Streets of Rage 4 brings all the fun of the original trilogy back to life in a brilliant new pack, complete with improved graphics, online and offline co-op, and updated gameplay.
Beat 'em up fans should feel right at home with Streets of Rage 4, and fans of the originals will find it even more familiar, but the game has a few new tricks up its sleeve. The controls for Streets of Rage 4 are simple, and the game has a handy movelist cheat sheet built into the pause menu, but there are some advanced tricks that take a little more practice.
Main attack
The main attack (X on the Xbox One controller) in Streets of Rage 4 is a quick strike that can be forged into a four to five hit combo, depending on which character you're playing. Landing the last hit in a combo will add a special knockdown effect to any enemies you hit, either sending them flying or knocking them straight to the floor. You can catch multiple enemies within your main attack range, and additional enemies will be hit if they stray into your path after you've already started the combo. Most enemies will be stunned once you start attacking, but watch out for combo breakers coming from other enemies.
Holding down the basic attack button will charge up your attack for a more powerful swing. It only takes a moment to charge up and you'll know it's done when you see your character flicker for a short while. The charge attack has its own unique animation and adds a bit more range to your swing, plus it propels you forward a bit with most characters.
Along with your main attack, you get a counter attack, which is more or less the same, but hits the enemies behind you. You can perform it by pressing back and main attack at the same time, but it's usually more reliable to use R2 on PS4 or the equivalent right shoulder button on your console. This attack is fast, usually allowing you to interrupt an attack you wouldn't have time to dodge, and some characters' back attack even trips over enemies.
Jump attacks
You can jump (X) and then attack to get closer to enemies more safely, but the jump button has other uses as well. When you are hit by a particularly strong attack, your character will fly into the air and land prone on the ground. If you press jump the moment you hit the ground, you can quickly get back on your feet, which can help keep enemies from being surrounded and attacked as soon as you get up.
Special attack
Pressing the special attack button (Y) will trigger another attack depending on whether you are standing still, jumping, or moving forward. As the tutorial message explains, using a special attack will drain some of your health, but you do get a chance to get it back. Part of your health bar will turn green after you use a special attack, and you can restore that health by making additional attacks before you get hit. Once you get comfortable with this, it will allow you to use special attacks much more often without suffering from a long penalty.
It's also important to keep in mind that special attacks can knock most enemies out of their attacks (with the exception of bosses and special enemy attacks). The "defense" special attack that you launch from a standing position has the added benefit of making you invulnerable during its animation. Since most characters don't have a great way to dodge attacks, you can use your defensive Special Attack to block most types of damage and then get back the health it was worth while continuing to attack.
Winding
As mentioned above, most characters cannot dodge in Streets of Rage 4, but there is an exception. You will unlock Adam Hunter, one of the stars of the original game, after beating the first few levels of the game. Double tapping from the front or back will cause Adam to dodge a short distance in either direction. It doesn't move very far and you can still get caught by attacks while using it, but once you get the hang of it, it makes survival and surprise attacks much easier. Similarly, double-clicking the directional button when Cherry allows her to run is a skill that no other character in the game has.
Blitz attacks
Double tapping a direction and then the main attack button with any character will trigger a blitz attack that is halfway between the main and special attacks. It's not quite as powerful as a special attack, but it has a lot of knockdown power and adds a bit of range to your attack. How much it adds depends on your character: Cherry gets a huge mobility boost, Floyd only gets a little more reach, and everyone else falls somewhere in between.
Fight
Speaking of Floyd, he gets a special effect from his fights that no one else does. Any character can grab an enemy by simply walking into it, allowing you to throw it, or get some free hits. However, when playing as Floyd, you will actually be able to move freely holding the enemy while keeping everyone else pinned in place. This isn't always the most rewarding move, but it's great if the stage you're on has obstacles that you can throw enemies into, or a ledge that you can just throw them off.
Thrown weapons
You can pick up items (B) and either attack with them or throw them at enemies. Pay special attention to items that don't break after being thrown, which includes most weapons such as bats and swords. Streets of Rage 4 explains that you can grab a weapon out of thin air, but you may not realize that this includes a weapon that has just bounced off an enemy. If you're close enough, you can repeatedly throw weapons at enemies, catch them, and throw them again to get the bad guys stuck in their falling animation.
