The difficulty curve is gradual in SoR2 and BK3 though. Imagine if R.Bear was fought on the bridge instead of Jet in SoR2 and having a flock of Big Bens to help him out, or if Shiva had his Round 7b AI at the end of the first stage in 3. (Oh....and you had to restart at the beginning of the stage if you lost to them)
For those looking into getting the japanese 3Goo physical edition, there you go: https://vrtvingt.fr/preview-streets-of-rage-4-aura-une-edition-speciale-japonaise/ Releasing on 07/30/2020 for 4600 yens.
Loving the "retro size box" for the Switch version. Should look nice along side my CIB copies of BK1-3
Game fucking rules - I've beaten it on Normal, Hard and Hardest in one sitting, and am now on stage 6 of Mania. Gets fucking hard right around when the judo guys start showing up.
I can't get way to buy this game and perhaps play the first three Streets of Rage games first. I haven't been playing Streets of Rage in awhile. So, I want to get into it before I play the latest installment. I'm really excited about it, regardless.
I mean, 2 is up for debate, but 3? In 3, the Stage 1 boss is Shiva. Like, jeez, regardless of how you can argue he's toned down or something, it's Shiva. Stage 2's mid-boss is "don't fight Roo, fight this other guy, even though Roo is way more dangerous!" Oh, and by this point you've already had to take on Big Bens, who suddenly now have the gimmick of "can't be thrown". Then you take on a double boss way earlier in the game than in any other entry. Then stage 3 has the bulldozer section. Then stage 4 is basically "new stage gimmick, the level". It's slightly easier than the other stages for some reason though. Then stage 5... suddenly feels like a SoR stage at it's normal difficulty pace so it suddenly feels way easier than all the others up to this point. Then stage 6 comes and you're basically guaranteed a bad ending route your first time through because the game is suddenly introducing subversive exploration-based gameplay mechanics to you with no prior notice or tutorial, while you're on a time limit. Considering how 4 and 5 felt easier than the others this to me feels more like a difficulty curve snafu - otherwise I'd have thought the game was deliberately designed around being a subversive entry for more experienced players.
Yeah I agree......as far as Streets of Rage 3 is concerned. Bare Knuckle 3 is a different story. Pretty much everything mentioned is part of the meddling that was done for the Western release resulting in a broken game. Shiva gets 2 lifebars on Normal and Hard in both BK3 and SoR3, but SoR3 does that wierd thing with the damage scaling (something that applies to everything else here). The Big Bens have low health on all difficulties in BK3 too so they're dispatched very quickly, on SoR3 they get two full lifebars on Hard. Danch and Victy get a single lifebar each on BK3 Normal, and 1 1/4 on Very Hard so you can take care of Danch pretty quickly if you want to unlock Victy. SoR3 gives Roo and Bruce 1 each on Easy, 2 on Normal, and THREE on Hard. Onhime and Yasha only get 1 1/4 lifebar each in BK3 on Very Hard. SoR3 gives Mona and Lisa 2 each on Normal. 3 on Hard Bulldozer is piss easy in BK3 - It only takes one hit to retreat as opposed to SoR3. So a simple back attack does the trick, it's not even a contest in 2P mode. The cutscene before Stage 6 in BK3 actually has Zan explain that the General can be rescued if they find and destroy two switch units, and Robo.X mentions the poison gas (plus judging by a quick machine translation on the manual, it's explained there too). SoR3 never does this (and of course it's Game Over if you're playing on Easy and trying to have an experience resembling BK3). BK3 also has a few instances where extra health pickups exist that aren't in SoR3. It's also much easier to hold onto your upgrade stars in BK3, even on Very Hard. I honestly think it's the easiest game in the series.
I keep forgetting there's a large amount of people who probably don't realise exactly how much the localisation team butchered the third game, and that BKIII is the "real" SOR3.
Another limited edition unveiled, this time from Merge: https://editioncollector.fr/collector/rayon-jeux-video/streets-of-rage-4-edition-collector-signature
Been playing this with a friend, absolutely love it. It's a passion project and you can tell, so much soul put into it. It feels alive. If you are on the fence about buying it just get it
Geez, how many different collectors editions are they gonna make, i already ordered the $200 with statues and vinyl records, i want them keychains, pins and bandanas too ='D there's also these
Moment of silence for anyone in Europe who ordered the LRG physicals There's also a lighter physical version with fewer goodies - https://editioncollector.fr/collector/rayon-jeux-video/streets-of-rage-4-edition-limitee Also both the Limited and Signature versions say they will be available for Xbox One?!
Oof, that's annoying. I've already bought the LRG version, but to be honest I actually prefer the 'standard' cover art seen on this version... the keychain and artbook would have been nice to have too. Oh well - the game's the thing. Looking forward to playing it whenever the LRG versions ship. = )
Yes, XboxOne is there: https://signatureeditiongames.com/c...ature-edition-xbox-one?variant=31683059515456 Pre-orders are starting today BTW. Personnaly, I'm not regretting my LRG purchase since the US version has exclusive covers. I have the different editions of SOR1, 2 and 3 (minus SOR3 US because fugly as hell), I do intend to have that one too :P Not intending to get the JP 3Goo edition though since it's similar to the EU Signature cover. Game can also be preordered on Amazon: https://www.amazon.fr/s?srs=18904601031 Another important update : LRG and DotEmu are gonna provide every Limited Edition buyers a Steam key to play the game. https://twitter.com/LimitedRunGames/status/1258086697084076034
Side note to anyone in EU territories who ordered from LRG - providing you didn't order the Limited Edition, you can still cancel your order if it's before the pre-order window closes at the end of Sunday: https://mobile.twitter.com/LimitedRunJosh/status/1258429690018246657 I've attempted to do this as I prefer the cover of the EU version, it's slightly cheaper, ships sooner and comes with a few neat freebies. Will update y'all if the cancellation goes through successfully. = )
If I hadn't pre-ordered the Limited Edition and had went for the regular LRG physical copy instead, I'd be so pissed right now. Good that they're offering refunds though.
Cancellation went through successfully - despite the support ticket e-mail saying a response would take 3-5 days, they had it all sorted within a couple of hours. So that's good news for any EU folks who got the regular LRG edition and want to support their local region's physical release instead! = )
Got together with a friend yesterday and we played through the whole thing cold as Blaze + Cherry on Normal. I expected good work from Lizardcube after The Dragon's Trap, but wanted to go into this with no outlook as to what it would or wouldn't be. Had a total blast. Only time we got frustrated was during the last boss fight, from the mech's horizontal sweep attack - this was a little hard to read. There were a few places where the difficulty wobbled or some asset was recycled instead of introducing a new one. Clearing a stage didn't really have the "oomph" I was expecting, either. But none of these nitpicks ruined the experience, we were enjoying the rest too much to care. The movement and weight in the player characters was fantastic - you can feel all the impacts, setpieces were hilarious (loved the dude kicking the bathroom stall), crowd control was manageable, and the whole thing didn't overstay it's welcome. I have nothing to play the game on but want to go back and try to improve, so it captured the feel of the series for me rather than the exact template. Bravo. Resetting your lives and score after each stage is a really cool approach. Lots of nice little things to nudge you towards playing for skill but not mandate it. I have no idea what the story was, we skipped it entirely. I'm also really impressed with the dynamic lighting on the characters, I did a bunch of experiments with this back in college and it's really difficult to have it not look like total ass.
It is a more enjoyable game with a second player. I've played through with my brother a few times now. Unfortunately haven't had much luck online. Full of people ragequitting because I'm focusing on clearing the screen rather than racking up massive combos :P
