Streets of Rage 4 announced with animated trailer

Sega’s hit beat-’em-up series Streets of Rage is finally getting a new installment. Earlier today, publisher Dotemu revealed Streets of Rage 4 with an animated trailer.

Streets of Rage 4 promises the series’ iconic side-scrolling action gameplay “enhanced with brand new mechanics” according to the game’s press kit. The game will be also feature a “thumping soundtrack” and  hand-drawn animations spearheaded by French developer Lizardcube, who previously created the visually impressive action-adventure hit Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap. Canadian studio Guard Crush Games is also working on the game with help from publisher Dotemu, who also recently revealed a new Windjammers, and the game itself is being created in association with Sega.

While Streets of Rage 4’s release date and platforms all remain a mystery, but the publisher seems pretty cozy with the Nintendo Switch. The game’s reveal trailer also features a few clips of the upcoming title in action. Fans can expect to play as Blaze Fielding and Axel Stone, the series’ two most iconic player characters, although it remains unclear if more playable characters will be revealed.

Streets of Rage, or Bare Knuckle in Japan, remains one of Sega’s most iconic 1990s video game series, although the franchise hasn’t seen a new installment since Streets of Rage 3 in 1994. The original games were incredibly popular on the Sega Genesis and have since been ported to multiple modern consoles, including the Xbox One and Nintendo 3DS. An influential trilogy, they remain one of the beat-em-up pinnacles. Streets of Rage 4 promises a new audience will be introduced to the series, surely to Sega’s delight.