I grew up playing video games. My first console was the Atari 2600. The games were quite primitive, literally a few pixels on the screen moving. Remember, that was the 80s. In the 90s my brother and I got the Sega Mega-Drive (Genesis in US). It was a massive improvement in graphics. A 16bit console, whoah! There are incredible games, however the one that marked was Streets of Rage. I remember seeing some kids playing at this shop and I was blown away. I wanted to play it. We got the game a few weeks later and we used to play it all the time. The soundtrack was phenomenal. Fast-forward a few years and the second installment was released. Everything was better. Graphics, music. My love for the franchise was renewed till this day. I have both games on my phone and tablet.
Last week Streets of Rage 4 was released. The long awaited release for me since I learned it was in the works. I got it for the Switch and have been playing every single day and my expectations, which were very high, were met. The game is awesome. The pixelated graphics are no longer. The creators of the series decided to adopt a hand drawn clean look and it works really well. The graphics are beautiful, the scenarios have that 80s gritty look and are full of details. The music doesn’t disappoint either. I’ve been actually listening to the soundtrack on Spotify.
As you can see, I am a fan and this game deserves a feature here on Abduzeedo.
Streets of Rage
Streets of Rage, known as Bare Knuckle (ベア・ナックル Bea Nakkuru) in Japan, is a trilogy of beat 'em up games developed and published by SEGA in the 1990s.
Famously known for its non stop action and electronic dance influenced music - scored by Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima - the series has gained the status of cult classic throughout the years. It is considered one of the best beat 'em up series of all time. After many years, Axel and Blaze are finally picking up the fight where they left.
Featuring hand-drawn visuals from the team behind 2017’s gorgeous Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap remake, Streets of Rage 4 builds upon the classic trilogy’s gameplay with new mechanics, a fresh story and a gauntlet of dangerous stages with a serious crime problem. Streets of Rage 4 recalls classic gameplay but it stands as an entirely original arcade-style romp thanks to the expertise of Guard Crush Games and Dotemu.
Whether players gang up with a friend or clean up the city solo, Streets of Rage 4 is a skull-bashing, chicken-chomping delight all set to a thumping soundtrack sure to get your blood pumping.
Screenshots
Making of
