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Streets of Rage 4 shows that beat \u2018em ups, which have sunk back into obscurity after their renaissance during the PS3\/360\/Wii era, still have gas left in the tank. The game plays similarly to its predecessors (namely Streets of Rage 2) but reinvigorates itself with a slick comic book art direction, deeper combo system, and, most importantly, a killer soundtrack. It might not be the deepest game in the world, but it shows that punching goons in the face, whether alone or with friends, remains not only entertaining but, in this stressful time, a cathartic exercise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Likewise, Crash Bandicoot 4: It\u2019s About Time proves the series\u2019 signature platforming design still works today. The game plays the way I remember as a Crash-obsessed youth, and the new mask abilities fit so well that it\u2019s almost weird to think they didn\u2019t exist before now. The game might be tough. Okay, it\u2019s really tough. But so were the originals, and the higher difficulty only accentuates Crash 4\u2019s wonderful familiarity in a strange, masochistic way.<\/p>\n Innovation is important, but these games remind me that simply doing an established idea well can be just as enjoyable, if not more so. Titles that push the envelope with bold design ideas rock too, but can sometimes feel mentally taxing after a long day. Kentucky Route Zero, for example, is a smartly designed piece of art, but boy did I need to be in a specific mood to parse all of its abstract themes and mechanics. Otherwise, playing it felt like an absolute chore that occasionally made me feel dumb for not always \u201cgetting it.\u201d I\u2019ve felt similar burnout in some of my favorite games of the year, such as The Last of Us Part II \u2013 incredible game direction and writing, but it could be a lot to digest at times. It\u2019s not that these games aren\u2019t entertaining, it\u2019s just that their big, fancy ideas sometimes required a bit more brain power than I was willing to muster at times. Even with their added tweaks, I can instantly sink into Crash 4 and Streets 4 and turn my brain on autopilot because they\u2019re not doing anything I haven\u2019t done a million times before.<\/p>\n Doing the same old thing gets a bad rap at times. Whenever a new Call of Duty or Assassin\u2019s Creed game drops, complaints of them not shaking things up enough dominate some conversations. Some of those criticisms tend to be unfair but I also agree to some extent. At the same time, those are also the experiences in which I find myself melting into a puddle of contentment, and that\u2019s an admirable quality in its own right. Crash Bandicoot and Streets of Rage dial this satisfying sensation up to the nth\u00a0degree as they\u2019re built entirely around being as familiar and nostalgic as possible.<\/p>\n So here\u2019s just a friendly reminder that sometimes sticking with what works and banking on familiarity over pure innovation can not only be okay, but even preferred. Keep those million-dollar ideas coming of course, but they\u2019re not the be all end all. Now if you\u2019ll excuse me, I have to go beat Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the 58th time.<\/p>\n\n \t 2020 has seen its fair share of innovative experiences. The Last of Us Part II raised new bars in interactive story…<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":983,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"Crash Bandicoot, Streets of Rage, And How Familiarity Can Top Innovation - ITTeacherITFreelance.hk","description":"2020 has seen its fair share of innovative experiences. The Last of Us Part II raised new bars in interactive story..."},"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130482"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/983"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130482"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130483,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130482\/revisions\/130483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/prod-media.gameinformer.com\/styles\/body_default\/s3\/2020\/09\/30\/717081ba\/cb4_screenshot_reveal_04.jpg\")
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