Streets of Rage 4 – PAX East Preview

Twenty five years since the last release of the Sega classic, an iconic beat em’ up from virtually everyone’s childhood is set to make its return. Streets of Rage 4 was playable for the first time at PAX East, and Handsome Phantom was given the chance to sit down with the developers for a hands on co-op demo of the game.

While much is still yet to be revealed about this one, there is no doubt that the small team (fewer than ten programmers and artists) have absolutely nailed the nostalgic feel of the 16 bit side scrolling classic. As you’d expect, controls are simple and only require mastery of a few inputs. A basic attack is enough to dispatch most enemies, but you’ll also be able to pick up objects such as power ups, point bonuses, and several types of food that restore health. When enemies drop weapons, you can also collect these and use them as your own melee weapon, or hurl them at baddies at will. It was particularity satisfying nailing a street punk with a pipe from across the screen.

We played the two player demo as Axel and Blaze. Each have their own set of animations and moves that nicely complement the archetype of the character. But most importantly, each has their own super move. Each character starts a level with the opportunity to use their super move once. However, additional uses can be found sparingly throughout the level. Blaze is able to summon what looks like a type of kinetic attack that can easily inflict a massive amount of damage to any street punk close enough (which is a lot – each super move covers quite a large area). Axel has a similarly massive special move, only his uses fire.

While the super moves are easily the most visually impressive part of the demo we played, and it’s tempting to use them as quickly as you earn them, you’ll want to ensure you ration these until it is absolutely necessary. Enemies flood the screen at a rapid pace. The four lives that each player starts with seems like a lot, but it wasn’t enough for us to beat the demo stage (granted, we did get right to the end, and only fell to the final boss and all of her dead beat minions).

And don’t think the developers have forgotten about the most frustrating two player trade off from our youth – your cooperative partner can do as much damage to you as any enemy. It was all too easy for us to have a wayward punch or kick connect with each other. What was most infuriating was when one of these errant attacks interrupted what felt like a perfectly time punch or grab to an enemy about to fall. To be clear, this isn’t a complaint, but an annoying element of old school beat em’ ups we may have forgotten (I know I did).

Many pertinent details of the game remain shrouded in mystery. The inclusion of online coop is a must have but couldn’t be confirmed by the developer. Nor could the release window, number of playable characters in the final game (though we were promised more than the two from the demo), or what platforms it would be available on.

While a technical issue prevented us from experiencing the much anticipated sound track of Streets of Rage 4, the developers assured us that they are working with top talent to ensure we get the upbeat and energetic music we remember from 1994. I tend to trust them on this – everything else in the demo felt tried, true, and respectful of the franchise and what fans want. We’re full of anticipation for Streets of Rage 4 and cannot wait until we finally do get to play the full version.