In praise of Streets of Rage 4's Surivival Mode

The new additions to Streets of Rage 4 have given a rebooted video game a modern, addictive twist.

The formula for running through Wood Oak City and clearing it of corruption with violence was well-established on the Mega Drive (Genesis to North Americans) in the 90s. Three former cops fighting their way through some brilliant set ups (the elevator level in the first game is still an all-time classic, soundtracked by music that wasn’t just ahead of its time in games, but years ahead of almost anything else, full stop. The third instalment of the series didn’t seem to resonate as much, and a big mess in European difficulty levels (and some cut characters) seemed to put a freeze on it, and despite it being well-suited for a TV series or a film, it seemed to lie officially dormant until a well-regarded revival in 2020.

Streets of Rage 4 carries on with the Mr X storyline with new and old villains and, like all good continuations, plenty of nods to the past. Whether it’s enemies, music or locations (obviously the elevator is there again), the newest version really uses nostalgia as a selling point, while modernising it for a new generation.

Fast forward to 2021 and the game’s makers have released DLC. Adding three characters, a new difficulty level and a couple of enemies added in places near the end of the game, as well as the extra costumes and moves for characters probably would have been enough, but they’ve managed to make it almost infinitely replayable through Survival Mode.

Think you against the world, tower-defence style in progressively harder fights, with a boss fight every four levels and the random chance to be sent back in time into a retro level, complete with scanline graphics. There are some levels with enemies that aren’t in the base game, and as you hit the higher levels, you might meet some variants of common enemies who can be quicker and more dangerous. You get wave after wave of foes to fight on one life, with a new desperation star move coming every 11,000 points.

It’s easy to pick up and play, it’s addictive and also carries the “just one more go” quality that makes good videogames into great ones. If Streets of Rage 4 had been just Survival Mode, it would have been enough, but as an addition, it is essential for people who already own it.

Even if you don’t play it, the soundtrack is well worth your time. Composed by Tee Lopes (Sonic Mania), the Survival Mode OST complements the original game, the reboot, manages to put its own twist on the mode and remains unmistakably in Lopes’ style. There’s one track in particular that wouldn’t feel out of place taking on the Hard-Boiled Heavies in Sonic Mania.

There’s one more twist to the format though. After every level, you get a choice of upgrade from 2-3 available. There doesn’t seem to be any logic behind what choice you’re offered, but they range from Glass Cannon (essentially, everyone – including you – get your life bars halved), or special moves costing 10% less life.

After a lot of play-throughs and struggling to get past level 26 with Blaze, I thought I’d collate some of the most useful upgrades.

HEY BUDDY

In levels where you’ll have at least a dozen opponents to clear, it can get a bit overwhelming, so having some help is really useful. This upgrade gives you a new friend at the start of every level, even if they perish the level before. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to last long and they need to be upgraded (picking up the same upgrade later) for them to be effective on offense – especially if you get stuck with Galsia.

The best ones are the snipers – Iron (the fat, suited guy with the gun) or Margaret (Molotov cocktail throwing punks) – can do a little damage from the sidelines, and it’s genuinely hilarious when they do register a takedown, but where they excel is as a distraction. When the level’s power enemies, or one of multiple boss characters, go after the buddy, it reduces the workload massively and makes things a bit more manageable. Well worth picking up.

A LITTLE CLOSER TO THE STARS

In the base game, players get an extra life for every 8,000 points they acquire. Here, with just one life, things are different. Every 11,000 points, you get a new star to throw a game-changing haymaker in a desperate situation. Stockpiling stars is no good as they don’t buy you extra points, so burn them if you have them.

But this upgrade adds a generous 40% to your score, and when upgraded, can go up to 70 and 90%, meaning you don’t have to put so much pressure on your combos to increase your score and get those elusive stars. This upgrade is well worth picking up early, when it can have a much bigger effect than later levels. There’s also an upgrade that gives you three extra stars for nothing. That’s 33,000 points worth of stars and works well just before a boss level.

JUMP UP/SPEED UP

Getting an extra jump seems to confuse the AI, which isn’t really sure what to do when faced with a super airborne player. Jumping up can also help you escape if you’re stuck in the corner. You can set up attacks, and even traverse gaps in the floor of the wrestling ring-style levels. Speeding up by 15% can help too, especially if you like to play as a slower, power character.

ELEMENTAL STAR/TACTICAL SUPPORT

I’ve left out a lot of the elemental moves here, because they’re all pretty effective. Adding electrical charge, toxicity and fire to weapons, blitzes and specials can stop a wave of enemies in their tracks. But Elemental Star is really interesting. You’re choosing for your desperation star move to do half the damage in exchange for adding the above effects to it. Is it now better for do less damage overall for the added flames or the 3-5 seconds of chip damage?

As for Tactical Support, this gives you 4 (or more on upgrading) rockets to rain down on the bad guys, as well as the damage from the star move. A nice perk.

BLOOD THIRST

This is a risky one. Suddenly, you’ve chosen to reject every healing item (they’ll still get you points, so pick them up) but they won’t restore life. Instead, you get 8% back of the damage you deal added to your lifebar.

If you’re confident you can do the damage, it’s worth picking up. Most of the purple-backed upgrades, like this one, have some sort of negative effect in favour of a push somewhere else. This perk is best taken after level 21 or so, where you’ve got a few levels to get used to it before the boss, but also has enemies with enough life to restore you if you need it.

It’s not for everyone though. Every time I’ve taken it on, it hasn’t helped me go forward and just made me a bit paranoid. You need lots of consecutive, high-damage hits to have an effect, and maybe my playstyle (lots of punches, throws and blitz attacks, very few specials and bridging into combos) doesn’t mesh well with this perk.