Streets of Rage 4: One Year Later.....The 'Mr. X' Nightmare Begins.
It's safe to say that 2020 was a rough year for many reasons. Being a gamer that year, was debatably less bad as there were great games coming out that could be enjoyed by many. One highlight for me was Streets of Rage 4. Streets of Rage is a classic beat em up series, that felt like the Sega equivalent to “Final Fight”, which I missed out on as a kid. My only experience with the series involved my friends playing it on their Sega Genesis at my house followed by seeing Axel Stone (the series protagonist), as a support character in the game Project X Zone 2. When the fourth game was announced after decades of silence from the series, I really wanted to give the game a chance due to the legacy and the striking visuals. It finally released on April 30th, 2020, and was a great distraction from what was going on. Streets of Rage 4 is possibly one of the most beautiful 2D sprite games I've ever seen, which boasted a soundtrack that was catchy and upbeat, followed by tight and satisfying combat.
Most games these days add content post launch, and while Streets of Rage 4 was a great package (not even full priced!), it's safe to say many of us were still hungry for more. Especially considering there were some classic characters like Max and Shiva, who had new boss iterations that were only playable via their classic selves, and brand new characters like Estelle who felt like they should've been playable. Thankfully the publishers, Dotemu, confirmed there would be more content added to the game. It was less of a matter of “if” and more of a matter of “when”.
Mr. X
Around April, a year after release, Dotemu announced the Mr. X Nightmare DLC. This would include: a new Survival mode, 3 new playable characters (Estelle, Max, and Shiva), four alternate colors for every character, a training mode, an option to unlock the Streets of Rage 3 version of Roo as a playable character (Roo was an unlockable character in the third game, and only a background cameo in a stage in SOR4), and new alternate special moves for every character that are unlocked from playing the survival mode. There is also a Training Mode added, though I believe this was just part of a free update and not required to buy the DLC . For $8, all of this is an absolute steal, and it's very generous of the developers to make it this reasonably priced.
The three characters are a blast to play as. Estelle is a hard hitter that uses gadgets like grenades, and probably the “strongest” of the ladies. She's a brand new character that starts off as an adversary, but then sees the error of her ways and joins the heroes near the end of the story. One of her specials is a command grab, that allows you to pummel on the enemy by hitting the regular attack button which is very satisfying. She also can't vault over enemies with her grabs like the other characters, but can switch positions from where to throw the baddie towards. Her ultimate move is one of the best in the game, as it showers the whole area with missiles and essentially guarantees every enemy is getting hit.
Max Thunder is one of the slower hard hitting characters, that deals with grapples and charging attacks. The lightning effects on some of his attacks are stylish, though I wish it was more prevalent. Ironically, despite being a wrestler, he's less of a grappler than the other ‘big body’ in the game, Floyd. He is able to throw enemies while in the air, and combo off his throws. Normally he isn't the type of playstyle I enjoy, but he is an exception. Max was first playable in Streets of Rage 2, and had his earlier versions as this game. He was the boss of the ninth stage, where he's forced to fight against his will.
Last, but certainly not least, Shiva. He’s a fast combo centric character that teleports all over the place, leaving “Ultra Instinct” like strikes. He is easily the best character when it comes to air beatdowns, and even has multiple air specials. Something that I still don't know how to feel with Shiva is that he can't pickup weapons and swing them around. Instead, he quickly kicks the weapon up, and launches them forward. This is due to Shiva joining the shaolin monkshood, and believing that his body is a weapon, and it is more stylish than it sounds. He was initially a rival and antagonist to Axel in previous games, but now has mutual respect for him and does not agree with the new antagonist's methods. The boss fight with him in the sixth stage was more of a test of skill, than antagonistic. Before this, only the SOR3 version of Shiva was playable.
As a bonus, players can unlock the Streets of Rage 3 version of Roo the kangaroo by entering a code to unlock him (just like in the SOR3). He is a blast to play as, though he's probably overpowered due to how many hits he can deal with his speed. His ultimate turns the tables and summons Bruce (the boss that made Roo fight back in SOR3), and this boss acts as an A.I partner until he's knocked out. This was a nice bonus that the developers did not have to do at all. Admittedly, I would love it if there was a fifth entry to the series, that makes Roo an updated playable character.
Initially, I was disappointed to hear that the new mode isn't story chapters, and survival modes can be very frustrating due to only giving the player one life. However, Mr. X's Nightmare is easily one of the most exciting survival modes I've played. It's challenging, but still reasonable enough and also encourages multiple attempts as you play with different characters. This is due to how the new custom moves are unlocked. There's many new enemies, and backgrounds are set in a VR simulator to defeat the evil Mr. X.
For clarification, Mr. X was a crime syndicate boss who was the main antagonist of the past three games. He was finally defeated fully in the third game, and his children (Mr. Y and Ms. Y) took over as the antagonist. Mr. X is now just a brain in the jar and the survival mode is a simulation built from what is happening in his brain.
Teelopes
The new music is up to par with the rest of the game's soundtrack, and composed by Teelopes, known for Sonic Mania's fantastic soundtrack. Mr. X's Nightmare also features some new weapons like a swordfish or a copyright friendly lightsaber. Something I didn't expect was the option to either go through random sets of stages, or to go through a set path that changes weekly. This further increases the replayability, and ensures gamers that its feel isn’t too repetitive. The custom movesets allow you to switch out special moves and ultimates, to give you a new way to play each character, and perhaps could help you enjoy playing as a character whom you didn't enjoy prior.
Streets of Rage 4 by Teelopes Presented by Mutant Ninja Records
Axel Stone
Lastly there is Training Mode. The purpose? To further understand each characters movesets, and to teach combos and specific quirks that may not stand out. For example, I didn't realize that Max could jump in the air while he has an enemy grabbed, or how exactly to do specific directional throws for each character. Even though Streets of Rage 4 isn't a fighting game, it functions like a 2D fighter to an extent. So having a training mode for players to practice and improve is always welcoming. Training mode is also simply a fun mode to just mess around in, especially since more options for it can be unlocked by playing Survival Mode.
So, one year later, Streets of Rage 4 is still a great experience and excellent revival of the series. This DLC expansion has further solidified this, and it may not only be one of my favorite games of 2020, but now 2021. Admittedly, it still would've been nice to simply get a new story chapter or two, perhaps focusing on the three new characters, but the survival mode pleasantly surprised me, and it feels far more repayable. If you haven't already purchased Streets of Rage 4, do yourself a favor and buy it. Especially since the DLC is bundled with the base game for just $20, and it's on every gaming system. Will this be the end of the support for the game? It's difficult to say, though I would say most likely. While I certainly wouldn't say no to more additions for the game, it's definitely at the ideal satisfactory level.
