Streets of Rage 4 tries to "respect the original"

But Lizardcube and Guard Crush also want to bring some "new to the table" as the classic brawler makes its longawaited comeback.

Streets of Rage, or Bare Knuckle as it was known in Japan, was a seminal franchise during the Mega Drive (Genesis) era. A brilliant soundtrack along with hard-hitting street fights akin to Final Fight and memorable characters cemented it a place in gaming history. But it's been 25 years, and finally we're getting a fourth game in series thanks to two French indie teams, Lizardcube (who remade Wonderboy III: The Dragon's Trap) and Guard Crush Games (Streets of Fury) and publisher Dotemu (with Sega's blessing).

At PAX East we caught up with Lizardcube's art director Ben Fiquet and Guard Crush Games' tech director Cyrille Lagarigue to chat about the legacy of the originals, the pressure to deliver, and more.

"What we want to do is to try to respect the original and bring this game to 2019," says Fiquet. "And what we're trying to do is have a beautiful and interesting and gameplay-wise something very similar to the originals, but bringing something new to the table."

"We feel the responsibility and the fans ask a lot of stuff," says Lagarigue. "But at the same time, it's a very happy responsibility because people are so happy to at last have a follow-up to this game or to play a game with these characters they love that's it's a real pleasure to have the chance to be so lucky to work on this game."

There's no definite word on what platforms Streets of Rage 4 will land on when it launches later this year, but according to Lagarigue you will be able to play it on "your favourite platform" (may be time to dust off that Dreamcast, Sega fans!), but it all seriousness Dotemu tends to release across PC and all consoles, so unless there's an exclusivity in place that's the most likely scenario.