Streets of Rage 4

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Streets of Rage 4
Promotional art
Developer(s)	Dotemu Lizardcube Guard Crush Games
Publisher(s)	Dotemu
Producer(s)	Cyrille Imbert
Designer(s)	Jordi Asensio
Programmer(s)	Cyrille Lagarigue Bo Samson
Artist(s)	Ben Fiquet Julian Nguyen You
Composer(s)	Olivier Deriviere Yuzo Koshiro Motohiro Kawashima
Series	Streets of Rage
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4 Xbox One Linux macOS Stadia
Release	Windows, Switch, PS4, Xbox One April 30, 2020 Linux, macOS November 12, 2020 Stadia July 15, 2021
Genre(s)	Beat 'em up
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Streets of Rage 4^[a] is a side-scrolling beat 'em up game developed by Dotemu, Lizardcube, and Guard Crush Games and published by Dotemu. The game is a continuation of Sega's Streets of Rage trilogy, originally released for the Sega Genesis during the 1990s, and was released in 2020 for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, macOS, and Linux, and for Stadia the following year. A DLC expansion for the game, Mr. X Nightmare, was released on July 14, 2021. The game has received generally positive reviews and sold over 2.5 million copies by April 2021.

Gameplay[]

Carrying on the style of gameplay from previous entries in the Streets of Rage series from the early 1990s, Streets of Rage 4 is a side-scrolling beat 'em up in which up to four players locally or two players online fight against waves of enemies, aided by disposable weapons and item pickups. Alongside standard attacks, throws, and Blitz Moves, each player character has a set of special attacks that can be performed at the cost of some health. In this game, however, players can restore health spent on a special attack by performing successive follow-up attacks without getting hit. Each player character also has unique super combo, "Star Moves", which can be performed by collecting Stars in each level. A new combo system is introduced, along with the ability to juggle opponents against walls and other players, allowing players to earn extra points by stringing together long combos without getting hit.^[1] Each characters have unique traits, such as Max's wall jump and grappling jump, Shiva's weapon parry mechanics and aerial rave/air combo, and Floyd's long-range grapple.

The main gameplay mode, Story Mode, sees players going through each level as the story is told, with a stage select unlocked after clearing Story Mode. Players have a limited number of lives depending on the difficulty setting, but can earn more by earning a certain number of points. If all players lose all of their lives, they will have to retry the level from the beginning, with the option to use assists that add extra lives and Star Moves at the cost of a reduced score. Upon clearing a level, players receive a rank based on how many points they scored. Points earned goes towards a lifetime score, which goes towards unlocking bonus player characters from past games, presented in pseudo 16-bit style. The game also features Arcade Mode, which tasks players with clearing the entire game with limited lives, a Boss Rush Mode and a competitive Battle Mode, which lets two players fight against each other. The game also features a retro audio option, featuring music tracks from both the Mega Drive/Genesis and Master System/Game Gear versions of the first two games.^[2][3][4]

While Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding have always been recurrently appear in every Streets of Rage games, it marks the return of Adam Hunter as a playable character since the first game, who is unlockable in an early stage area. It also introduces Adam's daughter, Cherry, a guitarist who inherited her father's fighting skill, and speed from her uncle Eddie "Skate" Hunter. The second initial new character is Floyd Iraia, a Maori disciple of Dr. Gilbert Zan who was once a former construction worker prior to losing his arms in an accident and now equipped with mechanical arms.

The DLC playable characters are also bosses in the main storyline: A Swedish-Colombian newcomer who works for police, Estel Aguirre, Max Thunder from Streets of Rage 2, and the first time for a recurring Streets of Rage 2 boss character Shiva to be an actual playable character, unlike in Streets of Rage 3, where he was a hidden unlockable character. If one of the DLC characters are/is selected, their boss counterparts, such as brainwashed Max will be hologram versions of themselves.

Classic versions of the characters who appeared in some of "Mr. X Saga Trilogy" games are also unlockable. While Shiva's Streets of Rage 2 incarnation remains a boss character, his Streets of Rage 3 incarnation alongside Max's Streets of Rage 2 incarnation are unlockable playable characters in initial game release prior to their current incarnations were announced as DLC characters. Roo's Streets of Rage 3 incarnation is an unlockable hidden DLC character, while his current incarnation appears as a cameo in a certain stage. Similarly Dr. Gilbert Zan's Street of Rage 3 incarnation is unlockable in initial game release, while his current incarnation appears as a cameo in the main storyline's ending. Skate is the only playable character whose current incarnation (now an adult) never appeared as an NPC nor a DLC in this game, due to the developers did not want to commit to a visual design without thinking of his gameplay potential.

Plot[]

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Ten years after the events of Streets of Rage 3, in which the criminal mastermind Mr. X was defeated, Wood Oak City falls under the control of a new crime syndicate led by Mr. X's children, the Y Twins, who plan to brainwash its citizens with hypnotic music. Blaze Fielding calls in some old favors to take the twins down. Joining Blaze are her old friends Axel Stone and Adam Hunter, Adam's daughter Cherry Hunter, and Floyd Iraia, a cybernetically enhanced apprentice of Dr. Zan.^[5][6]

Development[]

Upon completing development on Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap, a 2017 remake of 1989's Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap, Lizardcube artist Ben Fiquet wanted to make a remaster of the original Streets of Rage games using the same techniques. However, the game's programmer, Oliver Cornut, had moved onto a personal project, so Fiquet and publisher Dotemu approached Sega about creating a full sequel to the series instead.^[7] Sega agreed, licensed the franchise to Dotemu and production on the game began at the beginning of 2018, with the game publicly announced that August. The game was co-developed by Guard Crush Games, using a modified engine from their Streets of Fury game, with a core development team of five members across the three companies. Each playable Streets of Rage 4 character has approximately 1,000 frames of animation, with enemies having between 300 and 400 frames each.^[8] Seaven Studio ported the game for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch^[9] while BlitWorks ported it for Xbox One and Windows 10.^[10]

Music[]

The game's score was primarily composed by Olivier Deriviere, with additional compositions from Yuzo Koshiro, Motohiro Kawashima, Yoko Shimomura, Keiji Yamagishi, Harumi Fujita, Das Mörtal, and Groundislava.^[11][12] The soundtrack is structured so that Deriviere wrote the primary themes, while each boss fight's theme was written by one of the guest composers.^[12][13] Koshiro was not a part of the project from the start, but joined in June 2019 after playing a demo of the game at BitSummit, an indie game showcase in Japan. He cited fan requests and how the game was coming along as reasons for joining.^[14] Hideki Naganuma was also originally set to contribute, but dropped out of the project due to scheduling conflicts before being replaced by Fujita.^[15] The game includes the ability to switch the soundtrack to that of Streets of Rage and Streets of Rage 2.^[16]

The game's soundtrack was released digitally alongside the game on April 30, 2020 by Brave Wave Productions, with a limited vinyl release produced by Limited Run Games.^[12][17] A CD soundtrack is included with certain physical releases of the game, and Tee Lopes has contributed an additional remix for an exclusive 15 track soundtrack CD for those who ordered physical editions from Limited Run Games.^[18] Lopes returned to compose the soundtrack for the Mr. X Nightmare DLC.^[19]

Release[]

The game was released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on April 30, 2020.^[16] A limited physical release for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch versions by Limited Run Games was made available as both a standard edition with reversible box art and a classic edition with a steelbook case and a Genesis-style clam-shell case.^[20] A limited edition version including a CD soundtrack, a 7-inch statue, a chicken stress ball, and an artbook has also been offered.^[21] Another physical release for PS4, Switch, and Xbox One is being planned by Signature Edition, releasing the game in both a standard version include keyrings and an art booklet and a signature edition with a CD soundtrack, enamel pins, and a bandana.^[22] Following the announcement of other physical editions, Dotemu and Limited Run Games announced that all orders of their physical editions would include a complimentary CD with an exclusive remix by Tee Lopes, as well as free Steam keys for those who ordered the limited edition.^[23]

A downloadable content titled Mr. X Nightmare was released on July 15, 2021. The DLC adds three additional player characters who are also bosses in the game's main storyline; the current incarnations of Streets of Rage 2 characters Max Thunder and Shiva, and a newcomer Estel Aguirre, and a Survival Mode, in which players fight through waves of enemies to unlock new moves and weapons, as well as a fourth additional character, Streets of Rage 3's Roo. The DLC features additional music tracks composed by Tee Lopes. A free update adding additional color palletes, a training mode, and a "New Mania+" difficulty was released alongside the DLC, along with a version of the game for Google Stadia.^[24][25] A physical Anniversary Edition of the PS4 and Switch versions, including the game and DLC, is scheduled for release by Merge Games Ltd. on September 24, 2021.^[26]

Reception[]

Reviews[]

Streets of Rage 4 received generally positive reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.^[28][29][27]

Leo Faierman of The Sydney Morning Herald wrote that "the visuals, sounds and mechanics aren't as envelope-pushing in 2020 as the originals were in the early '90s, but the balance between embracing nostalgia and reformulating the brawler for the current decade is struck wonderfully".^[43] Heidi Kemps of GameSpot opined the game "looks great, sounds great, and plays very well" and that even "if the experience is relatively short, it's the sort of game you and your buddies can easily enjoy playing and re-playing".^[37]

Michael Huber of Easy Allies stated that Streets of Rage 4 masterfully revitalized the series, describing the combat and soundtrack as high points, but criticized the online components at launch.^[33] Dale Driver of IGN wrote that "it's still a very conservative update to the quarter-century-old format that feels like a slave to the past".^[35] Joe Juba of Game Informer agrees that it "feels like an homage to the '90s, but it's also stuck in that era".^[36]

Sales[]

The game reached number 14 in the UK sales charts.^[44] It also reached 20th on the US downloads chart.^[45][46] By September 2020, the game had sold over 1.5 million digital copies worldwide.^[47][48] As of April 2021, the game has sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide.^[24]

Accolades[]

It received a "Gold" award from Famitsu.^[49] Polygon listed Streets of Rage 4 among the 22 best games on the Switch.^[50] It was nominated for Best Action Game at The Game Awards 2020, but lost to Hades.^[51]

Notes[]

References[]