The TakeOver

The TakeOver is an amazing title. It is a very fun game either to enjoy alone or in company. This game recovers the essence of the beat'em up genre of the 90s adapted to today, resulting in a pleasant experience with few imperfections.

Surprisingly competent sidescrolling brawler with impressive strike feedback and top-notch controls – if you liked Streets of Rage 4, this one is definitely for you.

The TakeOver is a wonderful time. It’s not overly long and its unique mechanics help it stand out against other brawlers on Switch like River City Girls and Streets of Rage 4. If you’re looking for a great homage to the ’90s that incorporates modern enhancements, this game will meet your expectations and then some.

The obvious question when reviewing The TakeOver is how it compares to Streets of Rage 4, and we're pleased to report that it's just as worthy of your time as money, even if it lacks online play and some of the extra polish that DotEmu, Lizardcube and Guard Crush Games' title possesses. Some players will no doubt take issue with the CG-style sprites, but every other aspect of this package feels spot-on and we especially appreciate the two bonus stages, which feel like love letters to other Sega classics. The TakeOver offers an engaging and addictive alternative to Streets of Rage 4, and any self-respecting fan of the side-scrolling fighting genre shouldn't hesitate to pick up both.

Despite its issues, if you’ve had your fill of Streets of Rage 4 and are after another side-scrolling beat ’em up to play, you should definitely consider adding The TakeOver to your collection. Though it does eventually lose some of its shine, its combat system offers more depth than most in the genre, and the package as a whole has some genuinely nice ideas. The fact that it looks so good and has a great soundtrack is just icing on the cake.

The TakeOver is a good beat em’ up. It doesn’t evolve and expand the genre, and that’s where a feel of disappointment stems. It’s entertaining, the soundtrack is spectacular, the visuals are serviceable, and the campaign is engaging enough to keep you invested for its duration. The lack of online leaderboards and online co-op is disappointing, as the omissions limit the value proposition of the title. If you are looking to experience another beat em’ up on the Nintendo Switch, then The TakeOver is something you should play, but you may feel a bit unsatisfied by what the package offers.

A parody? A tribute? We don't know what exactly is The Taker Over, but it feels weak when compared to other beat 'em up games.

The Takeover is the real Streets of Rage (4); for example soundtrack and storyline.

I have read reviews that say this game is 'nearly' as good as Streets of Rage 4. I have to strongly disagree. The Takeover has nice graphics, amusing cut scenes, an entertaining story, some great novelty 'bonus' levels and I love that you can use guns to dispatch enemies. Unfortunately it suffers from long loading times, a limited move set for each character, and limited weapons to pick up along the way. It also takes over 2 hours to finish, so beating it in a single session is a chore. SOR4 and Fight'N Rage are infinitely more fun to play and I recommend you play these games first. The Takeover is by no means a 'bad' game. I did enjoy my 3 play throughs and I feel the $15 I spent to buy it (on sale) was justified. Just don't expect this to be as good as the 'top tier' beat-em-ups like SOR4 and Fight'N Rage.

I want to give this game an 8 or a 9, but I just can't because the only way to get this game easily is on Steam (currently less than £3) and if I were to get this so I can play it on the go that means getting it for my Switch and a physical copy of the game (yes I like physical copies of my games) there is £53 MINIMUM (!!) because so far only Limited Run made some physical copies. Come on, this game isn't hundreds or even tens of gigabytes a 4GB Switch cart would have PLENTY of space for this game and be cheap as chips to buy from a supplier so chop to it Pelikan13!

Although occasionally fun, the controls feel way too clunky and you struggle to create any sort of flow in the combat. The move set for each character is too limited and when you add that to how inconvenient the controls feel most of the time the result is a rather rough experience. Beat Em Ups are fun because they make you feel like a bad-ass, putting together combo after combo, with great combination of moves, etc. This rarely happens in this game, where you feel like you're struggling with your own character most of the time. The loading times are horrible. The cut-scenes look nice but the voice acting is really bad and not only that but the audio was poorly mixed so you can't even clearly hear the characters' voices on some of the cutscenes. All of that is secondary however, and I would have gladly overlooked it all if they had gotten the most important aspect in such a game right: the controls and the FEEL of it - which they didn't.

Atrocious load times, buggy hit detection, janky graphics, bland level design and dull monotonous gameplay makes the well thought out combo system pointless. It's not engaging which is disappointing as so much effort seems to have been put into making it. I realise it was a one-person team, which is quite a feat but I can't help but be disappointed by the missed potential. Maybe the updates will fix things.