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The question you have to ask yourself before you consider buying Streets of Rage 4 for iOS is whether or not you're ok dealing with the same issues that seem unavoidable for 2D brawlers. If the answer is yes, this game is likely the definitive beat 'em up experience you can get on the App Store. Just know that for all it gets right, the game still comes with all of the control challenges you can expect from trying to navigate and fight with 2D characters in 3D spaces.

Retro rage

If you're at all familiar with the lineage of the Streets of Rage series, then you know that Streets of Rage 4 is a long-awaited sequel to a beloved series of titles that last released on the Sega Genesis back in the 90s. A big part of these games' popularity had to do with their style and music on top of the way they played.

Fast-forward to now, and Streets of Rage 4 really tries to stay true the series lineage, offering fairly straightforward and competent gameplay wrapped in a really stylish and slick-looking package. I'm not sure the overall aesthetic feels as in-tune with any particular subcultures in the ways that the previous games were, but the distinct style it has avoids relying too much on nostalgia which helps it stand on its own merits.

Street fighter

As for the game itself, Streets of Rage 4 is perhaps the most complete and balanced brawler I have encountered. From the very start of picking your character and playing through the first stage, you encounter a level of variety and balance that puts most other beat 'em ups to shame. Although later levels definitely run a little dry on new enemies or situations to put you in, the mixing and matching of what you've previously encountered makes for satisfying combat challenges that still feel novel.

On iOS, mastering combos via touch can be challenging at first, though I found myself perfectly capable of completing the game on its default difficulty without having to use a controller or any of the game's built-in assists you can turn on to make the game easier. The port itself looks incredible and includes a bunch of fun and useful customization options, ranging between scaling and moving the touch UI to turning on video filters to make the game look like it might have back in the 90s.

Plain puncher

I can't think of an action brawler on iOS that really rivals the amount of depth and variety as Streets of Rage 4, but that doesn't mean the game is able to sidestep some of the genre's most irritating and endemic issues. As with seemingly all games of this ilk, it's difficult to tell when you are actually lined up with enemies and vice versa, which can lead to irritating defeats.

There's nothing worse than getting countered by a basic enemy because you thought you were about to tear into them only to find yourself punching air and leaving yourself exposed. Streets of Rage 4 somewhat exacerbates this issue by limiting the amount of lives you get to clear levels, as missing enemies due to perspective can very well be the cause of you having to retry an entire stage from the beginning. In fairness, this kind of perspective trouble just seems unavoidable for anyone making games in this style, but it's still worth pointing out that this continues to be an unsolved problem here.

The bottom line

Streets of Rage 4 is a stylish and satisfying brawler that does just about everything you can do with brawlers better than the competition. It is still very much one of those games though, so don't go in expecting something revelatory. The best news about Streets of Rage 4 is it hits iOS in a completely uncompromised form, allowing you to carry around an incredible beat 'em up and whip it out just about anywhere.

Source link:https://www.148apps.com/reviews/street-of-rage-4-review/

I have bounced off of almost every battle royale game there is. Conceptually, I like the format of a multiplayer shooter that relies on teamwork, exploration, and survival beyond quick and precise aiming, but most of them are bogged down with features I'm not interested in engaging with or don't strike the right balance between depth and approachability. Since firing up Apex Legends Mobile for the first time last week, though, I've found myself struggling to put it down. It may not tout the same fidelity of its PC and console counterpart, but makes for a streamlined battle royale experience that maintains a satisfying match pace and depth that many mobilized versions of battle royales fail to do.

Same but different

Apex Legends Mobile is mostly the same game as the original Apex Legends, which is to say it's a multiplayer shooter where teams of three combatants drop onto a massive map with the goal of eliminating all other teams using weapons found scattered across the environment. It also features all of the signature touches specific to the original Apex, like additional mobility options, characters with special powers, a ping system, and more.

Functionally, it feels like a port of Apex Legends. Even the match length is about the same. They key difference though is that this game has no cross-play with the original Apex and has some different tuning and control options for movement and shooting that make it manageable to play on a touch screen and allow for players to develop a sense of precision despite the less-than-precise control method.

Slide, scavenge, shoot

The secret to Apex Legends Mobile's success for me is just how easy it is to dive into a match and instantly be a competent teammate. By default, this game does things like auto-ping enemies and items so you're constantly being useful to your team even if your aim isn't on point. You can also auto-loot gear so you don't have to develop any sort of specialized knowledge about what weapons, attachments, or items you should or shouldn't be picking up.

It also helps that Apex Legends Mobile feels about as great as you can make a mobile shooter feel right out of the box, and if that doesn't work there is a staggering amount of customization options you can dial to your exact preferences. Given all of the options at your disposal (including competent controller support), there's a way to make just about anyone feel comfortable controlling it.

The apex of unweildy menus

It's astounding how Respawn Entertainment has managed to simplify its battle royale while still cramming in all of the depth of the original game, but it comes at a cost. When you aren't actively in a round of Apex Legends Mobile, the game is a nightmare of menus and splash screens that are both hard to look at and unintuitive to navigate.

Everything from choosing the kind of match you want to play to redeeming battle pass rewards just feels a lot harder to do than it should, and every moment the game uses to try and show off animations or cinematics, the whole thing ends up feeling really slapped together. Out of all the things to drop the ball on, I guess it's fortunate that the sloppiest parts of Apex Legends Mobile don't affect how matches play, but that doesn't mean that these aren't problems that need to be fixed. I'm not sure the menus will get too slimmed down over time due to the game's free-to-play nature (which, by the way, seems very focused on keeping gameplay balanced and promoting/selling cosmetic items), but I'm hoping the nested maze of menus at least gets a more coherent flow and better navigation buttons down the line.

The bottom line

Apex Legends Mobile is the most fun I have had with a battle royale game, on mobile or otherwise. It makes all of the nitty gritty aspects of playing such a multi-faceted experience easy without stripping out depth, and offers such a multitude of options to get yourself feeling like a precision player even if the overall experience isn't as sharp and honed as PC and console battle royales.

Source link:https://www.148apps.com/reviews/apex-legends-mobile-review/