Video games get sequels all the time, but it rarely happens more than two decades after the original trilogy concluded. Streets of Rage 4 is coming 26 years after Streets of Rage 3 graced the Sega Genesis. You still wander the streets, listening to kickass Yuzo Koshiro tracks, while pummeling street punks and bad cops. But Streets of Rage 4 also manages to modernize the experience in key ways, through both its design and visuals. This is still authentic Streets of Rage, but in a way that works for 2020.
SOR4 takes place a decade after Streets of Rage 3 and features a number of returning characters alongside new fighters. Axel Stone is back, while Adam Hunter returns to fight alongside his guitar-wielding daughter Cherry. The story once again mostly involves cleaning up the streets, which are overrun by shady police and far-reaching crime syndicates. The core game play is identical to past games. Streets of Rage 4 is a 2D side-scrolling beat ‘em up, where your main job is to continue moving to the right while punching everything that gets in your way. Each character has basic attacks along with two kinds of special moves: one that drains your health and another, more powerful blow that requires relatively rare stars that you pick up along the way.
I loved this franchise as a kid, and I’m so excited to see it return after a long hiatus. P.S. I think it would make a great movie idea.
neillfrazer@hotmail.com
