Streets of Rage 4

Update thanks to Marcelo Perondi:

Here is my updated scores after the patch for rank S. i did co-op playing with blaze SOR3 and my friend with shiva, except for the mission 8 where he picked Froyd.

1. Streets : 27306
2. Precinct: 28039
3. Cargo Ship: 21580
4. Pier: 27276
5. Underground: 32677
6. Chinatown: 38085
7. Skytrain: 15407
8. Art Gallery: 25204
9. Y Tower: 26056
10. Concert: 24931
11. Airplane: 28097
12. Y island: 41728

For us the worst mission is by far "mission 6: chinatown" this mission took us a few hours to get rank S, in my opinion is completely lucky based especially the dojo part.

Some other tips:

-Try to have one player play more defensively, this player should try to keep health maxed as much as possible, to utilize the health pickups for points.

-That same player should get priority for money pickups. An extra life is +1000 post game, so one of you should be shooting for 8000 stage points, if you both cannot hit 8000.

-Try to extend your combos/timer for as much bonus as possible. Do multi-hit moves on an enemy near death, purposely using weaker hits before using your X attack. Example, myself as Shiva, press X 4-5 times slowly, then rapid tap X 2-3 times, and into his ->, ->, X move. You can get 12+ combo off of just one enemy doing this.

-On levels with arcade machines, shock them with a taser to trigger a retro boss fight for extra points/pickups/free heal. Found on stages 2, 4, 5, 8. Refer to the guide found here:



-Always try to kill any extra spawns in the boss room before you kill the boss. Especially the Commissioner on the Skytrain.

-Star moves give +250 for each one not used, but they may be better off being used to get extra combo points/damage. We didn't really use them though.

Edit to add Thanks Splinunz:

Just to add to this, sometimes having a person with low health pick up a turkey is actually worth less points than dying then picking it up with full health. (Extra life is worth 500 however a turkey picked up at full health is worth 1000, apples are worth an extra 300 with full health). If there's an apple and a turkey in the same area and you don't have full health, get the apple first so you have full health then pick up the turkey.

Some of us on the forum believe the combo counter on Xbox is not currently working as it should. It's ending too quick, and not being extended by breakables, health pickups, or enemy-on-enemy hits like PS4. In my opinion, this is going to make doing this solo WAY harder than it needs to be. Devs are apparently aware of it, and should patch it.

With that out of the way, I still recommend co-op. I had hard Story cleared to unlock hard stage select. I don't know the minimum needed for S, but our scores were:

1 Streets. 26290
2 Precinct. 25523
3 Cargo Ship. 17728
4 Pier. 19339
5 Underground. 26942
6 Chinatown. 29995
7 Skytrain. 14013
8 Art Gallery. 19615
9 Y Tower. 22336
10 Concert. 20762
11 Airplane. 21146
12 Y Island. 32104

1 was by far the hardest. We had 25988 and that was A rank. 26000 is likely S. The other one we got hung up on was 7, but not nearly as long as 1. Half the levels we managed S first try. We used Shiva and SoR3 Blaze.

Solo Method:
I believe I have found a reasonable way to attain this without a partner. Nesmasters guide is great if you have a good partner. But here how is how I attained it.

Note that this method can also be used to breeze through the hard arcade playthrough if you have not done so already netting you:

Step 1: Play through the game a few times to get familiar with the gameplay rather than going for this first. Attaining this is really just a matter of knowing how to deal with each enemy type, so this will help you tremendously.

Step 2: Select Streets of Rage 1 - Axel. Stage Select. Hard. Get S Ranks 1 by 1.
The reason for this choice is his standard X punch combo has a very high base damage to compensate for the lack of moves. On top of that, it has a great reach, you can hit enemies from a bit farther, essentially saving you from getting hit on multiple occasions. You can also freeze punch enemies (example press X,X wait, X,X, wait, then X,X,X,X) with bigger health bars. This will net bigger damage combos which means bigger points. Points gained from combos seem to be tied to total damage rather than total hits. This is where SoR1 Axel makes life easier for you. Although he cannot run and moves slowly, you will be killing enemies quick, therefore it is possible to attain solid time bonuses at the end of the level as well.

Enemy based tips:
Here are my tips for handling the enemy types that gave me the most trouble, this is not an extensive list as I found others to be managable.
Shield Guy - Jump over him up close, to his other side, attacking as you do, back and forth as he is about to hit until you break his shield.
Cop with taser (Barney) - He will lunge at you quickly and do bad damage. Jump kick or throw a weapon at him immediately when you are in range, and only engage with regular punches when his taser is disarmed.
Fat dudes (big red) - Move out of their attack and follow them, as soon as they stop, attack hard and fast and be ready to repeat after knocked down. Do NOT stand over them when they are down.
Mohawk Girl - Her Jump kick is vicious. Attack quick when you see them or bait her, move backwards and diagonally when she kicks. This is not foolproof as their kick has some homing ability. DPS fast and make use of freeze punching when you have an opening.
Thick Biker Girls - When you see they are flashing, move back and away, making sure you are not directly across from them. After their attack, kill in the same manner as Mohawk girl as fast as possible.
Flying knee and Karate Suit Guys - With both these enemies, I recommending using only grapple attacks. Approach from the top or bottom of their position and repeat. It is possible to hit them normally, but it is more possible for them to smack you across the screen when you try.

Bosses:
I did not find bosses in this game to be too problematic once you have fought them a few times. One useful strategy is to avoid them and attack all the base enemies, netting you much more points if you can avoid damage and get decent combos in. Another important thing is to not immediately rushdown the bosses, and be aware of their get-up attacks. Think of it as a turn based battle, as in when you see them flash, move out of the way and punish them after their attack has finished, utilizing the corner when possible for juggles, and repeat. SoR1 Axel has great damage for bosses, so the battle should not take long when you do spam his X attack.

Level Specific Tips:
Personally, I only found 3 levels to be very difficult using SoR1-Axel. Here is my advice for them.

Stage 1 - This is arguably the hardest level. If you can do this, you can do the rest. Don't be discouraged -This took me several tries. Move steadily. Chain where you can. Avoid the guys who jump out of the sewers as they hop out. Throw your weapons often. Do your best to avoid getting hit. You will need food bonuses at full health to reach the score likely. Kill all enemies at the boss and avoid her electricity as soon as soon as she starts charging, and avoid standing directly in front of her when you have a combo.

Stage 6 - Same as above. But the dojo is going to come into play here a lot. Grab a spear in the first room and time your hits left to right back and forth OR stay in the bottom corner on either side and let the enemies come to you. When the spear breaks grab another and repeat. I used 1 special here to avoid receiving damage during my successful run. Do the same for the next room to except with sword or bat. For room 3, grapple the guys 1 by 1, prioritizing the one with higher health first. When you get to Shiva, Kill him quickly.

Stage 7 - Time your jumps by listening to the beeps, after the 3rd beep, jump. Remember to jump attack the cop with the taser before punishing with x attack. Avoid and chain damage and kill as quickly as possible - I needed a decent time bonus here and every combo you get matters since this level is so short. When you get to Ester, get her health low, then start going after the Commissioner for crucial points. You do not need to kill him fully but ensure you get in some good combos while avoiding damage as best as possible, or you will come up short. Kill ester after you have done so.

Miscenalleous Tips:
- Make use of weapons. Throw them often to extend combos and avoid taking damage.
- Try to avoid taking damage of course. The apple will give you 300pts and the turkey will give you 1000pts when your life is full. This extra points can make or break a run on some levels.
- I also do NOT recommending using any star attacks in this method. You will get a bonus at the end of each level the more you have.
- Enter every retro level you can by hitting the arcade machines with the taser for extra points and a star (you will get full life and points even if you use).
- If you have a big combo going, it is sometimes better to go to a corner and bank it, rather than getting hit in your ass by a basic enemy and losing those important points.
- Hold A (and no directional input) just before you land if you are hit or thown, and you can stick the landing to prevent taking damage.
- Use food items when your health is low, and after you have cleared out a section on screen to help stay alive longer. Just be careful not to go too far as you cannot go back in some areas.
- Consider skipping a level and coming back to it (especially if you are stuck on the 1st level). It will likely be encouraging once you have success with others first.
- Be persistent on the levels you find tougher. You will get this with practice and once you learn enemy spawns and patterns better.
- If you mess up early in the level, just go ahead and restart. Reason for this is if you crush the first part of the level, you have more room for error towards the end, and restarts are quick.


Update: There has been an update which fixed the broken combo counter, giving you more time between to keep it going. However this also raises the minimum score requirements. If anyone completes this solo post patch, please share your S rank scores and I will add them to the guide!

Thank you!

My Scores for S Rank:
(These are not minimums, but roughly what you will want to aim for; the second number is my time)
Stage 1 - 28660/7:19
Stage 2 - 25394/7:19
Stage 3 - 18788/4:35
Stage 4 - 20534/6:25
Stage 5 - 26310/8:28
Stage 6 - 34266/8:55
Stage 7 - 14568/3:42
Stage 8 - 19975/7:15
Stage 9 - 19132/7:00
Stage 10 - 20871/7:12
Stage 11 - 22338/8:35
Stage 12 - 31424/11:30

Good Luck to All!

Video Guides:
RAINKINGX1 has some great video guides he has let us use. All credit to him taking the time to give you an awesome visual guide of this method! Check them out if you are stuck:

Stage 1:
Stage 2:
Stage 3:
Stage 4:
Stage 5:
Stage 6:
Stage 7:
Stage 8:
Stage 9:
Stage 10:
Stage 11:
Stage 12:

If your struggling. Buy the DLC and do survival to unlock Cherry’s moves. If you don’t want a DLC achievement dont go to level 18 and don’t unlock all her moves. Just the first sliding knee.

You should have it as a guess by level 10? I went to level 16 and unlocked 2 moves.

Then hit do the level and keep spamming move. I did the full game in one evening S rank in coop.

One as cherry and one as Blaze SOR1 I think.

I managed to easily do the pier on my own with Cherry second attempt too.