Summary
- SOR4 brings back classic characters with new styles, but some lack combo potential and special moves.
- Shiva is considered the strongest character in the game due to high speed, range, and combo potential.
- New characters like Cherry and Adam offer unique playstyles, with Adam being a versatile all-rounder.
It took twenty-six years, but fans finally got a new Streets of Rage game back in 2020 with Streets of Rage 4. Made by Dotemu, Lizardcube, and Guard Crush Games, it brought the classic sidescrolling brawler back in style with bolder, crisper graphics, new gameplay techniques like "Star Moves," additional modes, and a new story where the heroes must battle a new Syndicate headed by the Y twins, the children of Mr. X.
Still, five characters may have been enough for a roster back in the early 1990s, but SOR4 may need more than that to get players to pick it up, even with it now being on PlayStation Plus. This is why, on top of the base roster, there are three DLC characters, and thirteen retro characters to give players twenty-one brawlers to get to grips with. But when they go up against each other, some prove to be better than others.
21 SOR1 Axel
He Is So 1991
- Strengths: Good speed, strong range and attack power, good with weapons.
- Weaknesses: Weak range on Flying Knee, limited combo potential, lacking crowd control.
The Streets Of Rage 1 characters suffer overall in SOR4 as they lack the advances their sequel counterparts gained. They don’t really have any special moves, lack defensive options, and are generally quite dull to play due to the lack of combo potential.
They do more damage to make up for that, with SOR1 Axel having some particularly strong jabs. His range is pretty decent compared to the other Axels too, and his Pipe Rage Star Move does a lot of damage. But with his limited moveset, he's unable to capitalize on it as effectively as his counterparts.
20 SOR3 Dr. Zan
Requires A Firmware Update
- Strengths: Has many safe moves, long attack range, strong projectile attacks.
- Weaknesses: Can't use weapons, can't access special stages by himself, weak Blitz moves, slow Energy Ball attack.
Being more advanced, the Streets Of Rage 3 characters are perhaps some of the comfier retro characters to play as. They have more varied movesets, are nimbler on their feet, and have some powerful Blitz attacks. Some of them can be a dream to play, and others are SOR3 Dr. Zan.
The cyborg scientist can be quite fun to play, as he has some long-range strikes and powerful projectiles to make up for his lack of speed and jump. His Blitz Attacks are some of the weakest in the game, and he can’t pick up weapons either. Players must rely on his Energy Ball, which is the strongest projectile in the game, but requires careful use as it’s slow to fire.
19 SOR2 Axel
Perhaps Best Left In The Past
- Strengths: Improved speed, strongest Grand Upper.
- Weaknesses: Slow, weak punch range, limited combo potential.
Streets Of Rage 2 may be a classic game, but its characters lack the damage buff of their SOR1 counterparts or the mobility of their SOR3 predecessors in SOR4. SOR2 Axel particularly suffers as his jab recovery and throws are slow, making him come off like a weaker version of the regular Axel.
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Thankfully, his speed has been buffed with updates, making it easier to get his combos going, as players can just jab away. Still, like the other SOR2 characters, he can’t cancel his Blitz Attacks into special moves, limiting their combo potential. His reach is bad too, so like SOR1 Axel, he has to risk a pummeling to deliver a pummeling.
18 SOR3 Roo
Giving Players A Little More Than They Paid For
- Strengths: Strong special attacks, good against long-range foes, only SOR3 character with an Air Special.
- Weaknesses: Poor attack range, his best combos require a wall, can't use weapons, can't access special stages by himself.
SOR3 Roo was snuck in without warning as part of the Mr. X Nightmare DLC. Once it’s bought, players can hold Up+Attack on the main menu, press Start, then let go of all buttons and select Story Mode, where they'll see the boxing kangaroo on the character select screen. Players then just have to beat one stage with Roo to make him a permanent addition.
On the one hand, it’s neat to be able to play a character without spending real or in-game currency. He has some strong default abilities too, with his Here Comes Bruce Star Move coming in handy against bosses. The only default thing that holds him back is his strength, as his damage output and punch range are quite weak.
17 SOR1 Adam
His First And Only Outing For Decades
- Strengths: Good attack range, great weapon reach, strong jump kick and Roundhouse Kick.
- Weaknesses: Worse range than the other SOR1 characters, limited combo potential, lacking crowd control.
Like in the original game, SOR1 Adam is a powerhouse character with a decent attack range. His flying kick is better at connecting opening strikes than SOR1 Axel’s flying knee strike, and his follow-up strikes have the heft to put enemies down faster.
Still, with how basic the SOR1 characters are, players will have to rely on Adam's flying kick a lot to get in against enemies. He has the worst range of the SOR1 characters and, since they don’t have great crowd control, SOR1 Adam would be better off skipping his Slash Kick in favor of the Summon Police Star Move to get them off his back.
16 Floyd
Part Machine, All Man
- Strengths: Great damage output and reach, strong combo chains and grab combos, good at crowd control.
- Weaknesses: Very slow, bad jump kick, combo chains aren't as good as other characters (e.g. SOR4 Axel).
Floyd is essentially a mix of Dr. Zan and SOR2’s Max Thunder. He’s got the size, strength, and throws of the latter, with the cybernetic shenanigans of the former. Before it was patched out, his Magnetic Grab, where he could pull in people from a distance, gave him an infinite combo.
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Without it, he’s still a tough character with some good crowd-control options, like his Thunder Sphere move. But he’s also one of the slowest characters on the roster, if not the slowest, and he doesn’t have a sliding kick or tackle to make up for it as Max did. Players just have to deal with his tank-like movement as best as they can.
15 SOR1 Blaze
Best Of A Limited Bunch
- Strengths: Fast jabs with great range, strong flying kick, easy to grasp for beginners.
- Weaknesses: Low damage, low stamina, limited combo potential, no blitz, star moves or haymakers.
The original incarnation of the series’ femme fatale, SOR1 Blaze was considered the best of the trio in the first game, and she’s still the best here. What she lacks in strength she makes up for in mobility, as she can leap out of trouble as easily as she can leap into it.
Like Adam, she has a flying kick that gives her more range for an opening strike, and her basic combo is better at crowd control as it can hit foes standing behind her too. Still, her low damage is an issue, and she has fewer combo options than every other version of Blaze in the game.
14 Blaze
Still A Contender
- Strengths: Strong Blitz Attacks and Star Moves, high combo potential, great grapples and speed.
- Weaknesses: Low stamina, combo potential limited by updates, Hishou Souzan leaves her open.
Blaze used to be one of the best characters in SOR4, and she’s still a decent character now. It’s just that everyone else in the game got more buffs than her, while her old OTG (off-the-ground) combos got significantly nerfed. The updates were meant to stop infinite combos, among other issues, but it made a combo-heavy character like Blaze less fun to play.
That said, she’s still a sturdy character with plenty of tricks up her sleeve. She’s got special attacks to counter all sorts of foes, like the Uraken Uchi for crowds, Embukyaku for combo launchers, and the Kikou Shou for zoners. Nerfed as she is, Blaze still has plenty to offer.
13 SOR2 Blaze
Old School Cool
- Strengths: Strong combos and charge attacks, great Star Moves, great weapon range.
- Weaknesses: Low stamina, limited combo potential in open spaces, Hishou Souzan leaves her open.
Blaze is generally meant to be the agile one in the SOR games, yet SOR2 Blaze manages to have some of the strongest combos in the game. Her additional mobility, special moves, and Hishou Souzan combo chain can tear through enemies and their armor well if used correctly.
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Her Ring of Fire Star Move is great for crowd control too, as it lingers on the screen for a while, giving the player and their friends something to chuck their foes into for extra damage. They just have to be wary of her low stamina, and that her best combos work when her opponents have their backs to the wall.
12 SOR3 Blaze
Burning Through The Competition
- Strengths: Strong Blitz moves with invincibility, can blitz with all weapons, great weapon range, good at juggle combos.
- Weaknesses: Low damage output, poor jab range.
The third time seems to be the charm with SOR3 Blaze. That game introduced Blitz attacks, and she can use them with aplomb. Her Blitz moves don’t do as much damage as her other versions, but they have more invincibility, letting them connect through enemy strikes without them hitting her back.
Her Hishou Souzan also gained I-frames to make up for its damage reduction, making it a better tool against aerial opponents. She’s great at getting combos going and is stronger still when she’s holding a weapon. She’ll need it too, as SOR3 Blaze has bad reach on her standard punches.