37. Streets of Rage 4 - Xbox One (5hrs)

The Bear Knuckle/SOR franchise is a suitable poster child for a dormant genre that once had heavyweight clout.  Most gamers of a certain age will have played Streets of Rage 2 at one time or another, and from those you'd be hard pushed to find anyone who wouldn't describe it as (at least) one of the best scrolling beat 'em ups ever made.  In the late 80s/early 90s Double Dragon/Final Fight clones were ten a penny in the arcades, but the format grew stale. With the advent of more powerful consoles and a frenzied push for 3D experiences, the genre was jettisoned in favour of uncharted territory and any genuinely well-known examples since could be listed on one hand. God of War/Bayonetta and their ilk are an evolution of the format, but the side scrolling, meat in oil drums, gutter pipe toting army of doppelganger style 2D beat 'em up is a very specific thing.  Since 1992 the biggest splash made by a game of this type (or thereabouts) was probably when Castle Crashers had its 15 minutes on XBLA.  It was a fun game, but it really wasn't a patch on the genre's best.  The top efforts since remain comparatively unknown.  Some quick shouts: Scott Pilgrim (which nailed the more simplistic approach), Mother Russia Bleeds (cracking in co-op, deserved more attention), Wulverblade (quality solo, outstanding audio).  The recent indie boom has paved the way for a mini resurgence, most of which have flown under the radar.  There's a Jay & Silent Bob effort with an 8-bit style on the way.  Slaps & Beans are doing their thing if that's your thing (who?).  There's even one where you parry your way to victory (Way of the Passive Fist, and it's actually quite good!).  Anyone heard of Coffee Crisis, Fight 'N Rage or Dusty Raging Fist?  Hello?  Enough preamble then, what I'm getting at is that the scrolling beat 'em up has quietly made a comeback in recent years, but you'll often have to sift through online stores to find them.  The release of Streets of Rage 4 is like when a big wrestler returns to the ring and all the pretenders continue to strut their stuff with as much gusto as they ever did, but everyone knows the Big Daddy is back.  I probably shouldn't have gone for a wrasslin' analogy as I've never really seen it, but I imagine that's what happens.  More importantly than anything I've just typed, Streets of Rage 4 is the best game mentioned so far, and that includes Streets of Rage 2.  And Bayonetta.    

Crucially, Lizardcube decided that the key to refreshing the franchise close to 30 years on was to refine and tweak the foundations.  There's never been a scrolling beat 'em up that could accurately be described as notably superior to SOR2, so it makes perfect sense that this feels closer to that than the entry in between (no.3 is a good game, but it's rarely described as a great one for a reason).  The roll move from that game is absent, and the characters here feel weighty again.  Each of the four street brawlers has roughly the same number of moves available, all of which are executed with the same inputs as before, so straight off the bat this feels welcoming and familiar for anyone seeking that sweet Sega nostalgia hit.  The more you play, the more you begin to appreciate the deftness of the evolution - yes, it's SOR2 at its core, but the subtle tweaks appear to be successful across the board.  Moves can be chained together far more effectively than before, with air juggles now a viable option for combo seekers.  Previously energy sapping specials now only drain health permanently if you take a hit before a getting a few extra punches in yourself.  Adam suffers from this as the drain on his specials is pronounced, whereas Axel can be slightly more liberal with his big hitters.  Floyd and Cheery represent the new blood in the roster, but they're both familiar.  Floyd is Max and Cherry is Skate, and both characters scream early 90s.  They've either been designed by someone who deserves to be sniggered at (metal arms beefcake & Guitar punk grrl? lol), or they're the brainchildren of someone who absolutely gets what slightly shitty scrolling beat 'em up characters are supposed to be.  Either way the end result is perfect, and the whiff of jank to the cutscenes leads me to believe it's deliberately on the nose.  Well played says I.  Lalalala.  Adam can dash, Cherry can run.  Floyd can barely retreat from an exploding barrel without taking a hit.  From my two and a half playthroughs so far, none of them appear to be noticeably useless, although Adam (a secret character of sorts anyway) does seem to flex quite considerably in most key areas.  The grunts are a good mix of easy to dispatch and slightly annoying, the stages are tightly designed around a 3 life starting point and the bosses are decent.  Of course, everything is better in co-op, but this is easily the best solo SOR experience. 

Visually it's a triumph, I had some doubts from trailers but the finished product is absolutely glorious.  Blaze's nork-walk looks silly, and Barbon looks like a Slimfast Stacy Keach wearing Simon Cowell's strides, but the overhaul is a resounding success on the whole.  At first I thought the tunes lacked a certain something, but the score came alive in the back half, and when I went straight back in I realised the early efforts are quality too.  Nailing the audiovisual package was always going to be tough, but it gets a 'good job very well done' on both counts from me.  

It's the right length, the rinse & repeat nature of the core gameplay is enough of a hook to provide many hours of post credits enjoyment and the score attack element works well.  My only real gripes are the slightly weird screen push problem that can occur in co-op (a player being left behind feels a bit wrong for the series), one or two too many repeated boss fights (essential to the genre, but even so...) and the fact that numerous stones appear deliberately unturned with an eye on DLC.  This could have been the complete package, but it probably won't be for another 18 months or so, and I'm fine with that. 

As a series update it's even better than the excellent Sonic Mania, and I fully endorse this trend of faithfully updating franchises without fucking with the elements that made existing fans fans.  All eyes on Battletoads (titter).  [10] 

It's not really a 10, but it gets a lockdown point for arriving at just the right time to cheer all the old Segaboys up. 

Delta and Final are the pinnacle of the R-Type series IMO

Questor wrote:

Delta and Final are the pinnacle of the R-Type series IMO

Delta is great, never played Final unfortunatley.

There's a Final II coming out soon for current gen apparently.

7. Resident Evil 3 [7]
This does well in distinguishing itself from the Resi 2 remake year and making something different of Nemesis after Mr X. The first couple of hours in particular set a great pace, with some nice set pieces and the relentless threat of the big guy creating an almost Terminator-like atmosphere. It's a shame it can't keep that up, and the back half of the game is almost all indoors, with Nemesis relegated to boss duties. The curtailed length isn't necessarily an issue on its own, but some sections just aren't interesting enough because they lack substance. It's still a solid game because the foundations are there from last year, but also pretty disappointing. 

8. Final Fantasy VII Remake [9]
This gets so much right as a remake of one of my favourite games, and works well as a modern JRPG. Most of all it gets the locations and characters spot on, fleshing them out in ways that feel consistent with how I always imagined them. Sometimes it's enough to simply look up, or down, in Midgar to be struck by the remarkable structure of the place. And if the incidental dialogue and verbal sparring isn't Naughty Dog level, it does more than enough to give the main cast plenty of personality. It's great to see something with such iconic design as FFVII re-realised with current gen tech, while retaining the unique tone of the original.

Not that that would count for much on its own, but fortunately the adjusted combat is really very good, especially the way materia is deployed again to add tactical considerations to a more action heavy fighting style. Best of all, it feels like something new and yet faithful at the same time, as you switch between characters and wait your turn for moments to trigger powerful attacks and spells.

The game's problems come from stretching out the original's opening section to a full length game. There's padding, bland side quests, and a lack of pace in some of the important story sequences. It's also very linear for the most part, because you're mostly restricted to a particular area at any given time. Still I'd rather have the excess than trim it right down, because at least it has the scope of an RPG this way. It doesn't take too much out of the story and themes either, which are mostly well delivered, with some emotional punch as ever. Even the ending, as overblown as it is, promises interesting things going forward.

In all honesty, I know it's not that good if you look at the overall quality compared to some other modern AAA games. But a lot of the issues are also what make it work as a remake, such as a commitment to making room for traditional JRPG dungeons, which I really appreciate. And most of all, the first play through I had of it was one of the most incredible gaming experiences I've had in years. I don't think that's pure nostalgia, it's also down to the enduring excellence of the source material, and the care with which it's been treated to create another hugely memorable adventure.

You probably should have played Uncharted 2 instead, the series has been on a downward spiral since then.

The collection is free atm until May 5th, regardless of what you think of them it's well worth adding to anyone's library.

Jon's order would be 2>4>1>3, which is slightly wrong but not massively so.

38. Super Buster Bros - SNES (50mins)

Always enjoyed two player Pang on my mate's Amiga in the early 90s, but assumed a ball bounce puzzler where you control the character would've aged pretty horribly.  Turns out I was wrong, it's stood the test of time pretty well.  It's fairly simplistic in the Bubble Bobble one screen mould. with various puzzle patterns that require planning by the back half of the game.  Plans go awry and it plays well when you're readjusting in a flap.  For what it is, which isn't quite my cup of tea, it's very good.  I played on Easy and was glad to have save states by the end, so I'd imagine Normal mode would be well beyond my patience threshold.  Loses a few points for a bizarre lack of two player mode on SNES, which is near Final Fight levels of crying shame.  84%

Mmm. Not heard of it. What platforms, I wonder...

Edit: all of them, it seems...

Yes. Yes...

Nnnggg

It's £12 not £4 - frickin switch tax

I should get to double-figures this year. Lockdown is helping. Did I manage it last year?

Have 2 games on the go that I can finish soon. Plus another 2 that will take a while. Short games on Game Pass will boost it too.

17. Street Fighter: The Movie (PS) - 45mins 

Playing through some games on my modded PS Classic, I thought I'd delete this curio after a few rounds but actually saw it through with Ken.

I always thought this was meant to be a terrible unplayable mess? Seemed fine on the surface tbh. I'm sure missing frames and hit detection differences make this terrible for experts ala HD Remix, but I strung together all the basics with specials and supers with no problems. 

It felt like SSFII Turbo enough to me, maybe if I'd played for longer and with a few different characters I would have started to notice its faults.

Of course it's not worth playing over SSFII Turbo, and it's redundant to anyone who doesn't have a soft spot for the terrible movie its based on like me.

One I'll keep on the Classic which I was not expecting.

6/10 

My list

Worse than PS MK Trilogy, but better than the 16-Bit versions. For what it is they're ok.

18. Until Dawn: Rush of Blood - 2hr 30mins 

This started off in jaw dropping fashion, but once the novelty of the tech wore of it revealed a merely good on rails shooter instead of a revolution of a genre that's lost its way.

Like the Wii shooters before it they just can't match the feeling of holding a light gun and actually aiming.

That's not to say it's not good, I really did enjoyed it, but it's not a patch on Virtua Cop etc.

8/10 

My list

5. Streets for Rage 4 (Xbox One) - 6/5 - 3hrs??
Never played a SoR before, but it really is quite possibly the best beat ‘em up around. But that’s not saying much. This is one for the retro heads. Cos it’s amazing how far games have come and how unenjoyable these retro games can be.

SoR4 was enjoyable in some parts but I just found the whole experience a bit frustrating. Too many enemies with insta-moves, getting trapped between attacks, being bounced from one attack to the other, getting rushed - cancelling moves into a dodge or something like that would’ve done wonders. Other little frustrations too spoil the game. I was also disappointed there were no stages in a different style to break up the repetition like a chase sequence or something.

Still, thankfully I didn’t pay for it , it was on Game Pass. I’ll mark it up a notch for that.
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