It's been a while since Streets of Rage 4 was officially announced - two years this August, in fact. And while news has been fairly sparse recently, today not only do we have a new "retro reveal" trailer with more details, but the release date appeared to have been leaked via Nintendo's eShop listing.
And while that leak hints at a release date for later this month (thanks, Eurogamer), I wouldn't get too excited just yet. Publisher DotEmu has tweeted to say that they are aware of the leaked release date, said to be April 23, but that it's not correct.
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"Right now we cannot confirm it yet and apologise for the confusion," they said. "We will keep you updated officially as soon as possible and thank you for your patience."
You can check out the new trailer below, which gives us more details on what we can expect when Streets of Rage 4 does release. For a start, there will be "12 unlockable characters from the past" which will join the five that have already been revealed. This will bring the roster up to 17 characters in total, albeit with some repeating in various guises from the previous games. And if you want to go with a completely retro feel, you'll be able to switch to the classic soundtracks from Streets of Rage and Streets of Rage 2.
Streets of Rage 4 is being made at Paris-based studio Lizardcube - they produced the Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap remake in 2017 - alongside Guard Crush Games, with DotEmu as the publisher. It will be the first main game in the beat 'em up series since Streets of Rage 3 in 1994, so it's easy to see why this is getting so much hype, especially if you grew up with SEGA's Mega Drive (or the Genesis, you North Americans, you).
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"An iconic series like Streets of Rage (has to have) its iconic characters: Axel, Blaze, Adam and other veterans (are) reunited to clean up the streets," states the game's description on Steam. "With some brand-new moves and kickass tracks ... our heroes are ready to dish out beatdowns to a fledgling group of ill-advised criminals in full force.
"Streets of Rage 4 will be the first entry to the core series in 25 years, standing as Axel, Adam and Blaze's glorious return to serving up side-scrolling beatdowns. With lush hand-drawn animations, new combat abilities, and fresh tracks from an amazing team of composers, Streets of Rage 4 will be a masterful tribute to and revitalisation of the classic action fans adore."
With DotEmu denying that the release date of April 23 is legit, it's anyone's guess as to when we'll get to play this. Though since most of us have waited for 25 years, I don't imagine we'll mind waiting just a bit longer.
Featured Image Credit: DotEmuTopics: Sega, Retro Gaming