and I thought the game was not as bad as critics were making it out to be. As usual, IGN hates it, and other professional critics seem to hate it, because the game is either "too cheap" or "too hard". Now they have some points with the cheapness (I'll get to that later), but the games wasn't that difficult, and I was able to beat in 55 minutes. Not bad for a title that's $6.99. I'll give you the pros and cons, starting with the former:
Pros
+ Fun old-school co-op action with 12 missions of face punching and knee bashing skulls.
+ Unlockable characters where you get to play as enemies and bosses. I won't spoil anything, but some of the characters that are unlocked are certain ones no DD fan has seen in a long time.
+ Tower Mode is addictive. Think Bloody Palace, except there is no way for possible health pick ups.
+ There is also duel mode, but unfortunately you can't fight the CPU.
+ Customizable controls. I know this nothing new, but I like when games give you options and are not set to ridge control scheme.
+ A choice between classic or remade music, though I prefer the 8-bit tunes myself.
Cons
- No online multiplayer. I don't know what it is with whoever develops a DD game on the modern consoles or PC, but the developers either seems very stubborn or lazy not to do online co-op. It's not a deal breaker to me, but I know there are others who love online, so that's for them.
- Enemies can bum rush you, and they come in bigger numbers. This can be overwhelming on your first time, but once you know where the enemies are and how their patterns work, it gets easier. This where some the cheapness comes in. Speaking of which...
- The platforming. It's starts fine at first, but I noticed some odd glitching where my character would freeze mid jump for some reason costing me a life (3 to default, no extra 1 ups) or a credit (5 in single; 7 in co-op). There are too many of them, but Arc System or Million should patch that in ASAP.
- The continue system. There is a grey area type thing, but quick hint, if you lose all of your continues hit the "Start" button at the start screen and you can select your level. The only problem with this is how it's set up. For example, I lost all of my lives on Mission 10, but the further stage select would let me go was mission 9. That means if you have to go back and do a previous mission first and then complete the next mission in order for it to appear in stage select. Any other game would let you select the stage as soon as you got to it. Why such a stupid design choice is probably, because of some unnecessary padding; considering the last few mission are pretty short, but they shouldn't have done that.
If I had to give a proper score, it would be a 7/10. It's not as good as Neon or DDA, but DD4 is nowhere near as bad as critics make it out to be. Some say it's worse than the XBLA DD2 Remake which was just plain awful and near unplayable. Now to be fair, even some DD fans are divided on the issue. I'd say about 60 like/40 dislike or feel mixed about the game. If you are an old-school fan, you're gonna enjoy this either way. Let me know if you have any questions. The game is only available on PS4/PC digitally.
Pros
+ Fun old-school co-op action with 12 missions of face punching and knee bashing skulls.
+ Unlockable characters where you get to play as enemies and bosses. I won't spoil anything, but some of the characters that are unlocked are certain ones no DD fan has seen in a long time.
+ Tower Mode is addictive. Think Bloody Palace, except there is no way for possible health pick ups.
+ There is also duel mode, but unfortunately you can't fight the CPU.
+ Customizable controls. I know this nothing new, but I like when games give you options and are not set to ridge control scheme.
+ A choice between classic or remade music, though I prefer the 8-bit tunes myself.
Cons
- No online multiplayer. I don't know what it is with whoever develops a DD game on the modern consoles or PC, but the developers either seems very stubborn or lazy not to do online co-op. It's not a deal breaker to me, but I know there are others who love online, so that's for them.
- Enemies can bum rush you, and they come in bigger numbers. This can be overwhelming on your first time, but once you know where the enemies are and how their patterns work, it gets easier. This where some the cheapness comes in. Speaking of which...
- The platforming. It's starts fine at first, but I noticed some odd glitching where my character would freeze mid jump for some reason costing me a life (3 to default, no extra 1 ups) or a credit (5 in single; 7 in co-op). There are too many of them, but Arc System or Million should patch that in ASAP.
- The continue system. There is a grey area type thing, but quick hint, if you lose all of your continues hit the "Start" button at the start screen and you can select your level. The only problem with this is how it's set up. For example, I lost all of my lives on Mission 10, but the further stage select would let me go was mission 9. That means if you have to go back and do a previous mission first and then complete the next mission in order for it to appear in stage select. Any other game would let you select the stage as soon as you got to it. Why such a stupid design choice is probably, because of some unnecessary padding; considering the last few mission are pretty short, but they shouldn't have done that.
If I had to give a proper score, it would be a 7/10. It's not as good as Neon or DDA, but DD4 is nowhere near as bad as critics make it out to be. Some say it's worse than the XBLA DD2 Remake which was just plain awful and near unplayable. Now to be fair, even some DD fans are divided on the issue. I'd say about 60 like/40 dislike or feel mixed about the game. If you are an old-school fan, you're gonna enjoy this either way. Let me know if you have any questions. The game is only available on PS4/PC digitally.
