In the electronic gaming industry, remaking or reviving an old videogame title has the potential to be a flop or a triumphant appeal to nostalgia backed by updated graphics and sounds. “Double Dragon Neon”, a 2012 remake by WayForward Technologies of the classic 1987 arcade and NES beat-‘em-up game from Technos Japan, is an example of a positive reception for refurbishing the old. This week another game revival has been announced for one of the most iconic series on the Sega Genesis, beat-‘em-up “Streets of Rage” which had its last installment in 1994. Decades later, a fourth game is announced.
According to The Verge, the plainly titled “Streets of Rage 4” was reveled in August 27 as being currently under development by DotEmu, a French game development company that came into prominence by emulating and making ports of classic videogames from their original consoles to present-day platforms such as Microsoft Windows and Mac OS among many others. But their more recent efforts have been stunning overhauls of these retro games in terms of graphics and audio. One stunning example of their developmental prowess is “Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap”, a remake of a 1989 game on the Sega Master System.
The announcement by DotEmu was also accompanied by the first teaser trailer, which comprises a stunning animated sequence –probably the intro – and a short snippet of how the gameplay will look like. Gamers who grew up with the original three “Streets of Rage” games on the Sega Genesis will easily recognize the visuals, in the form of longtime playable characters Axel Stone (now with a beard) and Blaze Fielding, both in their recognizable (if graphically spruced up) clothes. Even the enemies the characters fight in the gameplay, plus their special attacks, were plainly lifted from the old games and refurbished.
DotEmu and collaborator LizardCube have yet to put a date on when “Streets of Rage 4” will be released. If it is still a long while, then the surprised and excited fans of the Sega franchise hope that the developers use that time to bring in composer Yuzo Koshiro. Koshiro created the soundtrack of the first game in 1991 and worked with Motohiro Kawashima on the 1992 and 1994 sequels. In fact, the “Streets of Rage” series was indelibly linked to their work, which is hailed as one of the best videogame soundtracks and a staple of electronic dance music.
Image courtesy of Polygon
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