Streets of Rage 4/Systems

Mechanics

Streets of Rage 4 gameplay is based on the mechanics developped for Streets of Rage 2 and adds various tweaks to refresh the formula. As the buttons can be re-assigned in-game, the default button mapping is given for all the platforms along the corresponding platform-agnostic icons:

• Press (PS4) / (Switch) / (XB1) / D (PC) to attack ,
• Hold for a charge attack,
• Press + mid-air for a light drop attack,

• From there, press again while still in mid-air to finish with a strong drop attack if the light attack connected (Floyd cannot do this),
• Or go on with a combo on the ground,
• Cherry can perform her head stomp + multiple times as long as she lands on an enemy each time, instead of ending the air combo with a strong drop attack.

• Press (PS4) / (Switch) / (XB1) / W (PC) to manipulate items ,
• Press + to throw weapons at enemies,
• With some weapons, Axel, Blaze and Adam can perform powerful thrusts by pressing + ,
• Press (PS4) / (Switch) / (XB1) / Space (PC) to jump ,
• Hold + to recover from an enemy throw without damage.

The back attack can now be performed three different ways:

• Press (PS4) / (Switch) / (XB1) / S (PC), from there on ,
• Or press + ,
• The old manipulation + still works.

Getting close to opponents will let your character hold them. This is when you can perform all the grabbing moves. When facing the opponent:

• Press for a strong attack,
• Press + 3 times to perform a flurry of close-range attacks,
• Press + to perform a body throw.

When behind the opponent:

• Press to perform a suplex or a body slam.

Either way:

• Press to vault over the held opponent,
• Press a second time to do a long jump over the opponent.

Cherry is more agile and so can grab opponents mid-air, do a flurry of punches after a vault or after grabbing opponents mid-air, or perform her drop attack after a long jump. Floyd is less agile and so cannot do the vault at all. He also has a specific set of grabbing moves:

• Press 3 times to perform a flurry of close-range attacks,
• Press + or + to perform a body throw towards the given direction,
• Press then twice to perform a juggle of a body slam followed by a jump kick, or alternatively then , + to end with a drop punch,
• Grab 2 opponents to perform a Power Smash: Floyd crushes the skulls of the 2 opponents against each others.

Finally, in the reverse situation where the enemy holds you, you can break free by pressing repetitively on , , or .

This basic move set is completed by more powerful moves:

• Blitz moves, special moves that don't incur any penalties and only work with bare hands, by pressing + ,
• Special moves, draining user's health:

• Defensive special a.k.a. neutral special by pressing (PS4) / (Switch) / (XB1) / E (PC), from there on ,
• Offensive special a.k.a. forward special by pressing + ,
• Air special by pressing mid-air,

• Star moves, super special moves exclusive to SoR4, by pressing (PS4) / (Switch) / (XB1) / Tab (PC), from there on , or + .

Contrary to SoR3, each character only has a single blitz move but all of them can now perform 3 different special moves, including a new air special move. Floyd can also perform a grabbing special move. Those special moves still drain user's health but health lost this way can now be entirely recovered by hitting enemies as long as no enemies hit the user back in the meantime. The move set is completed by new star moves that can only be performed as long as a player still has stars displayed below his/her health bar. A player always begins with a single star. Stars can be cumulated by picking up star items on the floor.

The gameplay with SoR4 versions of the characters are pretty much based on SoR2 mechanism of limited motions. That's why only Cherry can dash , SoR4 Adam can perform quick steps and all the other SoR4 characters must use other moves to go faster e.g. air specials or long jumps. Despite this, the game also lets you play the previous incarnations of most characters by retrofitting their old gameplay to the systems in SoR4 where it makes sense. And SoR3 incarnations can still use their evasive moves i.e. dash and dodge moves.

Moveset Comparison

Here are several tables recapitulating all the move commands for each character incarnation as performed in their original game and in Streets of Rage 4.

Legend:

• Attack ,
• Back attack ,
• Jump ,
• Item ,
• Special ,
• Star .

Streets of Rage characters

Move Type	Move Name	Original game systems	SoR4 systems	Comments
Attack Moves	Attack / Fury	x3	x3
	Charge Attack	N/A	N/A
	Jump Kick
	Light Drop Attack	N/A	N/A
	Strong Drop Attack	N/A	N/A
	Throw Recovery / Landing	+	+
	Back Attack	+	+ +
Weapon Moves	Pick Up
	Mid-Air Catch	N/A
	Drop	N/A
	Stab / Swing / Slash			In SoR, most weapons always remain in hands. The only exceptions are pepper shakers, which are always thrown at enemies, and knives, which are automatically thrown at far away enemies
	Throw	+	+
	Air Throw	N/A
	Thrust	N/A	N/A
Grabbing Moves	Attack / Flurry	x3	+ x3	When holding an opponent from the front
	Power Blow	N/A		When holding an opponent from the front
	Body Throw	+	+	When holding an enemy from the front
	Backdrop			When holding an opponent from behind
	Vault Over			In SoR, when holding an enemy from either side, after the 2nd vault, the enemy gets free. When holding a partner from behind, after the vault, the partner gets free. In SoR4, you cannot grab a partner and trying to perform a second vault will result into a long jump.
	Long Jump	N/A
	Somersault		N/A	When holding a partner from the front
	Partner Somersault	+	N/A	When holding a partner from the front
Reverse Grabbing Moves	Double Leg Kick		N/A	When being held by an opponent from behind
	Neck Throw		N/A	When being held by an opponent from behind, to perform after several Double Leg Kick attempts
	Break Free	N/A		When being held by an opponent
Powerful Moves	Blitz	N/A	N/A
	Special (Cop Backup Request)			In SoR, the special attack cleans the screen from any enemies but, in SoR4, it only kills enemies within a given area. In SoR, the special attack is only available outdoor while it's available everywhere in SoR4. In SoR, the first player gets a blast of napalm and the second player gets a barrage of rocket-powered grenades. In SoR4, only napalm is available.
	Star Move	N/A	N/A

Streets of Rage 2 characters

Move Type	Move Name	Original game systems	SoR4 systems	Comments
Attack Moves	Attack / Fury	x4	x4
	Charge Attack	HOLD	HOLD
	Neutral Jump Attack
	Jump Kick	+ +	+ +
	Light Drop Attack	+	+
	Strong Drop Attack	N/A	N/A
	Throw Recovery / Landing	+	+
	Back Attack	+	+ +
	Dash			Skate exclusive move
Weapon Moves	Pick Up
	Mid-Air Catch	N/A
	Drop	N/A
	Stab / Swing / Slash
	Throw	+	+
	Air Throw	N/A
	Thrust	N/A	N/A
Grabbing Moves	Attack / Flurry	+ x3	+ x3	When holding an opponent from the front
	Power Blow			When holding an opponent from the front. Max performs his grappling move Bear Hug. In SoR2, Skate performs his Attack / Fury sequence whereas, in SoR4, he performs his Body Throw move.
	Body Throw	+	+	When holding an opponent from the front
	Super Slam			When holding an opponent from behind. Skate performs his grappling move Migraine.
	Vault Over			In SoR2, when holding an opponent from either side, after the 2nd vault, the opponent gets free. In SoR4, you cannot grab a partner and trying to perform a second vault will result into a long jump. Max cannot vault over enemies.
	Long Jump	N/A		Max cannot jump over enemies
	Thunder Body Slam			Max exclusive move when holding an opponent from the front
	Atomic Drop			Max exclusive move when holding an opponent from behind
	Neck Throw			Skate exclusive move when holding an opponent from either side
Reverse Grabbing Moves	Break Free	N/A		When being held by an opponent
Powerful Moves	Blitz	+	+
	Defensive Special
	Offensive Special	+ +	+ +
	Air Special	N/A	N/A
	Star Move	N/A	+	Each SoR2 character gets a new Star move

Streets of Rage 3 characters

Move Type	Move Name	Original game systems	SoR4 systems	Comments
Attack Moves	Attack / Fury	x4	x4	Shiva performs different sequences in SoR3 and in SoR4
	Charge Attack	HOLD	HOLD
	Neutral Jump Attack			In SoR3, Shiva's neutral jump attack is identical to his drop attack whereas it's identical to his jump kick in SoR4
	Jump Kick	+ +	+ +
	Light Drop Attack	+	+
	Strong Drop Attack	N/A	N/A
	Throw Recovery / Landing	+	+
	Back Attack	+	+ +	In SoR3, Shiva's back attack is actually a front attack whereas Shiva performs a proper back attack in SoR4
	Dash			In SoR4, Shiva can only perform a small forward dash
	Dodge			In SoR3, Shiva hops up and down but, in SoR4, he can't
Weapon Moves	Pick Up			In SoR3, Shiva can pick weapons up but drop them immediately whereas he cannot pick them from the floor in SoR4
	Mid-Air Catch	N/A		In SoR4, Shiva cannot catch weapons mid-air
	Drop	N/A
	Stab / Swing / Slash			In SoR3, knives and pepper shakers are always automatically thrown at enemies
	Throw	+	+	In SoR3, Zan just performs his Back Attack with this manipulation. In SoR4, Zan always performs his special move, Energy Shot.
	Air Throw	N/A
	Bladed Blitz	+	+	In SoR3, Axel, Blaze and Skate got 2 different kinds of Bladed Blitz moves each depending on the weapons they hold while Zan always performs his special move, Energy Shot, with any weapons. In SoR4, only Blaze got her 2 Bladed Blitz moves back. Axel and Skate only got 1. Zan just performs his regular Blitz move: *Move executed with short melee weapons: Blaze = Suisei Shouzan, Skate = Ningen Missile. *Move executed with long melee and less-lethal weapons: Axel = Rising Slash, Blaze = Kikouken. Bladed Blitzes replace Weapon Thrusts performed by SoR4 characters.
	Bladed Offensive Special	+	N/A	In SoR3, Axel, Blaze and Skate got a specific Bladed Offensive Special move each working with a single type of weapons, different for each character, while Zan can perform his move Energy Shot with any weapons. In SoR4, characters drop any weapons and perform their regular offensive specials.
Grabbing Moves	Attack / Flurry	+ x3	+ x3	When holding an opponent from the front. Shiva performs different sequences in SoR3 and in SoR4.
	Power Blow			When holding an opponent from the front. In SoR3, Skate, Zan and Shiva performs their Attack / Flurry sequence. In SoR4, Skate and Shiva do have a Power Blow while Zan still performs his Attack / Flurry sequence.
	Body Throw	+	+	When holding an opponent from the front. In SoR3, Shiva can't perform a Body Throw whereas he can in SoR4.
	Super Slam			When holding an opponent from behind. Skate performs his grappling move Migraine.
	Vault Over			In SoR3, when holding an opponent from either side, after the 2nd vault, the opponent gets free. In SoR4, you cannot grab a partner and trying to perform a second vault will result into a long jump.
	Long Jump	N/A
	Somersault		N/A	When holding a partner from either side. In SoR3, Shiva isn't accessible in 2 players mode.
	Partner Somersault	+	N/A	When holding a partner from the front. Skate isn't strong enough to perform this move. In SoR3, Shiva isn't accessible in 2 players mode.
	Hyper Slam	+ +	+ +	Zan exclusive move when holding an opponent from behind
	Neck Throw			Skate exclusive move when holding an opponent from either side
Reverse Grabbing Moves	Double Leg Kick		N/A	When being held by an opponent from behind. Shiva cannot perform this move.
	Neck Throw	+	N/A	When being held by an opponent from behind, to perform after several Double Leg Kick attempts. Shiva cannot perform this move.
	Break Free	N/A		When being held by an opponent
Powerful Moves	Blitz	+	+	Shiva's blitz in SoR3 is just a normal move but becomes a proper blitz in SoR4
	Blitz 1 Star		N/A
	Blitz 2 Stars	Axel: Blaze: Skate: Zan:	N/A
	Blitz 3 Stars	Axel: Blaze: Skate: Zan:	N/A
	Defensive Special			Shiva's defensive attack is the Final Crash in SoR3 but he gets a different attack in SoR4
	Offensive Special	+ +	+ +
	Air Special	N/A	N/A
	Star Move	N/A	+	Each SoR3 character gets a new Star move

Streets of Rage 4 characters

Move Type	Move Name	Move Command	Comments
Attack Moves	Attack / Fury	x4
	Charge Attack	HOLD
	Neutral Jump Attack
	Jump Kick	+ +
	Light Drop Attack	+	Cherry performs her Head Stomp instead, which can be executed several times as long as she falls on an enemy
	Strong Drop Attack		To be executed after a Light Drop Attack that connected and before touching the ground
	Throw Recovery / Landing	+
	Back Attack	+ +
	Dash		Cherry exclusive move: Dash. Adam exclusive move: Quick Step. With this move, Adam can also get behind the enemies that are right in front of him.
Weapon Moves	Pick Up
	Mid-Air Catch
	Drop
	Stab / Swing / Slash
	Throw	+
	Air Throw
	Thrust	+	Cherry and Floyd cannot perform any thrusts. Axel and Blaze performs 2 kinds of thrusts: a long thrust with long-ranged melee weapons, a short thrust with short-ranged melee weapons. Adam can perform the same kind of thrusts with any melee and less-lethal weapons.
Grabbing Moves	Attack / Flurry	+ x3	When holding an opponent from the front. The manipulation with Floyd is a bit different: x3
	Power Blow		When holding an opponent from the front. Floyd cannot perform this move.
	Body Throw	+	When holding an opponent from the front. Floyd can execute this move in either directions: + or +
	Super Slam		When holding an opponent from behind. Cherry performs her grappling move Migraine. Floyd cannot perform this move.
	Vault Over		You cannot grab a partner and trying to perform a second vault will result into a long jump. Floyd cannot vault over enemies.
	Long Jump		Floyd cannot jump over enemies
	Body Slam Juggle		Floyd exclusive move
	Alternative Body Slam Juggle	+	Floyd exclusive move
	Power Smash	Get close to 2 enemies	Floyd exclusive move
Reverse Grabbing Moves	Break Free		When being held by an opponent
Powerful Moves	Blitz	+
	Defensive Special
	Offensive Special	+ +
	Air Special		If a first air special hits an enemy, Blaze can perform a second air special
	Star Move	+

Games in the Streets of Rage Series
Streets of Rage (3D) (1991) | Streets of Rage 2 (3D) (1992) | Streets of Rage 3 (1994) | Streets of Rage 4 (2020)
Streets of Rage (LCD) (1993) | Bare Knuckle Mobile (2010) | Sega Vintage Collection: Streets of Rage (2012)
Related Games
Streets Of Kamurocho (2020) | Fighting Force (unreleased) | Streets of Rage 4 (Dreamcast) (unreleased) | Streets of Rage Online (unreleased)
Related Media
	Bare Knuckle (1991) | Streets of Rage 2 Original Soundtrack (1993) | Bare Knuckle III (1994) | Bare Knuckle Original Soundtrack (2012) | Streets of Rage (2015) | Streets of Rage 2 (2016) | Streets of Rage 3 (2017) | Streets of Rage 4 Limited Run Games Exclusive Track Selection (2020) | Streets of Rage Perfect Soundtrack (2017) | Streets of Rage 4 Original Soundtrack (2020) | Streets of Rage 4: Mr. X Nightmare The Definitive Soundtrack (2022)
	Streets of Rage: Bad City Fighters (1994) | Warpzone Clássicos: Streets of Rage (2016)
Other	List of Streets of Rage merchandise