The scoring and ranking system in Streets of Rage 4 is fundamental for progression and unlocking content. You earn points by defeating enemies, performing combos, picking up money items, and completing stages quickly. Higher combo counts yield significantly more points, so strive to chain attacks together. Avoid taking damage, as this negatively impacts your end-of-stage score. At the end of each stage, your performance is evaluated based on your score, time taken, and lives lost, resulting in a letter grade (D, C, B, A, S). Achieving higher ranks, especially 'S' ranks, is crucial for unlocking retro characters and other bonuses. Your total accumulated score across all playthroughs contributes to a global score that unlocks new characters. Replaying stages to improve your score and rank is a core aspect of the game's replayability and mastery. Aim for those S-ranks!
