact, most of Capcom's 90s scrollers are comfortably better than SoR2 - Belt Action Collection/Beat-em-up Bundle proves this.

[CMcK]

As much as I like Final Fight it isn’t as good a game as SoR 2 or 3. While FF has the upper hand in terms of the amount of enemies on screen your character just feels like a magnet the antagonists are drawn too. It’s not as sophisticated as the way enemies work in SoR. And FF lacks the combos and specials too.
The bold presentation of Final Fight is great though and the Mega-CD soundtrack is tremendous.

[Nu-Eclipse]

As much as I like Final Fight it isn’t as good a game as SoR 2 or 3. While FF has the upper hand in terms of the amount of enemies on screen your character just feels like a magnet the antagonists are drawn too. It’s not as sophisticated as the way enemies work in SoR. And FF lacks the combos and specials too.
The bold presentation of Final Fight is great though and the Mega-CD soundtrack is tremendous.

Wth respect, it must be a long time since you last played FF.

FF was one of the very first to have sophisticated enemy AI as opposed to its contemporaries like Double Dragon and Renegades

Enemies in FF definitely don't just come towards you. They work to surround you in groups (usually when you're attacking other characters), characters like Two.P move in a way where they look to stay just out of your attacking range and (especially in later stages) they are quite calculated in picking their moments to attack you.

SoR may have more moves than Final Fight but the gameplay is always loose because of it - you don't actually need the exhaustive list of moves you get in SoR 2 or 3. Like I said, FF has tighter controls and tighter gameplay, which in turn lends to developing greater skills IMO.

Would pick Double Impact's soundtrack over FF CD's soundtrack but hey that's just me.

[Asura]

SoR may have more moves than Final Fight but the gameplay is always loose because of it - you don't actually need the exhaustive list of moves you get in SoR 2 or 3. Like I said, FF has tighter controls and tighter gameplay, which in turn lends to developing greater skills IMO.

Admittedly, if you're judging fighters by "move redundancy" (which was an oft-discussed thing, particularly in the 32-bit era), SoR2 does have a few issues in that area. I've known people who've played it for years who don't even know that every character has an exta move activated when you hold the attack button and release. It's just unnecessary as it serves no purpose; this is actually changed in SoR4 which makes them a launcher.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Admittedly, if you're judging fighters by "move redundancy" (which was an oft-discussed thing, particularly in the 32-bit era), SoR2 does have a few issues in that area. I've known people who've played it for years who don't even know that every character has an exta move activated when you hold the attack button and release. It's just unnecessary as it serves no purpose; this is actually changed in SoR4 which makes them a launcher.

Fair point. But special moves for launchers into combos on scrollers are not new (see Double Dragon Advance) and I'd still wager that even then they're not really needed at the basic gameplay level in SoR IV, even if the combo multiplier mechanic attempts to legitimise them.

[DeathAdder]

I much prefer FF to any of the SoR series.

I'm enjoying SoR4 but I think I'll quickly forget about it once I've finished it. I liked River City Girls more.