Roughly a year and some change after Streets of Rage 4's release, developers DotEmu, Lizard Cube, and Guard Crush Games are back with Mr. X Nightmare – a small expansion to the beat-em-up. Making reference to the series' previous main antagonist, this DLC not only expands the roster with a trio of characters but pays homage to the past with additional retro combat stages for a brand-new survival mode. Tasking players with surviving endless waves of foes in small arenas, you'll randomly come across stages from all three of the Genesis titles, complete with throwback music and classic sprites.
It's a cool way to expand the small selection of retro stages found within the main campaign. At four points within the main Streets of Rage 4, players could attack arcade cabinets with tasers to be transported to boss fights from Streets of Rage 2. Likely chosen as 2 is the most cherished of the original games, Mr. X Nightmare now includes a plethora of locations of both 1 and 3. You won't only encounter boss enemies, but most of the original roster complete with their sound effects, attack patterns, and AI behaviors will be there waiting to be pummelled.
Despite making up the bulk of what this DLC offers, that’s not the biggest addition to Streets of Rage 4 – the new playable characters make this content drop worth grabbing. Rounding out the cast with three bosses from the main game, Estel, Max, and Shiva add playstyles that weren't previously represented, although Max and Shiva did have retro counterparts selectable. Meanwhile, Estel's emphasis on a strong main combo, stun-heavy specials, and a screen-clearing star move make her a force to be reckoned with for crowd control.
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Shiva is an extremely combo-heavy character whose game plan is racking up hits. His basic combo ends with a launcher that sets players up for an air combo, which can be extended by his aerial special that hits for an additional five strikes. Mixed with his star move that temporarily freezes enemies in the air, he's all about making that combo counter reach past 100 hits.
Max, surprisingly, retains a lot of his classic attacks, but ups the ante in terms of pure strength. He doesn't have as flashy combos as the rest of the cast, but his ability to grab enemies and pile drive them mixed with specials where he can jump off the walls allows him to counter those pesky jerks that uppercut you when you jump. His star move can kill bosses in a single combo if you stack three of them into a single string, too. He's a monster, basically.
These new characters are supplemented by a range of alternate attacks that are unlocked by going through survival mode. Sadly, this is one of my first real grievances with Streets of Rage 4. It doesn't hurt the main campaign, but unlocking additional moves is a tremendous grind. Survival is engaging and challenging, but it takes an unreasonable amount of time to unlock a character's entire roster of attacks. For Axel, it took me roughly two and a half hours of playing survival to see each of his new attacks.
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Those new moves open up a range of options for Axel, but few are what I'd call must-haves for fixing some of his weak points, especially his new aerial slam. Sadly, I don't know if I have it in me to get all 20 characters their full move sets. If I were to do that solo – and if everyone requires the same amount of time as Axel – that's roughly 40 hours of playing the same thing over and over. You can attempt survival mode in four-player co-op (and it's even online-enabled), thus speeding up the process, but that's still a big ask for trying out these new moves. Since you can only do this in survival mode, as well, it will grow monotonous well before you reach that finish line.
That's kind of a bummer. What's also a bummer is that the majority of new content coming to Streets of Rage 4 is being made available for free as an update. That's not really a negative, but more something that makes justifying the cost of Mr. X Nightmare difficult. On the same day that these new characters, extra moves, and survival mode are coming, players with the base game will receive a training mode, additional character palette options, and the Mania+ difficulty option. That last one is a real trip, increasing the speed of each enemy to a degree where the game is nearly impossible solo.
I have to assume that not having Mr. X Nightmare won't allow you to train with Estel, Max, and Shiva, but if you're fine without having them playable, you're still getting quite a substantial update here. I was so enthralled with the base Streets of Rage 4 that I considered it 2020's Game of the Year. Because of that, I'm pretty happy with Mr. X Nightmare overall. I just don't know if I would tell anyone not already captivated by this '90s throwback brawler to shell out extra for the DLC.
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If you've yet to jump into Streets of Rage 4, why are you waiting? But more importantly, it would be easier to say the game costs $32 than to say it has a DLC pack. A physical edition coming to PS4 and Switch will even bundle the DLC on the disc/cartridge, so it will be as if these characters and new mode were always there. Considering they feel very natural with the main roster, I think that was the intention with this pack.
It's maybe a bit inessential if you're not a mega-fan, but Mr. X Nightmare is a solid little addition to Streets of Rage 4. As for what may come next, I'd really like to see this trio of developers tackle a remastered Streets of Rage trilogy with 4's freeform combo system.
A PC copy of Streets of Rage 4: Mr. X Nightmare was provided to TheGamer for coverage. Mr. X Nightmare is now available on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
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