Sega has just announced the return of one of the most important franchises of the 16-bit era. The glorious Streets of Rage (Bare Knuckle) is back brought to us by Dotemu, Guard Crush, and Lizardcube, who presented the game with a trailer that aims to sweeten us all... and boy, does it succeed!
When thinking about beat'em up games that marked SEGA's golden age in the 90s, we could list many titles such as Golden Axe, Comix Zone, TMNT, Maximum Carnage, Double Dragon, and Splatter House. Although they are all legends, one stood out for its great gameplay, amazing soundtrack, and colorful, varied sprites. We are talking, of course, about Streets of Rage, which became a reference in the genre, even though many years have passed since its last appearance (1994).
Finally, and after several attempts that didn't pan out, Streets of Rage 4 is a reality. Developed by LizardCube and GuardCrush, and published by Dotemu, this new version of the series will maintain much of the 90s essence with classic patterns and a graphic environment that, as in recent years, will try to be as faithful as possible to the original trilogy. Although SEGA has not specified the release date or the consoles that will receive this return, we can anticipate that since Dotemu and LizardCube are in charge, the game will likely launch at least on Nintendo Switch. Both companies recently released a continuation of the classic Wonder Boy for Nintendo's hybrid console, among other classics.
Background
It's not the first time Streets of Rage has tried to come back to life. At the beginning of the century, Sega was betting everything on its new Dreamcast console, and the continuation of the saga would be made in 3D, completely abandoning the classic style of the game. Yuzo Koshiro, the great musician and composer of the saga, who also worked on big titles like Shenmue and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, revealed a few years ago that although SEGA Japan was enthusiastic about the project that was being carried out, it was SEGA America who gave the negative without any apparent reason. The weight that SEGA America had in the decision was due to the success it had in the United States, since in Japanese lands it didn't have the same effect. Koshiro believed that one of the reasons the project was discarded was because the game came many years after its last appearance and it would no longer have the same impact on consumers.
Years later there were several attempts to revive the saga, although none was convincing enough. The developer Ruffian Games, responsible for the Crackdown and Halo: Master Chief Collection series, made a prototype that didn't look bad at all but completely abandoned its style, just as the official version that never saw the light was going to do. Fortunately, we were able to enjoy Street of Rage Remake, although not officially.
Without a doubt, this is excellent news, and as has been happening in recent years, the recipe that works is not to touch the game format or the graphic environment too much, so SOR4 probably won't disappoint anyone. With no release date and not too much technical data on gameplay and soundtrack, SEGA is looking for a bit of hype to keep us following along, and of course we will, it's Streets of Rage!
