Streets of Rage 4 releases April 30th

A little over 26 years after the release of Streets of Rage 3, Streets of Rage 4 will land on PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Switch for $24.99. Featuring a roster of 17 playable characters(12 retro characters from past Streets of Rage games), 3 different soundtracks(soundtracks from SOR1 and SOR2 are included with the SOR4 soundtrack), and 2 modes of play(story and Battle Mode) this game looks to be a Streets of Rags fan's dream.

The classic or retro characters returning for Streets of Rage 4 are not mere palette swaps of the new or updated characters, but full fledged recreations. Streets of Rage 1 Adam, Axel, and Blaze have their classic movesets which include the ability to call police cars to fire rockets into the battlefield and clear the screen of enemies. Streets of Rage 2 Axel, Blaze, Max, and Skate will have both special moves available to use to pound enemies into pulp. Steets of Rage 3 Axel, Blaze, Skate, and Zan can sprint and roll. The only playable character we have little information on is Shiva, as he never had a full moveset in Streets of Rage 3 so Dotemu, Lizardcube, and Guard Crush Games, the 3 developers of Streets of Rage 4, may or may not keep him identical to his classic version. Roo and Ash are completely absent from the retro reveal trailer you can check out below but we don't know if it means they are not in the game or are being held back as a surprise for long time fans.

Battle Mode, a feature of SOR2 and SOR3, makes a return in SOR4 in a big way. Up to 4 players can fight it out in a free for all battle royal or you can pick teams for some 2 on 2, 3 on 1, or 2 on 1 on 1 action. It appears to be local co-op/versus only as the co-op story mode is only 2 player online but 2 player local. A trailer for that mode, which features 9 arenas, can be watched below.

Streets of Rage 4 looks to be a great addition to the beat-em up genre and a worthy successor to the Streets of Rage legacy. Everything they have show so far has looked fantastic and I cannot wait to get my hands on it April 30th. I've included a few screen shots below but feel free to jump to the comments section and let us know what you think about the game.

*All images courtesy of Dotemu