Streets of Rage 4 Reveal Trailer, My Thoughts

In 1991, Sega published a beat-em-up game for the Sega Genesis called Streets of Rage (known as Bare Knuckle in Japan). It focused on a trio of ex-cops who quit the force to save their city from being drowned in a swamp of corruption by a crime lord known only as Mr. X. The game would be critically acclaimed, especially for its soundtrack. Composer Yuzo Koshiro was inspired by electronic dance music for the soundtrack, but also drew influences from contemporary R&B and hip-hop.

The game would have two sequels on the Sega Genesis, the second in 1992, and the third in 1994. But since then, things have been rather quiet on the series' front. There were attempts to bring the series to the Saturn and later the Dreamcast, but they never materialized. Fans had stepped in, creating various mods and fan games, but officially, Streets of Rage appeared to be a dead franchise.

Until now. French gaming company DotEmu, who specialize in the adaptation and porting of classic games to current consoles and mobile devices, have announced that they are working on a brand-new official game in the series: Streets of Rage 4. There's a reveal trailer out, so let's take a look!

So far, I'm liking what I'm seeing. I will admit, I've never played the SoR games, but it's got my attention.

Heh heh, welcome back, Axel. Love his new look.

I would so love a Streets of Rage animated series in this style. Maybe we can get Netflix and DreamWorks on it? They did do an awesome new take on Voltron...

And of course, where you have Axel, you have to have Blaze Fielding. Love her new look, too.

The music is a bit more heavy metal-esque than I would have expected for this series. I do like it, I'm just surprised.

So, this henchwoman has an...electric snake. Or is that an electric eel? A snake-eel hybrid? Hey, cyborgs exist in the Streets of Rage universe, animal hybrids can, too.

BAAAAARE KNUCKLE!

So, it seems like Axel and Blaze may be the playable characters based on this? Makes me wonder if we'll get a third or fourth character option to play as, considering the previous three games always had a trio or quartet of characters to choose from. Maybe it'll be a surprise.

This looks like it will be a ton of fun. I have played Double Dragon Neon and the original Final Fight, so it looks like this will be a ton of fun. I hope it comes to Switch!