One day, i get an idea to make
some Tier List meme because i want to be cool and updated i'm iseng. But
the image alone doesn't satisfy me. I also need to make some info and/or
analysis to back it up. So for the first of its kind, i decide to make tier
list of playable character of Streets of
Rage 4 (2020) because, i still love playing it, to this day.
Note: Some of the analysis may based on personal opinion than in-game formula so read with your own discretion.
Here it is. I decide to break it into 5 tiers based on balance between rating accuracy and space convenience. It's kind of hard to differentiate Streets of Rage 2 and Streets of Rage 3 version of Axel and Blaze other than one version have side rolling by double tapping the either up or down (which is useful to dodge gunshot) and the other don't have it. Plus, every character in Streets of Rage 3 have the ability to run entire screen by double tapping the directional move to left or right. To compensate their lack of mobility, Streets of Rage 2's characters have more attack power than their Streets of Rage 3 counterpart or so i think. Nevertheless, i put them all in B tier. Most of the star move that they have is usually repeated desperation move on first part or entire part of it. Note that order in tier column matters and it's in descending order from left to right. Here's the detail:
D-Tier: Dr. Zan
I stand by my point that Dr. Zan is bad and possibly the worst powerhouse in entire Beat 'em Up record. His grapples are unsatisfying to look and deal rather undermined amount of damage. Perhaps the most satisfying grapple that he has is: when he grabs enemies from behind, give them chokehold for a while, and later slam them very hard. His jumping shoulder ram has bad reach although its hitting spot is his entire body. His star move is pretty lame which is only shoulder ram in longer duration and deals bigger damage although still underwhelming for star move. On the plus side, his punching combo has good range although so-so damage. His blitz move is shoulder ram that has pretty good distance and it's perfect for initial attack which can also follow it up with his combo. If he picks any weapon, it turns into glow orb on his hand. I barely can feel the use of it other than if he throws it along the ground and deals pretty hefty damage. I notice there's a bug that when Dr. Zan has his hand on weapon, he can't pick up food item. Also i can't use iron pipe properly like in Mike Haggar's teaching when i play as him. So there's another reason to put him at the lowest tier.
C-Tier: Floyd
Some people say that Floyd's playstyle is mix between Max's (from Streets of Rage 2) and Dr. Zan which i agree and that's make him slightly better than his mentor. His jumping grapple is pretty much the copy of Abaka/Wei Yan from Warriors of Fate, only less satisfying because he jumps shorter which -i assume- makes the grapple move deals rather underwhelming amount of damage. Floyd can follow it up with his hopping kick but still feels unsatisfying. He can freely throws enemies to left or right as opposed to other character that can only throw them backward only. Plus he throws them with fairly great distance. So he deserves a couple credit for that. But there's more! He's the only one who can walk around while holding enemies at his hand and has double grapple where he slam enemies among each other on both of his hand. Moreover, it deals satisfying amount of damage with satisfying sound too. On negative side, i find it pretty hard for Floyd to initiate combo due to jab's reach/move speed ratio that doesn't feel up to the task. As i mentioned before in the article, Floyd's blitz attack is Linn Kurasawa's (from Alien Vs. Predator) Ki Blast but with less reach and faster input. His star move is laser cannon blast which is quite awesome. My tips is when play as him: approach enemies by using his hopping attack.
B-Tier:
Usually speedy characters don't impress me but Skate from Street of Rage 3 is one of the exception. For starter, he has the appropriate jab's reach/move speed ratio to initiate a combo. His blitz attack is he rushes forward and the rolling in mid-air. This move may looks reckless and fool but it's functional. For example when i against dashing Commissioner, Skate can win the maneuver. Damaging him without being hit by him. He also has another blitz attack when he equips knife or taser where he throw himself with the weapon forward. If equipped with taser, it becomes better version of Rayden's (from Mortal Kombat) flying attack where enemy will get paralyzed if the move connects. Another thing that i like from Skate is his back attack where he does backflip somersault which -i say- is the most creative way to deal with enemies that try to attack him from behind and it's fun to watch when it connects. His star move is where he goes full Sonic by rolling along the ground and ends the move with big kick. There's his unique throw when you press the attack button while he's in middle of vaulting: by using momentum, he throws the enemies in direction where he vaults. With such fluent mobility, he can harmlessly wreak havoc among The Syndicate's goons as if he's toying around with them which is appropriate to his appearance. On top of that, he will taunt enemies when he's idling. He's a trickster to be reckoned with.
As i mentioned before, Axel from Street of Rage 2 probably has more attack power than his Street of Rage 3 counterpart at the cost of lacks of mobility/moveset and i'm fine with that. Sometime, i'm simple man with simple thinking. Capability to deal bigger damage, feels functional enough for me. Also, maybe because i'm very accustomed to Street of Rage 2 than Street of Rage 3. His star move is whirling forward with fiery fist and ends with uppercut. What else can i say about Axel? He's better than Cody from Final Fight in terms of grappling technique and desperation attack. His blitz attack can be use as anti-air move. Plus, i can't say bad about burning fist. Well, except for Axel hand's health. It looks dangerous for himself.
I slightly prefer Axel over Blaze from Street of Rage 2 because he has more strength. So it doesn't mean that Blaze is worse than Axel. Blaze has more mobility marked by her moveset that has more range and her faster movement & attack speed. Her move star is repeated forward flip kicks and finish with higher flip kick. I like her throw moves. They all look powerful and graceful. Her back attack is quick sweep which probably allow her to dodge enemy's attack if timing it right.
Axel from Street of Rage 3 more or less the same as his Street of Rage 2 counterpart except weaker. His star move ends with higher uppercut that potentially can deal more damage. I prefer strength over mobility so that's why he's in lower preference than his his Street of Rage 2 counterpart but they're both still in Tier B. When he wield an iron pipe, his blitz attack become resembles Subutai's/Zhou Yun's (from Warrior of Fate) dashing uppercut which is pretty useful against group of enemies but do mind that there's moment of vulnerability after the uppercut. Due to his ability to run, he can land "Grand Upper" with more precision.
Blaze from Street of Rage 3 is pretty much the same as her Street of Rage 2 counterpart except weaker. That simple reason why i less prefer her from her prequel version. But there's significant difference on her star move: she does big flip kick and then does low drill kick like Cammy White from Street Fighter. She has 2 other blitz attack when she wield iron pipe and knife. Knife version is almost like Axel's blitz attack with pipe. While the pipe version is frontal block with pipe. I notice that her blitz attack's hitting spot is her entire body as opposed to her Street of Rage 2 counterpart that has hitting spot only on her hands. Which means her blitz attack is more safe and accurate on execution.
Max is the
obligatory wrestler character. He's big, slow and hits hard. I would love to
like him more but he's too cumbersome for me. He has poor jab's reach/move
speed ratio so it's hard for me to initiate combo with him. I have to use
either jumping dive attack or blitz attack (which is sliding attack). Nonetheless,
Max has great grappling moves as you expect from a professional wrestler. From
headlock to back breaker (should he grab his victim from behind). Sadly, he can
vault over his opponents to change side like other because he's too heavy to
do that and may break their shoulder in process if he do so. But needless
to say that his german suplex is the best among other. Spy_positivevocalization02.wav
Shiva from Street of Rage 3 is quite anomaly. He can't do side rolling and refuses to use any weapon unlike other Street of Rage 3 playable character. He's smug but not without reason. His attack speed is amazing and his jab's reach is great too. His blitz attack is dash with big kick at the end that can make enemies swept backward but he's vulnerable from their peer's attack from the front. I notice that his backward grapple move is De Ashi Barai which is the first throw that i learn back when i still Judo practitioner. He's fast and flashy but i can't survive long enough when i play as him maybe because i overuse his blitz attack. Maybe other can play as him more fluently. Nevertheless, he's deserved to be in Tier B place.
A-Tier:
It's tough decision to determine which one is better between Cherry and Skate from Street of Rage 2. I decide to pick the former instead even though her combo finish (which is steep diving punch) can sometime throws me off guard. But it's useful to relocate her quickly when beating boss who's currently in interruptible state. She can also escape from the crowd by jumping from enemy's head to other, using the jumping dive kick. She can grab enemies by jumping on them. Once she mounted on their shoulder, she can continue it with either furious punches that end with hurricanrana or she can jump away in the middle and follow up with diving punch. Her star move is she slides entire screen while playing her riff vigorously. She knows how to rock those evildoers!
Skate from Street of Rage 2 is stronger than his Street of Rage 3 counterpart. But i notice that his blitz attack only does hurting on first part of the flight. When he's rolling during the blitz attack, enemies don't take damage from him. As opposed to what his Street of Rage 3 counterpart has that has damaging part on entire move. Therefore his blitz attack requires more accurate aim. I don't know whether this is intended or not. But it's still powerful move. Speaking of powerful move, his back attack is stronger than what his Street of Rage 3 counterpart has. Whether i play Street of Rage 2 or 4, i like this exploit this quirk thus i like to somersault rapidly instead rely on combo like normal gameplay. His star move is spinning breakdance kick forward. If you know someone (or maybe even yourself) who like to exploit Eddy Gordo's repeated handstand kick on Tekken 3, you should know how powerful this Skate's star move is.
You probably wonder why playable character from first Streets of Rage is on at least Tier-A despite their simple move (they don't have desperation attacks and jumping dive attack, for example). Well, i usually prefer higher attack power than anything else when judging the same character of various version. Thus Axel from Streets of Rage 1 is on Tier-A. His sheer power and simple moveset are enough to beat the New Syndicate. He and his friends from Streets of Rage 1 have the same star move: calling the bazooka reinforcement. I prefer the Gatling gun reinforcement because it looks more cooler but beggar can't be picky as they said.
Blaze from Streets of Rage 1 is the weakest among the trio. Even so, her strikes pack quite wallop in Streets of Rage 4. I like her back attack which is roundhouse kick to her behind. The same as Axel, she can swing iron pipe in better way than her sequel version. By that, i mean her pipe swing is longer. My only complaint is: her jump is not as high as she used to have in the original game. Maybe it's intended for gameplay balance.
Axel from Streets of Rage 4 is pretty much polished version of his Street of Rage 2 counterpart. Why i don't say the Street of Rage 1 counterpart of him? That's because he is no longer able to side roll and run. His improvement is air special, better combo finish, and heavy attack. Basically, they trade the heavy attack with the combo finisher from original moveset which is good decision by them. Thus his combo finisher is double side thrust kick which can deal more hit in instance. While his heavy attack become single side thrust kick but with addition of short dash to ensure it lands on enemies. His star move is more fit for counter measure rather than offensive ones. That's because he stand still on the spot during the star move.
Blaze from Streets of Rage 4 is also improved version of her Street of Rage 2 counterpart. The improvement is quite the same with Axel and there's some extra. Her combo finisher becomes axe kick with little dash that will ensures her enemy will get that last hit of her combo. Her heavy attack becomes long range back hand that definitely has more range. She does little roll/ukemi after backward throw (Tomoe Nage) which is handy for repositioning.Her star move also more suitable for counter too.
S-Tier:
It's pretty easy to decide which one is better between two version of Adam. Adam from Streets of Rage 4 comes out as the winner simply because he has expanded moveset. The main strong point of him is his uppercut that makes enemies vulnerable to juggling and make it much easier to reset the combo. Combo reset is the key to success in this game. It allows you to give enemies extra hits or to grind those combo count (which can gives you bonus score for extra life). The uppercut is either part of combo or his neutral grapple move. His star move is probably homage to Terry Bogard's power wave. With ability to juggle enemies easier and deal bigger damage among the trio, Adam Hunter is simply the best. b ^_^ d
Adam from first Streets of Rage is just little bit inferior from his new ones. What with his lacking on moveset, he makes up with stronger power and -of course- the bazooka reinforcement. His weapon swing is the farthest because he bends forward which doesn't look ergonomic. His back attack is his jumping kick only reverse which isn't impressive. Nonetheless he's still my favorite, partly because he's my main in original game.
I heard the rumor that they will expand the rooster later. Which mean at some point i have to change the tier list. Bummer. :/
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