It must be said that we were waiting for it at the turn, this first playable version of Streets of Rage 4. Because once the surprise of the ad has passed, the short teaser put online by Dotemu to accompany it left us wondering. If we had nothing to say about the very pretty animated kinematics, the rare extracts from gameplay inserted in the video had worried us about the readability and energy of the bazaar. Well we are happy to announce that after a few tens of minutes on the game, a good part of our fears are gone.
Axel Raide
For those who missed the details of the ad, remember that Streets of Rage 4 is a Franco-Canadian production shared between Dotemu, which manages most of the game design as well as the distribution of the game, and Guard Crush Games (Streets of Fury), which brings the engine and the knowledge in programming – without forgetting of course Ben Fiquet from Lizardcube (Wonderboy III: The Dragon's Trap) for the visual part. Official sequel to the Sega trilogy (and first SoR 4 not to be released by the lawyers of the Japanese publisher), this episode should have a new scenario while keeping the characters of the time – in any case both for the moment: Axel and Blaze.
To start, let's do a little inventory of what was sorely lacking in this version. Music and sound effects were replaced for the moment by those of the original games, since no composer has been officially announced yet (and that, obviously, the studios concerned would like to be able to take pride in the participation of Yûzô Koshiro). As to gameplay pure, this version did not yet include weapons to pick up or even projections of Blaze – but all these beautiful people are obviously planned in the final version. Finally, the last unknown: the invocation of the police to throw grenades of disengaging and shots from Flash-Ball at close range on the wicked plebs remains to be confirmed.
Potato gratin
When we ask developers their favorite part to leave on a working basis, it is without question Streets of Rage 2 that came back on everyone's lips. The best episode in the eyes of many fans, whose sigh of relief should be felt right now across France. On this base, the three studios have decided to develop a beat 'em up slow and martial, which will require much more science in the placement and the rhythm of the blows than on an excessive speed and jumps in all directions – although the jumped attacks remain particularly powerful, in particular on the side of Blaze, which wins in his special moves one divekick most practical aerial.
No touch or manipulation to run towards the opponent before tatanating him therefore, but a new mechanics of wall bounce which will chain an unfortunate punk against a wall like the last of the sagouins – and it can last quite a long time, as long as to do with a bunch of enemies. As mentioned above, special moves are still part of the game and can, as expected, be used against a small portion of the life bar. The novelty, however, is that it will now be possible to regain some life by distributing mandals without getting hit. A Bloodbornisation of Streets of Rage that we didn't necessarily see happen, but which, in use, seems to work rather well.
A game that screams in color
The last question, the one you've probably asked yourself since the beginning of this article, concerns readability and visual rendering. If we forget the telegraph poles and other objects in the foreground which have sometimes bothered us (and which are still the subject of reflection by the studios), the readability of the clashes has almost never been taken in default. Thanks to bright and marked colors as well as a generous black outline on the sprites, this Streets of Rage 4 is as legible as his ancestors, if not more.
Equal relief from the artistic direction, difficult to define during the announcement. Now it's done with sprites carefully designed, finely worked decorations (helped by very nice weft effects) and swaying and energetic animations. You just have to see Axel advance with a determined air towards his opponents or take one to explode him on the ground to instantly feel at home. We also recognize the Lizardcube paw perfectly in the choice of colors but also – above all – in certain cartoony faces, distorted by a potato in the belly. Last visual treat: sprites are superbly lit and it is not uncommon to see them shading or coloring depending on the decor.
With open combos
So we come out peaceful from this presentation which will have put more stars in our eyes than the initial announcement. If there are still many unknowns (weapons management, additional characters and of course the composer), the build that we had in our hands revealed a beautiful tribute to the series, which could well make the happiness of some old men wanting to rediscover their youth.
Still no date in sight for Streets of Rage 4, teams wishing to take their time to develop it. And given the work done for the moment, we would be careful not to dissuade them.
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