Streets of Rage 4 — Review
Synopsis: Among the best beat ’em up series ever created, Streets of Rage returns with jammin’ ’90s spirit and over-the-top street fighting — a tribute that also revitalizes the genre.
Publisher: Dotemu
Developers: Lizardcube, Guard Crush Games, Dotemu
Reviewed on: Xbox One S
Also available for: PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC
Key Credits: Creative Director: Ben Fiquet · Lead Game Designer: Jordi Asensio · Technical Director: Cyrille Lagarigue
Cast: Olivier Raynal, Barbara Weber-Boustani, Quinn Lafontaine, Bruce Sherfield, Avant Strangel
I’m no Streets of Rage superfan. I’ve played the classics, but I couldn’t name every character offhand. What Lizardcube, Guard Crush Games, and Dotemu deliver here is a refreshingly modern yet familiar take on the side-scrolling brawler: fast, fun, and satisfyingly crunchy.
The core is classic: dash attacks, grabs, juggles, and defensive specials that cost health if you spam them. Each character shares the same fundamentals but has distinct quirks. I cleared my first run with Cherry Hunter — nimble and great at hop-attacking knife-wielders, even if she hits lighter than others. Newcomer Floyd Iraia is a slow tank with long-reach bionic grabs, while returning staples Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding play close to how veterans remember, with some smart tweaks.
Stars found in levels power a screen-popping “Star Attack” — big damage, multi-target, unique per character. I hoarded them for boss bursts, but they’re equally clutch for clearing a crowded room.
There are 12 stages that ramp up to boss fights. My solo run took about 2–3 hours. Difficulty options range from breezy to brutal, and the game lets you swap characters mid-stage, restart freely, and use infinite continues. Most importantly, you can trade a lower end-of-stage score for extra lives (from 2→3 up to 2→5). That flexibility turned the finale from frustrating into the kind of challenge I wanted. Prefer punishment? Arcade mode boots you back to the menu on a game over. Play how you like.
Local co-op supports four players; online co-op tops out at two (a shame, given how rowdy four-player couch sessions can get). You can open your lobby to the public or stick to friends.
Streets of Rage 4 looks better in motion than any screenshot suggests. Backgrounds bustle — cops making arrests, civilians sipping coffee — and everything flexes with big, comic-book musculature. It genuinely feels like the cast spent the 26 years since 1994 doing nothing but push-ups. The soundtrack rules: legacy composers Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima contribute, but Olivier Deriviere’s synth-forward bangers steal the show. It slid straight into my regular rotation.
Comic-panel cutscenes link stages with a plot that follows on from Streets of Rage 3. It’s serviceable fan service; I was here for the fists, not the lore. I’d have liked a proper tutorial for newcomers, and I wish online co-op supported four players, but those are nitpicks.
Streets of Rage 4 is a fine-tuned brawler true to its roots and modern in the right places. Veterans can chase S-ranks and crank the difficulty; new players get options that respect their time. However you roll, it’s a fantastic time.
Score: 8/10
