Streets of Rage 4 Characters Tier List

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. :/

Nekketsu Oyako (PSX)

Hey, everyone! Guess what? It's another time for me to review Side-Scroller Brawler game. This one is pretty obscured and it's made by Techno Soft which usually made shoot 'em up game. One of them is Thunder Force III. Anyway, it's Nekketsu Oyako (1994) on Playstation. 

Thanks to PentarouZero for the hack and Al LaPrade for the translation. According to mobygames.com, Nekketsu Oyako means "Hot-Blooded Family". Does the story related to some family that get angry over something? There's no opening story in the game so i should consult to mobygames.com again. To summarize it: a scientist who also a middle-aged housewife Saeko Hibino has been kidnapped by bad guys to help them complete their ultimate secret doomsday weapon. Her family certainly can't stand idly. They're up to rescue her. They are...  

 

...Toratarou Minoru who's the freeloader of the household but he's the assistant of the scientist's. So he has fairly solid reason to rescue her. I notice that they put "Dimensions" on biodata which is the three measurement. You know the sizes for cloth design. The size of breast, waist, and hip. Those ones, yes. By the way, Tora wields lightsaber spirit saber "Murasame".    

 

Second, there's Rio Hibino. Saeko's the one and only daughter. He wields hammer that apparently made by the same material as T-1000 because its head can transforms into hand shape. Anyone who dare to mock her due to her breast's size the smallest among other, will get smacked by her hammer on their mouth.  

Lastly, there's Rando Hibino. Saeko's husband. He looks the most hot-blooded ones. Obviously, he's very angry. Because who else helps him maintain his beloved collection of tropical fish, besides Saeko? Not Rio. She prefers fish as eatery than pet. You can already guess that the cast are the trinity a la Final Fight. Rio is the fast but with weak power, Rando is the strong guy but slow, and Tora is the average ones. Obviously, i choose Rando immediately!

World 1. Mega Tokyo 2064   

 

The first enemy that i encounter is these boxers which reminds me of Battlin' Boxer Headgeared for some reason. They smokes cigarette! They're definitely bad person. I will teach them a lesson that it's not good idea to smoking. Especially near me!

 

The control is quite generic. D-pad to move around. "Square" button to attack. "Cross" button to jump. Hitting enemy consecutively will result in combo. Pressing attack button while jumping, will result in jumping kick. Or if you hold the down button on d-pad while doing so, Rando will performs body press which can be used to downed enemy like a professional wrestler. I forget to tell you that much like Mayor Mike Haggar, Rando is ex-wrestler too. No wonder he's my favorite.

 

Then there's weird bloke that swing chain with spiked ball at its end and his name is Vandamme. I'm sure he's not related to Jean Claude Van Damme or Rob Van Damme. Just no way.

Damn that guy on left corner who also smokes in public space. I'll will deal with him once i rescue Saeko. Suddenly in this shopping district, i find bazooka that i can use to destroy my enemies. Soldier_taunts17.wav

 

Not only taking cigar break in public space, the boxers also drive on pedestrian walkway. What a bunch of annoying scumbag, they are. Each time i get knocked down, i get temporary invincibility which makes me immune to all damage for some period and also become transparent a bit like this.       

 

On the shopping district, i encounter these strange girls with weird tail that like to throw bomb at me. If i hit them once, they will run away while shouting "Gomenasai!" which mean "Sorry!". How adorable. I believe they wear trouser that slightly paler than their skin tone, so don't imagine them being bottomless there. I have theory on the setting based on "Private Earth Defense Force" insignia at the background of main menu that i saw. The Hibino family is private detective/investigator that have to deal with evil aliens. I think it's pretty common  in Japanese manga/game, that a small group (or maybe even just one person) of private earth defender that will thwart some evil alien's plan. Thus it explains why the enemies in this game are wacky or weird, they're (supposed to be) alien from outer space. What's Man In Black? Never heard of it. Really!

 

Nikita here's the first boss. She looks quite normal. That claw and pigtail. Apparently, she's mix between Cammy and Vega, both from Street Fighter 2. On the other hand i find disc that maybe not as fast or powerful as Predator's disc in Alien Vs Predator, it get the job done. Even with fire support from that chopper, Nikita is pretty easy to deal with.  

 

After she get some beating, Nikita retreats as she comes in: by helicopter. Suddenly, giant whale devours me from beneath the road! I'm sure i will be fine. Just look at Lt. Allen in Metal Slug 2 or X! Even after that, he appears on next installment of Metal Slug.

World 2. Big Wave  

 

See! I'm fine. I bet you never heard of Yunus/Jonah beats the hell of octopi that wears boxing glove within whale's stomach, don't you?

 

Or even punching lots of Blobman in their gut. In case, you aren't sure what they are made of. There's H₂O writing on them which means they're made of water but also alien-ness.

 

Once i reach the front, the whale decides to spit me out even though i do him a favor by defeating every boxer/octopus/blobman/barrel inside of him thus cleaning his digestion system for good. The insolent git.  

 

After clearing the whale's back from another wave of enemies, i encounter Taka Karinow in his head. Taka here is Hayate Kanzaki from Star Gladiator, if he ditches his lightsaber and start to practice Morote Seoi Nage and somersault kick a lot. He's really annoying. If you get too close, he will do shoulder throw at you. If you jump toward him, he will anti-air kick you. He manages to squeeze lives from me so many. My advice is: using quarter-circle-forward (a.k.a hadou ken motion) move. I forgot to tell that there's quarter-circle-forward (qcf) move in this game. In Rando's case he dashes and later does leaping uppercut that can deal large damage. The thing is the input consistency is fairly finicky and if the game recognizes the input, you will move slightly to lower plane unintentionally.

World 3. Herograw Island

 

Eventually, i beat Taka but he jumped away from the scene which mean he will be back. Such fun! [Whale-sized sarcasm]

But at least the whale takes me to this amusement park where i powerbomb a masked claw freak named Freddy. He most likely get inspiration from 90s Slasher Horror movie. Did i mention that Rando is ex-wrestler? Thus explaining why he loves performing wrestling move at the enemies. 

 

Merry-Go-Round in middle of water? That just bad. This punk with rollerskate usually harmless but once he picks any weapon he becomes quite aggressive.

 

Then i ride on rollercoaster. No seatbelt. Only boxers come after me from either foreground or background. Even though, i'm not seating. I'm pretty safe from physic on this ride for some reason although there's bit of wind that prevents me from moving forward too much. Because there's bunch of boxer here, it's perfect time for "Old Man Dynamite" which is Rando's desperation move. As per usual, it costs some of my health but it deals big damage on enemies on entire screen! It's activated by "circle" button (default).

 

The rollercoaster went of the rail and i end up in this magma cavern. I like to show you combo that i get and Freddy(s) ride cart that constantly appear in this cave. Then one of them give me a good beating. Bastard!

 

If you think that roller coaster goes off the track is too much. Then check this fire pillar that periodically burst! Safety and Health inspector will blow their mind on this miserable safety standard for sure. Lovely to see but still deadly.

 

The boss in this level is Hammer. He's so big that my punch's height goes through his crotch. He can shoots beam blast and punches hard thanks to his metal arms but he's nowhere as hard as Taka. After defeating him, the ground explodes and throws me into next stage...

World 4. Sky Gaia

 

This looks like Babylonian hanging garden. Whatever this place, it's home to this big fellow Osborne. Sometime they thrown some punch but most of the time they just walk up to me. They're big and durable target for sure.

 

There's also one-man flying machine that able to drop bombs. Just jump kick them, nuff said. I just realize that Rando has ability to double jump. Usually, the big guy can't do double jump, you see.

 

This jetpack-wearing guy probably has the more practical idea for flying troop. Sadly he's the only one that exist throughout this game. God bless this sod.

 

Inside the castle, i get trapped by tornado. Sniper_sf13_magic_reac07.wav

 

Unlike previous bosses who have 2 layers of health bar, Leon here only has 1 health bar. But he's adept at hit-and-run tactic. He strikes me with charging swipe across the screen then vanish. Or he appears above and dive kick then vanish. He's almost perfect assassin. Almost, i said. If only he isn't so tall that makes him big target, that is.

World 5. Big Black

 

Big Black is the evil organization but not as cool as Mad Gear from Final Fight. Speaking of that Capcom's famous beat 'em up game, you know one of thing that Final Fight does it right? The absence of re-fighting the bosses that player defeated in previous levels, that's what. Maybe my opinion there is based on my bitterness on fighting Nikita again but this time with no throwing disc and bunch of Sharon(s). Those ladies with dark visor have ability to do crescent kick as anti-air measure and perform Frankensteiner on you. They're pretty annoying to deal with. 

 

Swinging giant spiked ball along with Vandamme(s). Just like what i need. [Wrecking ball-sized sarcasm]     

 

And of course, rematch against Taka Karinow. You can use the swinging morningstar against him if you can punt him there. That is.

 

On next floor, giant gears are about to crush me unless i break these shutter in time. You can use uppercut move but i prefer dashing move that can hit it multiple time and deal considerably heft damage too. Oh, yes. There's dash move. You can either execute it with double tap on d-pad like usual or you can use dash button ("R1" button by default). After dashing you can follow it up with 3 input: A) Pressing attack button for regular dashing attack B) Jump and then pressing attack button for jumping dash attack. I find it this move can deliver most hits and damage among the other. C) Pressing attack button while holding down on d-pad for sliding attack. This move deal least damage but maybe allow you to slide pass some enemy's attack harmlessly.

 

You also get to fight Hammer again. But if you knock him into gear, he will be instantly killed. Demoman_taunts16.wav

 

This floor is long corridor with glass wall and the chopper provide fire cover for the enemies. How cliché. I mean i already saw this situation on Gekido - Urban Fighter.  

 

Look at this stupid punk! Think he can carries bazooka with that slim muscles that he has. After keep failing to lift the weapon. he explodes on his own. Moron. Actually there's item restriction among the players too. Rando can use bazooka but he refuse to use machine gun or sniper rifle for some reason. Though i haven't prove it, Rin and Taro don't possess enough strength to carry bazooka for themselves. I know for sure that they can't consume can of beer to replenish their health due to age restriction. It's pretty neat touch. By the way, i have to fight Leon again in this floor with no noticeable change. So let's move on to the final floor: 50th.

 

The bald fat bloke over there is surely the final boss because he looks like Mad Dog from Mug Smasher. But he won't fight me right away. He summon dozen of boxers first.

 

Next, he calls bunch of Sharon. Look at his smug face. He knows exactly what he's doing. >:I

 

After a batch of Colonels (which are militaristic mook that like to carry gun). The final boss finally get into the action himself. He uses Uzi like Mr. Y from Street of Rage 4. He can gives you some nasty smack sometime when you're near him. My strategy is simple: approach him from side and sometime back off when necessary. I saw him has reloading animation which is reasonable touch.  

 

On rather shocking twist, the fat bloke has Masked Rider/Kamen Rider's belt thus he transforms into superhero-like. Now, i know why his name is "Herograw". Engineer_autodejectedtie02.wav

 

He ditches his submachine gun but now he strikes even harder and has ability to shoot giant beam from his hands. I waste lots of lives thanks to his uppercut and kicks. Also i just realize that i have limited continue all along! Heavy_negativevocalization04.wav

I hate to say this but the key to defeat him in more effective way is to spam the desperation attack. It cost less amount of damage compare to get hit by Herograw even once plus it deals quite considerate amount of damage on his health bar. The machine gun that dropped by Colonels can also help you in this final fight *snatch!* but Rando refuse to use it as i have said before.  

 

Because of many "Old Man Dynamite" move Herograw's demise, the Big Black HQ breaks down with lots of explosion. It's within 101 Villain's rule that "Thine great lair will crumbles into dusts along with thine demise". To be honest, i like this majestic floating island but sadly it's made by evil aliens so it must be brought down for good. Hey! What about Saeko and her family?  

 

Because they're the heroes of the story, they survive naturally. Saeko is there being carried by Rando. You have to take my word for it.

 

See? Saeko looks safe and sound there. Afterward, Hibino family's life returns to normal. I mean the one where they don't have to punch alien for the Earth's sake. That's their part time job. I presume Randou choose office work than continue his wrestling career because he's banned because of him being too strong for his peers. Also scratch that "Students that comes to school late while bread on their mouth" cliché on Rio there!

 

Unknown to Rio and Rando, it seems Saeko mix some mysterious medicine on the breakfast. Happy end!

If you wonder what's the headline on newspaper that Taro read. This is most likely it. If you look closely on that shopping district, there's Big Black trademark everywhere there. I think Big Black operates in toy industry and also amusement park but just only on surface. There's still the fact that Big Black is evil (possibly alien) organization. They can't be brought by the law maybe because they have strong lawyer. So the only solution is some vigilantes destroy Big Black with righteous motive. If they succeed no one will files lawsuit against those heroes because everyone know that Big Black is bad. With its demise, the heroes did everyone a good favor.

 

Techno Soft 's Nekketsu Oyako (1994) is decent Side-Scroller Brawler game. The gameplay is pretty solid and enjoyable. The moveset is functional. QCF move is powerful and applies for every character. Because the its input is slippery, you have to buffer it with jab for example. I mean you input QCF command while in jab animation for better execution. Dashing attack also pretty powerful and easier to pull out. There's the usual grabbing system where you automatically grab enemies when you go near them and you can proceed with up to 3 grabbed attack and/or throw them to left or right. Unfortunately there's not much range that the throw can cover, meaning you ability to use enemies as impromptu projectile against their peers is pretty constricted. There's not much distance that the double jump can reach so it's only more likely useful to chase after flying enemies. The desperation move feels very powerful but it may leads to player to overuse it which i don't like. The enemies are well-varied and interesting to look. Sadly Blobman and Ayne (the octopus with boxing glove) only appear in level 2. I can't care more about Gyro, the pilot of one-man flying machine though. That guy can be very annoying thanks to his bomb drop. The boss design is pretty interesting. The bosses have 2 layer of health bar at most. The difficulty comes mainly from their attacking power and unique move. Taka Karinow is very tedious to defeat though. The game only consists of 5 levels which feels pretty comprehensible and don't feel too dragging. The weaponry is varied from the usual throwing knife to bazooka and they feel useful. Tora and Rio can't use bazooka but they can use grenade/bomb just fine which pretty useful against crowd of enemies. It's such unusual feature that you can drop weapon that you hold by pressing "Triangle" button (default). Maybe it's there for ammo conservation. There's quite special feature on player's health system: you can stack health up to 2 health bar. So even you already have full health, you have reason to keep chucking Sushi/Chicken Drumstick/Milk/Soft Drink/etc. I notice that there's Playstation console as score item besides pendant, coins, gold plate, or doll, which i feel funny yet reasonable. There's also trap that can catch you off guard like falling advertisement billboard a la Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game in Stage 1 or Falling chandeliers in Stage 5. The music is pretty good. While the graphic is in rough quality, i love the wackiness of the settings and the enemies.

 

I usually don't like game with limited continue, but i can recommend you to play Nekketsu Oyako (1994). Even though it's made by developer that is famous for their shoot 'em up games . My tips: use desperation move against crowd enemies or troublesome bosses. You have limited continue afterall so no need to be so idealistic/stubborn to play it fairly like me. Anyway, how often you can fight final boss that transform into alien superhero?

It's been so long that i made the character stats analysis and now i do it again for this occasion. The character are sorted from left to right in character select screen.

There's 3 stats while highlighted: Power, Speed, and Skill. Power is the measurement of attacking power, nuff said. Rando has the highest Power stats because he's ex-wrestler. Therefore his primary stats is: Strength at 4/5. I notice that his jumping attack isn't the usual dropkick. Je just do some powerful kick which less sacrifice his balance. That means he like to keep steady and combine that with his wrestling technique, i can say that his Dexterity is 3/5 which is his secondary stats. Not only he has the most attacking power, but also he has more variety on his grapple. Jumping while grabbing his opponent will initiate jumping power bomb like the Mayor Mike Haggar himself. Holding down on D-pad and pressing attack button while grabbing, will make him performs German suplex. He has lots of similarity with the famous Metro City's mayor. No wonder he's my main.

 

Rio has rather funny twintail and also has the highest Speed stats. She move the fastest among other but his attacking speed isn't significantly fastest. Still her primary stats is Agility at 3/5. I think the hammer requires appropriate amount of strength to wield. Moreover, her desperation move is: she twirl it thus creating powerful tornado around her that send her enemies flying high. Therefore her secondary stats is: Strength at 2.5/5. Her downward jumping attack makes her bounces over enemies nonchalantly like this...

 

I consider that action quite rude. Stabbing enemy's car with metal middle finger all over the place. If you like Linn Kurosawa's (From Capcom's Alien Vs Predator) playstyle, you should pick her in this game.

 

Lastly, there's Toratarou who doesn't have any blood relation with any of family member. He has the highest Skill stats. I reckon that it's measure how well the character's moveset on creating multiple hit. Because of that his primary stats is Dexterity at 3.5/5. He certainly has some quality on his brain. If not, Saeko won't pick him as her assistant surely. Therefore his Intelligence is 3.5/5 which also act as his another primary stats. His jumping attack feels weird as he will jump to other direction once it connects with enemies. He's the only one who can run along the screen as opposed to other character who can only do short dash. His QCF move is slashing his spirit saber "Murasame" that can be executed continuously by keep tapping the attack button. Taka Karinow seems can do nothing against this move. So he deserves credit where its due. Demoman_goodjob02.wav