Streets of Rage is the pinnacle of the beat ’em up genre, and it’s been a whopping 25 years since the last entry. First announced in August 2018, Streets of Rage 4 is the highly anticipated next entry in the series. Not much is known about the game at the moment, but here’s everything we do know about Streets of Rage 4.
What is Streets of Rage?
Streets of Rage is a series of classic beat ’em up games developed and published by Sega. The original Streets of Rage trilogy was originally released for the Sega Genesis. The series is centered around the efforts of Axel Stone, Blaze Fielding, and others as they attempt to dismantle a crime syndicate that has taken over the city.
Players can use weapons likes pipes, bats, bottles, and of course, their fists to rid the streets of criminal scum. Attacks can be chained into combos, and each character has their own individual special moves.
The gameplay isn’t the only reason people like Streets of Rage so much. The music in these games is incredible. Every stage has a rockin’ soundtrack, and the games have a totally unique sound. Just take the track below for example. That’s just from the first level of Streets of Rage 2, so you can only imagine what later tracks sound like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_62PVfghXtc
Who are the developers?
Unlike the first three games, Sega isn’t making this one. The game is a collaboration between Lizardcube and Guard Crush Games. Lizardcube is the team behind Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap, a remake of the 1989 Master System game Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap. The remake featured gorgeous hand-drawn graphics, and it looks like Streets of Rage 4 will have a similar art style. Guard Crush Games developed Streets of Fury, an homage to Streets of Rage that first released on the Xbox 360 back in 2009. The game used digitized actors like the original Mortal Kombat games.
Sega isn’t officially publishing this one, either. Dotemu, the publisher that worked with Lizardcube to publish Wonder Boy, is the official publisher. Dotemu and Lizardcube approached Sega with the proposal to make a new Streets of Rage, and the game was announced “in partnership with Sega”, but it’s unclear just how much Sega is contributing to the development of the game.
It has also yet to be confirmed if Yuzo Koshiro, the composer behind the original trilogy’s music, will return for the fourth entry.
We had a chance to catch up with the Head of Marketing at Dotemu, Arnaud De Sousa, regarding Streets of Rage 4. Check that out here.
How can I catch up for Streets of Rage 4?
While Streets of Rage isn’t the most narrative-driven series out there, it’s still nice to know who’s who before jumping into the fourth entry. You can always dust off the old Sega Genesis and play the first three games that way, but that’s probably not feasible for most of you. Sega realized this too, so they made all three games available in the Sega Genesis Classics collection, which you can pick up for your PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, or even your trusty Nintendo Switch. The fourth game takes place a decade after the previous entry, so it’s unlikely that there will be a lot of plot threads carried over from Streets of Rage 3, but the trilogy is still worth playing.
When can I play it?
The game doesn’t have a confirmed release date yet. It’s slated for release in 2019, but nothing else is known about the release date beside the year. Platforms haven’t been announced either, but considering that Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap came out on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC, it’s safe to say Streets of Rage 4 will be released on those platforms as well.
However, if you’re attending PAX East 2019 (March 28 – 31, 2019), you can check out a playable build of the game.
Trailers
Be sure to stop back often as we’ll be updating this article as information is provided to us
