SEGA have revived 5 of their classic franchises for new games. In a reveal video at The Game Awards 2023, the publisher has announced that new entries in the Jet Set Radio, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Crazy Taxi and Streets of Rage franchises are currently in development and showcased some brief gameplay of each title.
The new Jet Set Radio carries forward the cel-shaded graphical style of its previous 2 entries and appears to add new traversal capabilities.
Shinobi stays in the 2nd dimension for a fast-paced game that looks like it plays similarly to Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master. However, it is now sporting a hand-drawn art style that isn’t too far removed from Streets of Rage 4.
Golden Axe is once again going for a 3D action game style similar to its last entry Golden Axe: Beast Rider, but appears to have more playable characters and a return to a lot of the franchise’s key iconography.
Crazy Taxi is probably the game that has decided on the most realistic presentation, but it’s still a colourful continuation of its open-world driving hijinks.
And finally we have a new Streets of Rage game that has interestingly ditched its 2D belt-scrolling gameplay for a full 3D interpretation. It’s actually not a million miles off the presentation of the leaked Streets of Rage game that was being pitched by Ruffian Games back in 2012.
You can watch the full reveal video for these games via the embed below:
There are currently no details on when these games will release, for what systems or even what their final titles will be. At the time of writing SEGA have only revealed that the titles are in development alongside a promise that even more games from dormant SEGA franchises are also on the way.
Deadline have revealed that Paramount are developing a Streets of Rage movie with John Wick franchise creator Derek Kolstad. dj2 Entertainment are also tied to the project who recently signed a contract with Amazon to develop an adaptation of the video game It Takes Two for cinema and television.
As with any early movie development reporting, we urge our readers to not get their hopes up. Multiple video game adaptations have been green-lit in the past and some even making it as far as casting and promotional material before being shelved indefinitely (Kane & Lynch being a great example). If the Streets of Rage movie does happen, don’t expect to hear or even see anything for quite a while.
The final playable character scheduled for release as a part of Streets of Rage 4’s Mr. X Nightmare DLC has been revealed to be perennial Streets of Rage franchise boss character, Shiva. You can check out Shiva in action via the trailer below:
The Mr. X Nightmare DLC for Streets of Rage 4 will be “coming soon” for PC, Xbox One, PS4 and Switch. The DLC will also feature new music by Tee Lopes of Sonic Mania fame. You can wishlist the game on Steam via this link.
The next playable character in the Mr. X Nightmare DLC for Streets of Rage 4 has been revealed to be Max Thunder. Max only appears as a boss in the base game using SOR4’s updated art style, but he did make a playable appearance via his unlockable retro incarnation. You can check out Max in action via the reveal trailer below:
The Mr. X Nightmare DLC for Streets of Rage 4 will be available later in 2021 for PC, Xbox One, PS4 and Switch. The DLC will also feature new music by Tee Lopes of Sonic Mania fame.
Streets of Rage 4 will be getting a DLC expansion later in 2021 called Mr. X Nightmare. The expansion will be paid-for content and include new moves, new weapons, 3 extra playable characters, a new Survival game mode and new music composed by Tee Lopes of Sonic Mania fame. The first new character revealed in the below trailer is Estel who makes an appearance in the base game as a non-playable boss character:
Alongside the Mr. X Nightmare DLC will be a free update to all owners of the base game that will contain a ‘New Mania+’ difficulty option as well as a new training mode.
Streets of Rage 4 is out now for PS4, Xbox One, Switch and PC. The Mr. X Nightmare DLC will arrive later in 2021.
SEGA Forever continue their franchise retrospective series on YouTube with an in depth look at the entire Streets of Rage series. It’s a very interesting little piece that even makes mention of the 8 bit ports and the failed franchise revival from 1999. Check it out via the video embed below:
Starting today (October 14th 2020) and lasting for 60 days, SEGA are celebrating their 60th anniversary with a huge swathe of discounts, competitions and interviews.Go ahead and check out what https://www.headphonage.com/ has for you to become a professional gamer.
An official SEGA 60th website has launched and it details what the various SEGA teams are sharing each week, and the most interesting exclusive that is coming from these celebrations is a selection of brand new PC mini games.
4 have been teased already and they are as follows (Steam pages for each game are linked as well):
– Streets of Kamurocho (a Yakuza-themed Streets of Rage-style beat em up, releasing 17/10/2020)
– Armor of Heroes (inspired by Company of Heroes, releasing 15/10/2020)
– Endless Zone (inspired by Endless Space, releasing 16/10/2020)
– Golden Axed (a prototype of an unreleased Golden Axe game, releasing 18/10/2020)
The mini games will launch one-a-day starting October 15th and will be available via Steam for a limited time only. You can also register on the SEGA 60th website to redeem a free copy of NiGHTS into dreams… Click here to be taken to the registration page.
You can also watch the reveal trailer for the SEGA 60th celebrations below:
During a Reddit AMA, Dotemu confirmed that Lizardcube and Guard Crush Games are working on additional content for Streets of Rage 4. There is currently no release window set in stone, but the publisher responded to the question of, “will you add content to Streets of Rage 4?” with the following:
“YES, we will but there is no ETA. You guys are awesome and deserve the best so give us time to do things right.”
Streets of Rage 4 released on PC, Xbox One, PS4 and Switch back in April 2020.
Back in February during the New York Toy Fair, Storm Collectibles revealed they were working on an Axel Stone figure to tie in with the release of Streets of Rage 4. While the figure is still without a release date, Storm have shared a new set of images of the figure that highlight the figure’s detail, interchangeable faces and hands as well as accessories; one of which is a flame trail so you can pose Axel in a way that simulates his famous ‘grand upper’ special attack:
Storm Collectibles figures are premium products with prices ranging between $70 and $95. The company are also working on a Golden Axe line that was due to release last month but has likely been put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We will share more news on all of these products as more details come in.
In the latest Streets of Rage 4 trailer we get confirmation of the game’s release date. The game arrives on digital storefronts on April 30th 2020.
Along with the release date news, the latest trailer also confirms that the battle mode from previous Streets of Rage games returns, except now you can fight with up to 4 players in local multiplayer. Check it out:
Streets of Rage 4 is being developed by Lizardcube and Guard Crush Games with Dotemu publishing under license from SEGA. It will release on PC, Switch, PS4 and Xbox One on April 30th for $24.99. There is currently no word on UK pricing. The game can still be pre-ordered physically from Limited Run Games.
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