There are projects for which we have a very special affection. The resurrection of the Streets of Rage saga, 26 years after the last episode, had something to tickle our little fan hearts.
While the fashion is remake (see here or here), the developers (French for some, cocorico) of this new title wanted to offer us a follow-up to the height.
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Three studios have therefore joined forces to restore all its luster of yesteryear to one of the popes of beat’em up: Dotemu (Windjammers 1 and 2), Lizardcube (Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap) and Guard Crush Games (Streets of Fury).
All, in their own way, wanted to pay homage to the original trilogy, signed by the famous Team Shinobi from Sega and released between 1991 and 1994 on Megadrive (On the Megadrive mini, only episode 2 was present).
An ideal release
This Streets of Rage 4, it is available on all media, whether PC, Switch, PS4 or Xbox One (the game is also included in the Xbox Game Pass subscription system). Ideal for everyone to enjoy. And honestly, it would be a shame to miss this stress reliever where pleasure is the watchword.
The action takes place ten years after Streets of Rage 3. For novices, beat’em up is a style of play where the scenario is not bothered with details, and Streets 4 comes to confirm the adage. The (short) pitch is as follows: Mr.X is really dead and peace reigns in Wood Oak City. Until the Y. twins, his evil children, set up a new crime syndicate. Faced with the threat, yesterday’s heroes (Axel, Blaze and Adam, in particular) will therefore return to distribute the mandals in full cases.
Spectacular gameplay
Technically, the evolution since 1994 is spectacular. The retro pixels give way to sublime designs, which are also animated by a master’s hand. Aware of the retro charm of the series, the developers of the suite still wanted to integrate the previous versions of the characters, while adapting them to the new gameplay.
A strange cohabitation at first sight (see the photo below), but which provides enormous pleasure. And it was not easy for the programmers, as Cyrille Imbert, the executive producer of the game, explained in a long message on the official Playstation blog, since it was necessary to reconstruct nearly 1,500 images per character.
Solo, controller in hand, the sensations are, however, excellent. The game has a real visual identity, with splendid settings. Thanks to new combo possibilities, impressive special moves, and a very successful musical score, Streets of Rage 4 completely succeeds.
The title should therefore unite old gamers and younger players without any problem under the same banner, that of fun. Another highlight is the co-op mode (online for two players and offline for four players), which will recall the overheated atmosphere of the arcades of the 1990s (but without the smoke).
Streets of Rage 4, ed. Dotemu, on PC, Switch, PS4 and Xbox
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