Last Beat Enhanced (PlayStation 4)

Last Beat Enhanced is a retro styled beat’em’up in the style of Streets of Rage, Double Dragon and Bad Dudes, it was developed by 2 lads at 7 Raven Studios. It original came out in 2020 on PC after a successful Kickstarter campaign, but recently has had an enhanced edition drop on PlayStation 4, Xbox models and Switch. Let’s go check this love letter out.

The Mad Strong gang have been at it again lads, and it’s up to John, Noa and the rest of the gang (including something that looks akin to a Michael Bay TMNT) to stop them going about their nasty business. Story is as simple as that, and off you go. Unlike River City where almost each level has some composition, Last Beat gives everything nice and straight up at the start. We have 2 play modes on start up, the standard Story/Arcade mode and Ring mode which is locked, but this can be unlocked later on and offers a wave/survival mode. There’s also a gallery for a shed load of unlockables, and a small options menu. I personally think most games should still include a BGM mode so we can listen to the soundtrack as it slaps.

The game plays like a typical fighter, with your 4 face buttons on your controller doing the all the work (Punch, Jump, Block and Special), you’re able to do some standard combos, as well as a grab, some jump kicks and a few others little attacks. These all work fine if a little limited, and once you find a tactic that works you’ll stick with and it’ll get you through most of the game. However my favourite thing I noticed was an inclusion of a better scope of directional jumping, this usually gets left out where you can jump in both x and y axis, and it’s great to see here.

The specials charge on a bar on their own, and charge back from zero once used. Specials are really devastating and they’ll be used a fair bit too. My only gripe was the weapons were horrible, all of them took a few seconds of charge before you’re able to do damage, I think I stopped using them once I’d tried each of them.

You need to fight your way through 8 stages, in a standard beat’em’up setting, so you’ll be battling through streets, arcades, parks, and as per most games, an electrical factory. These all look great, really bring and detailed considering the style of the game. Each level has a tiny card giving you a visual representation of the next boss, each of these gives a different more modern view of them, these also look pretty good giving a bit more depth to the pixel designed characters.

Speaking of the pixel designed characters, there’s a good chunk of variety in the character models if a bit typical, the standard thugs are nice to look at, the big bellied guys, and the ninjas all the way up to the bigger built up bosses like the Pro Wrestler and Biker guy.

The game is only moderately difficult, with 3 selectable difficulty settings. These are pretty reflective of the choice and unlike a few other games in the genre actually makes a difference to the difficulty. The main caveat is that you only get one life in which to complete levels, once you die you’re sent back to a menu where you can either continue or select another previously completed level go to through. You’re able to purchase extra lives in game, but they’re locked behind the money you earn in game, which can be a pain to obtain.

Collecting cash is based on 2 factors, collectables in game, whether they’re in destructible items (bins, pinball machines, giant eggs), or hidden away in some of the games secret areas which you’ll come across, or the other method of building up your combo and getting a bigger multiplier. These can either unlock the extra characters, items to level up your character or buy your extra life when you die. In my entire playthrough I purchased a few lives, but could never afford to upgrade my character. The upgrades are along the lines of faster charge on your special, or an extended health bar, useful stuff for the more difficult areas.

You need to fight your way through 8 stages, in a standard beat’em’up setting, so you’ll be battling through streets, arcades, parks, and as per most games, an electrical factory. These all look great, really bring and detailed considering the style of the game. Each level has a tiny card giving you a visual representation of the next boss, each of these gives a different more modern view of them, these also look pretty good giving a bit more depth to the pixel designed characters.

Speaking of the pixel designed characters, there’s a good chunk of variety in the character models if a bit typical, the standard thugs are nice to look at, the big bellied guys, and the ninjas all the way up to the bigger built up bosses like the Pro Wrestler and Biker guy.

I only encountered a few issues in the entire game, mainly a bit of balancing in certain attacks from enemies which were really cheap but they are to be expected, less expected was a bit of a performance issue when certain effects happen on the screen, considering this is a smaller title on modern hardware I’m surprised to see it. Finally the lack of being able to get more money/buy anything in store in the game was a bit rubbish.

I mean for £8 though I’m more than happy with Last Beat Enhanced, and those with a lower budget could do a lot worse than this. Despite it not bringing anything new to the table, it plays well enough to hang with the majority of genre stalwarts, it doesn’t over stay it’s welcome and the music is a jam too.