Difference between revisions of "Streets of Rage 4"

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{{sub-stub}}'''''{{PAGENAME}}''''', known as '''''Bare Knuckle IV''''' (ベア・ナックルIV) in Japan and Asia, is a sequel to ''[[Streets of Rage 3]]'' developed by Lizardcube, DotEmu and Guard Crush Games with the approval of Sega. It's the first official sequel of the series since 1994, with a gap of 26 years between episodes 3 and 4, and has been released on all the consoles of the 8th generation (Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Switch) and on PC.
+
{{stub}}
 +
'''''{{PAGENAME}}''''', known as '''''Bare Knuckle IV''''' (ベア・ナックルIV) in Japan and Asia, is a sequel to ''[[Streets of Rage 3]]'' developed by [[Lizardcube]], [[DotEmu]] and [[Guard Crush Games]] with the approval of [[Sega]]. It is the first official sequel of the series since 1994, with a gap of 26 years between episodes 3 and 4, and has been released on all the consoles of the 8th generation ([[Xbox One]], [[PlayStation 4]] and [[Nintendo Switch]]) and on [[Windows PC|PC]].
  
 
==History==
 
==History==
 
===Development===
 
===Development===
 
{{mainArticle|{{PAGENAME}}/Development}}
 
{{mainArticle|{{PAGENAME}}/Development}}
After the critical success of the remake of [[Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap]] by Lizardcube in 2017, Lizardcube asked Sega to trust them with another IP from the Mega Drive era. The deal concluded with the revival of Streets of Rage, with the production starting early 2018. As they didn't have any experience in doing beat them up games, Lizardcube associated again with DotEmu, this time for production and not edition, and with Guard Crush Games to provide an improved version of their engine used on their 2015 released game, Streets of Fury.
+
After the critical success of the remake of ''[[Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap]]'' by Lizardcube in 2017, Lizardcube asked Sega to trust them with another IP from the [[Mega Drive]] era. The deal concluded with the revival of ''Streets of Rage'', with the production starting early 2018. As they didn't have any experience in doing beat-em-up games, Lizardcube associated again with DotEmu, this time for production and not edition, and with Guard Crush Games to provide an improved version of their engine used on their 2015 released game, ''Streets of Fury''.
  
Artistic direction is once again led by Ben Fiquet, CEO of Lizardcube, along with Julian Nguyen You as the background artist. They decided to set the story of the new game 10 years after the last episode to give more freeways to re-imagining the old characters. One of the new character, policewoman Estel, has been inspired by a real policewoman that did a strong impression on Ben Fiquet when she broke into his building once for an operation she was in charge, along 2 ripped male partners.
+
Artistic direction was once again led by Ben Fiquet, CEO of Lizardcube, along with Julian Nguyen You as the background artist. They decided to set the story of the new game 10 years after the last episode to give more freeways to re-imagining the old characters. One of the new characters, policewoman Estel, has been inspired by a real policewoman that did a strong impression on Ben Fiquet when she broke into his building once for an operation she was in charge, along 2 ripped male partners.
  
For the sound aspects, the studios contracted early with Olivier Derivière based on his work on adaptive soundtracks on several video games, giving a strong dubstep colouring to Streets of Rage 4, probably because the sound work of Yuzo Koshiro on the original SoR trilogy heavily influenced the dubstep musical trend during the early 2000's. The studios reached to Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima during their concert ''Diggin' In The Carts'' in Paris in 2018 and successfully contracted for their participation in the game soundtrack through the company Brave Wave Productions. This deal also gave the opportunity to have other legendary Japanese guests like Yoko Shimomura from Street Fighter II and Kingdom Hearts fame, Keiji Yamagishi well known for Ninja Gaiden and Dynasty Warriors, and Harumi Fujita who worked on Strider and Final Fight. This all-star sound team is completed by other guests from the West: Scattle, XL Middleton, Das Mörtal and Groundislava.
+
For the sound aspects, the studios contracted early with Olivier Derivière based on his work on adaptive soundtracks on several video games, giving a strong dubstep colouring to ''Streets of Rage 4'', probably because the sound work of [[Yuzo Koshiro]] on the original ''SoR'' trilogy heavily influenced the dubstep musical trend during the early 2000's. The studios reached to Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima during their concert ''Diggin' In The Carts'' in Paris in 2018 and successfully contracted for their participation in the game soundtrack through the company Brave Wave Productions. This deal also gave the opportunity to have other legendary Japanese guests like Yoko Shimomura from ''[[Street Fighter II]]'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' fame, Keiji Yamagishi, well known for ''Ninja Gaiden'' and ''Dynasty Warriors'', and Harumi Fujita who worked on ''[[Strider]]'' and ''[[Final Fight]]''. This all-star sound team is completed by other guests from the West: Scattle, XL Middleton, Das Mörtal and Groundislava.
  
 
===Reception===
 
===Reception===
The 1st announcement of the game was made on DotEmu and Lizardcube's Twitter accounts on 27 August 2018 along a trailer already showing some sequences of the game at his early stage. The reception from the retrogaming public was quite lukewarm at the time, negatively comparing the artistic direction to popular Flash games during the 2000's. The uncertainty at the time of whether Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima would return as composers on the game was also quite unappealing to long time fans of the franchise.
+
The first announcement of the game was made on DotEmu and Lizardcube's Twitter accounts on 27 August 2018, along with a trailer already showing some sequences of the game at its early stage. The reception from the retro gaming public was quite lukewarm at the time, negatively comparing the artistic direction to popular Flash games during the 2000's. The uncertainty at the time of whether Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima would return as composers on the game was also quite unappealing to long time fans of the franchise.
  
With trailers being regularly released and goundbreaking announcements like 4 co-op play mode or the possibility to play the game using old incarnations of the classic characters, the public and critics alike welcomed the game quite warmly after his digital release on 30 April 2020, sales figures exceeding all the expections of the 3 development studios. This has been followed by a worldwide physical release on 30 July 2020, managed by 3goo in Japan, Merge Games in Europe and the USA. Limited Run Games also released a batch of their own regular and classic editions of the game at the same date. Their limited edition with a figure of both Axel and Blaze will be made available during last quarter 2020.
+
With trailers being regularly released and goundbreaking announcements like the 4-player co-op mode or the possibility to play the game using old incarnations of the classic characters, the public and critics alike welcomed the game quite warmly after its digital release on 30 April 2020, sales figures exceeding all the expections of the 3 development studios. This has been followed by a worldwide physical release on 30 July 2020, managed by 3goo in Japan, and Merge Games in Europe and the USA. Limited Run Games also released a batch of their own regular and classic editions of the game at the same date. Their limited edition with a figure of both Axel and Blaze will be made available during the last quarter of 2020.
  
 
==Magazine articles==
 
==Magazine articles==

Revision as of 13:00, 16 August 2020

For the unreleased Sega Dreamcast game, see Streets of Rage 4 (Dreamcast).

n/a

Notavailable.svg
Streets of Rage 4
System(s): PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Steam, Windows PC
Publisher: Dotemu
Sony PlayStation 4
Nintendo Switch
Limited Run Games (US)
Sony PlayStation 4
Nintendo Switch
3goo (Japan)
Sony PlayStation 4
Nintendo Switch
Xbox One
Windows PC
Merge Games (Europe, US)
Developer:
Genre: Action[1], Adventure[1]

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sony PlayStation 4
JP
(Special Edition)
¥4,600 (5,060)4600e[6]
CERO: B
Sony PlayStation 4
US
$24.9924.99[2] CUSA-16237
ESRB: Everyone 10+
Sony PlayStation 4
US
$34.9934.99[10]
ESRB: Teen
Sony PlayStation 4
US
(Classic Edition)
$59.9959.99[11]
ESRB: Teen
Sony PlayStation 4
US
(Limited Edition)
$149.99149.99[12]
ESRB: Teen
Sony PlayStation 4
US
(Brawler Bundle)
$204.99204.99[13]
ESRB: Teen
Sony PlayStation 4
EU
€24.9924.99[4] CUSA-16221
PEGI: 12+
Sony PlayStation 4
FR
€34.9934.99[9]
PEGI: 12+
Sony PlayStation 4
FR
(Signature Edition)
€54.9954.99[9]
PEGI: 12+
Sony PlayStation 4
UK
£19.9919.99[3] CUSA-16221
PEGI: 12+
Sony PlayStation 4
UK
£29.9929.99[7]
PEGI: 12+
Sony PlayStation 4
UK
(Signature Edition)
£44.9944.99[8]
PEGI: 12+
Sony PlayStation 4
AU
$37.9537.95[5] CUSA-16221
OFLC: Parental Guidance (PG)
Xbox One
JP
¥2,636 (2,900)2900i[19]
IARC: 12
Xbox One
US
$24.9924.99[14]
ESRB: Everyone 10+
Xbox One
EU
€24.9924.99[17]
PEGI: 12+
Xbox One
FR
€34.9934.99[9]
PEGI: 12+
Xbox One
FR
(Signature Edition)
€54.9954.99[9]
PEGI: 12+
Xbox One
UK
£20.9920.99[15]
PEGI: 12+
Xbox One
UK
£29.9929.99[20]
PEGI: 12+
Xbox One
UK
(Signature Edition)
£44.9944.99[21]
PEGI: 12+
Xbox One
AU
$37.4537.45[16]
OFLC: Parental Guidance (PG)
Xbox One
KR
₩31,40031,400[18]
GRB: 15
Nintendo Switch
JP
¥2599i2599i[30]
CERO: B
Nintendo Switch
JP
(Special Edition)
¥4,600 (5,060)4600e[6]
CERO: B
Nintendo Switch
US
$24.9924.99[23]
ESRB: Teen
Nintendo Switch
US
$34.9934.99[34]
ESRB: Teen
Nintendo Switch
US
(Classic Edition)
$59.9959.99[35]
ESRB: Teen
Nintendo Switch
US
(Limited Edition)
$149.99149.99[36]
ESRB: Teen
Nintendo Switch
US
(Brawler Bundle)
$204.99204.99[37]
ESRB: Teen
Nintendo Switch
EU
€24.9924.99[25]
PEGI: 12+
Nintendo Switch
DE
€24.9924.99[26]
USK: 12
Nintendo Switch
FR
€39.9939.99[9]
PEGI: 12+
Nintendo Switch
FR
(Signature Edition)
€59.9959.99[9]
PEGI: 12+
Nintendo Switch
UK
£22.4922.49[24]
PEGI: 12+
Nintendo Switch
UK
£34.9934.99[32]
PEGI: 12+
Nintendo Switch
UK
(Signature Edition)
£49.9949.99
PEGI: 12+
Nintendo Switch
AU
$37.5037.50[28]
OFLC: Mature (M)
Nintendo Switch
HK
HK$188.00188.00[31]
GOG
US
$24.9924.99[42]
Steam
US
$24.9924.99[38] 985890
Steam
EU
€24.9924.99[40] 985890
Steam
UK
£22.4922.49[39] 985890
Steam
AU
$35.9535.95[41] 985890
Windows PC
UK
£24.9924.99[43]
PEGI: 12+

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Streets of Rage 4, known as Bare Knuckle IV (ベア・ナックルIV) in Japan and Asia, is a sequel to Streets of Rage 3 developed by Lizardcube, DotEmu and Guard Crush Games with the approval of Sega. It is the first official sequel of the series since 1994, with a gap of 26 years between episodes 3 and 4, and has been released on all the consoles of the 8th generation (Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch) and on PC.

History

Development

Main article: Streets of Rage 4/Development.

After the critical success of the remake of Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap by Lizardcube in 2017, Lizardcube asked Sega to trust them with another IP from the Mega Drive era. The deal concluded with the revival of Streets of Rage, with the production starting early 2018. As they didn't have any experience in doing beat-em-up games, Lizardcube associated again with DotEmu, this time for production and not edition, and with Guard Crush Games to provide an improved version of their engine used on their 2015 released game, Streets of Fury.

Artistic direction was once again led by Ben Fiquet, CEO of Lizardcube, along with Julian Nguyen You as the background artist. They decided to set the story of the new game 10 years after the last episode to give more freeways to re-imagining the old characters. One of the new characters, policewoman Estel, has been inspired by a real policewoman that did a strong impression on Ben Fiquet when she broke into his building once for an operation she was in charge, along 2 ripped male partners.

For the sound aspects, the studios contracted early with Olivier Derivière based on his work on adaptive soundtracks on several video games, giving a strong dubstep colouring to Streets of Rage 4, probably because the sound work of Yuzo Koshiro on the original SoR trilogy heavily influenced the dubstep musical trend during the early 2000's. The studios reached to Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima during their concert Diggin' In The Carts in Paris in 2018 and successfully contracted for their participation in the game soundtrack through the company Brave Wave Productions. This deal also gave the opportunity to have other legendary Japanese guests like Yoko Shimomura from Street Fighter II and Kingdom Hearts fame, Keiji Yamagishi, well known for Ninja Gaiden and Dynasty Warriors, and Harumi Fujita who worked on Strider and Final Fight. This all-star sound team is completed by other guests from the West: Scattle, XL Middleton, Das Mörtal and Groundislava.

Reception

The first announcement of the game was made on DotEmu and Lizardcube's Twitter accounts on 27 August 2018, along with a trailer already showing some sequences of the game at its early stage. The reception from the retro gaming public was quite lukewarm at the time, negatively comparing the artistic direction to popular Flash games during the 2000's. The uncertainty at the time of whether Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima would return as composers on the game was also quite unappealing to long time fans of the franchise.

With trailers being regularly released and goundbreaking announcements like the 4-player co-op mode or the possibility to play the game using old incarnations of the classic characters, the public and critics alike welcomed the game quite warmly after its digital release on 30 April 2020, sales figures exceeding all the expections of the 3 development studios. This has been followed by a worldwide physical release on 30 July 2020, managed by 3goo in Japan, and Merge Games in Europe and the USA. Limited Run Games also released a batch of their own regular and classic editions of the game at the same date. Their limited edition with a figure of both Axel and Blaze will be made available during the last quarter of 2020.

Magazine articles

Main article: Streets of Rage 4/Magazine articles.

Artwork

Physical scans

PlayStation 4 version

PlayStation 4, JP (Special Edition)

PlayStation 4, US

PlayStation 4, US (Classic Edition)

PlayStation 4, US (Limited Edition)

PlayStation 4, US (Brawler Bundle)

PlayStation 4, UK

PlayStation 4, UK (Signature Edition)

PlayStation 4, FR

PlayStation 4, FR (Signature Edition)

Nintendo Switch version

Switch, JP (Special Edition)

Switch, US

Switch, US (Classic Edition)

Switch, US (Limited Edition)

Switch, US (Brawler Bundle)

Switch, UK

Switch, UK (Signature Edition)

Switch, FR

Switch, FR (Signature Edition)

Xbox One version

Xbox One, UK

Xbox One, UK (Signature Edition)

Xbox One, FR

Xbox One, FR (Signature Edition)

PC version

PC, UK

External links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/streets-of-rage-4-ps4/ (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-30 18:56)
  2. 2.0 2.1 PlayStation Store (en-us; UP1482-CUSA16237_00-00STREETSOFRAGE4) (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-30 18:59)
  3. 3.0 3.1 PlayStation Store (en-gb; EP1470-CUSA16221_00-00STREETSOFRAGE4) (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-30 19:02)
  4. 4.0 4.1 PlayStation Store (fr-fr; EP1470-CUSA16221_00-00STREETSOFRAGE4) (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-30 19:03)
  5. 5.0 5.1 PlayStation Store (en-au; EP1470-CUSA16221_00-00STREETSOFRAGE4) (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-30 19:05)
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 http://www.3goo.co.jp/bareknuckle4/ (Wayback Machine: 2020-05-02 15:48)
  7. 7.0 7.1 https://signatureeditiongames.com/products/northgard-standard-edition-ps4?variant=14879014027299 (Wayback Machine: 2020-05-07 16:09)
  8. 8.0 8.1 https://signatureeditiongames.com/products/streets-of-rage-4-signature-edition-ps4?variant=31682138177600 (Wayback Machine: 2020-05-07 16:13)
  9. 9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 9.11 https://www.shop-justforgames.com/streets-of-rage-c112x792863 (Wayback Machine: 2020-05-07 18:50)
  10. https://limitedrungames.com/collections/streets-of-rage-4/products/limited-run-332-streets-of-rage-4-ps4 (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-14 18:11)
  11. https://limitedrungames.com/collections/streets-of-rage-4/products/limited-run-332-streets-of-rage-4-classic-edition-ps4 (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-14 18:25)
  12. https://limitedrungames.com/collections/streets-of-rage-4/products/limited-run-332-streets-of-rage-4-limited-edition-ps4 (Wayback Machine: 2020-05-01 17:49)
  13. https://limitedrungames.com/collections/streets-of-rage-4/products/streets-of-rage-brawler-bundle-ps4 (Wayback Machine: 2020-05-01 17:50)
  14. 14.0 14.1 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/streets-of-rage-4/9n7h54kncb9n?rtc=1&activetab=pivot:overviewtab (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-30 19:43)
  15. 15.0 15.1 https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/p/streets-of-rage-4/9n7h54kncb9n?rtc=1&activetab=pivot:overviewtab (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-30 19:41)
  16. 16.0 16.1 https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/p/streets-of-rage-4/9n7h54kncb9n?rtc=1&activetab=pivot:overviewtab (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-30 19:44)
  17. 17.0 17.1 https://www.microsoft.com/fr-fr/p/streets-of-rage-4/9n7h54kncb9n?rtc=1&activetab=pivot:overviewtab (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-30 19:45)
  18. 18.0 18.1 https://www.microsoft.com/ko-kr/p/streets-of-rage-4/9n7h54kncb9n?rtc=2&activetab=pivot:overviewtab (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-30 19:46)
  19. 19.0 19.1 https://www.microsoft.com/ja-jp/p/streets-of-rage-4/9n7h54kncb9n?rtc=2&activetab=pivot:overviewtab (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-30 19:48)
  20. 20.0 20.1 https://signatureeditiongames.com/products/streets-of-rage-4-standard-edition-xbox-one?variant=31682193653824 (Wayback Machine: 2020-05-07 16:16)
  21. 21.0 21.1 https://signatureeditiongames.com/products/streets-of-rage-4-signature-edition-xbox-one?variant=31682148728896 (Wayback Machine: 2020-05-07 16:19)
  22. https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/streets-of-rage-4-switch/ (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-30 20:01)
  23. https://archive.is/kgPf7
  24. 24.0 24.1 https://archive.is/NaCvb
  25. 25.0 25.1 https://archive.is/p3OZc
  26. 26.0 26.1 https://archive.is/EE48U
  27. https://ec.nintendo.com/AU/en/titles/70010000026149 (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-30 20:19)
  28. https://archive.is/umWPB
  29. https://ec.nintendo.com/JP/ja/titles/70010000029104 (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-30 20:26)
  30. https://archive.is/uWDvd
  31. 31.0 31.1 https://store.nintendo.com.hk/70010000028293 (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-30 20:32)
  32. 32.0 32.1 https://signatureeditiongames.com/products/streets-of-rage-4-standard-edition-switch?variant=31682156167232 (Wayback Machine: 2020-05-07 16:22)
  33. https://signatureeditiongames.com/products/streets-of-rage-4-signature-edition-switch?variant=31682145419328 (Wayback Machine: 2020-05-07 16:25)
  34. https://limitedrungames.com/collections/streets-of-rage-4/products/switch-limited-run-65-streets-of-rage-4 (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-14 18:49)
  35. https://limitedrungames.com/collections/streets-of-rage-4/products/switch-limited-run-65-streets-of-rage-4-classic-edition (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-14 19:05)
  36. https://limitedrungames.com/collections/streets-of-rage-4/products/switch-limited-run-65-streets-of-rage-4-limited-edition (Wayback Machine: 2020-05-01 17:45)
  37. https://limitedrungames.com/collections/streets-of-rage-4/products/streets-of-rage-brawler-bundle-switch (Wayback Machine: 2020-05-01 17:46)
  38. 38.0 38.1 https://store.steampowered.com/app/985890/Streets_of_Rage_4/ (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-30 19:37)
  39. 39.0 39.1 https://store.steampowered.com/app/985890/Streets_of_Rage_4/?cc=uk (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-30 21:09)
  40. 40.0 40.1 https://store.steampowered.com/app/985890/Streets_of_Rage_4/?cc=fr (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-30 21:16)
  41. 41.0 41.1 https://store.steampowered.com/app/985890/Streets_of_Rage_4/?cc=au (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-30 21:22)
  42. 42.0 42.1 https://www.gog.com/index.php/game/streets_of_rage_4%2520 (Wayback Machine: 2020-04-30 23:07)
  43. 43.0 43.1 https://signatureeditiongames.com/products/streets-of-rage-4-standard-edition-pc?variant=31728901947456 (Wayback Machine: 2020-05-07 16:32)



SoR 1UP sprite Games in the Streets of Rage Series
Streets of Rage (3D) (1991) | Streets of Rage 2 (3D) (1992) | Streets of Rage 3 (1994) | Streets of Rage 4 (2020)
Streets of Rage (LCD) (1993) | Bare Knuckle Mobile (2010) | Sega Vintage Collection: Streets of Rage (2012)
Related Games
Streets Of Kamurocho (2020) | Fighting Force (unreleased) | Streets of Rage 4 (Dreamcast) (unreleased) | Streets of Rage Online (unreleased)
Related Media
Music
Bare Knuckle (1991) | Streets of Rage 2 Original Soundtrack (1993) | Bare Knuckle III (1994) | Bare Knuckle Original Soundtrack (2012) | Streets of Rage (2015) | Streets of Rage 2 (2016) | Streets of Rage 3 (2017) | Streets of Rage 4 Limited Run Games Exclusive Track Selection (2020) | Streets of Rage Perfect Soundtrack (2017) | Streets of Rage 4 Original Soundtrack (2020) | Streets of Rage 4: Mr. X Nightmare The Definitive Soundtrack (2022)
Book
Streets of Rage: Bad City Fighters (1994) | Warpzone Clássicos: Streets of Rage (2016)
Other List of Streets of Rage merchandise