4/5 ★ – TAFK's review of Streets of Rage 4.

This game is good, don't get me wrong. Playing this for the first time a few years after release, removed from the hype that was a new streets of rage game, I'm wondering what I want from a new entry in the series. Streets of Rage 2 is one of my favorite games of all time, it's classic, the music is incredible and the gameplay is butter smooth. This game feels like it is trying to capture what those older games had while adding just enough to make it worth a new entry in the series. The homages in each level are nice, but even on a first playthrough I could tell that Level 1 straight up was a carbon copy of L1 from SoR2 in a lot of areas. New enemies are nice but a lot of the returning ones just felt old after a while. Somehow this game gets so much right but just is one or two steps away from truly being great. I'd love a Streets of Rage 5 if we could get one but for now I'm at least greatful we have this as another game I can add to my 'I just need to punch dudes for an hour' list.