Note: Streets of Rage Remake is an unofficial fangame that was given a cease-and-desist by Sega shortly after its full release because of an apparent desire to defend their IP. The game remains available via various places, which out of respect for Sega this article will not directly link to, but it is no great challenge to find for both Windows and Linux. Regardless, since it is a game in its own right and it is part of our site goal to review them, it shall be reviewed on its own merits.

Sometimes, fans get desperate. After an official IP lies fallow for a very long time without an update, the fans get restless and want more. If the official company doesn't make another game, sometimes the fans make their own to satisfy their craving for more of that franchise. Streets of Rage Remake was thus made by fans of the SoR franchise to fill the void before Streets of Rage 4 was ever conceived, and it's a very, very well put together fan game.

The game itself is a distillation of all previous Streets of Rage games in one "dream game" package, offering various routes based on levels from the console and even the portable games in the franchise, and this can be further mixed and matched. The story is thus adaptable to whatever levels you choose to play and the game has different endings as a result, all based on the original games and a few original touches added for the fan game specifically.

Gameplay is the same as it was for the original games. It is a 16-bit style side-scrolling beat-em-up modeled after the classic Genesis games. It also features extra things like a bonus features shop where points earned through playthroughs can be exchanged for togglable "game cheats" like unlimited lives and extra characters, in case you want to do something hilariously weird like play as Mr. X. There are also various two-player modes and a "SoRMaker" where you can design your custom levels (this does require some external tools for sprite and level design) and even play custom campaigns.

Graphically, the fan game uses mostly sprites taken from the original games but applies a lot of changes to make sure they all remain consistent (like the portable versions and SoR1 sprites since they used a much different format from SoR2/3), and they even have options to have the original chunky, CRT feel of the original games if you don't want to have things cleaned up and sharpened aside from sprite consistency. Levels and backdrops use the same layouts they did in their source games with changes to maintain quality and consistency with the other assets as well.

The sound and music come in two formats. Either high-quality fan remixes or retro accurate music straight from the original games. Both sound amazing and well done. Voices can also draw from the American or Japanese versions, and certain SoR sounds effects can be toggled to certain game settings for those who liked the effects from certain games.

Controls can be done with a PC Gamepad (most generics and other game console controllers have a considerable degree of support) or via the keyboard. In both types of controls, the controls can be remapped as needed. Since the later SoR games had slightly different control mechanics, there are also options to toggle to use the game mechanics the player finds most comfortable as well.

Stability is amazing for a fan game. It will run on both Linux and Windows natively, as it was compiled for both. If you need to run the Windows version in Linux, I am also pleased to say it runs flawlessly via Wine.

Morally, being based on a beat-em-up franchise, it's got some red flags.

Violence is done either with fists and feet, via all sorts of weapons (including guns, but these can be mostly disabled from player use), or via stylized "elemental attacks, mostly due to science fiction like causes (one playable character is a cyborg and generates electrical shocks). There is optional blood and gore, during which certain attacks will be rewarded with cartoonish (if quite mild) blood sprays and severed body parts in a 16-bit 2D style. Whether this is enabled or not, bodies immediately disappear after death or defeat (most save things like robots are implied to simply be knocked out unless otherwise specified).

Language remains fairly mild, rising generally no higher than the occasional h*ll and d*mn, with a rare b**t**d. Game mods could include harsher language, but by default no higher than most daytime TV movies is the average. Sexual content is generally restricted to some dominatrix-like outfits and a few short skirts and some rare panty shots. Interestingly enough, both the "censored" and "uncensored" sprites for certain female enemies are available, with the uncensored ones showing more skin and cleavage, and the censored ones being much more covered up. Aside from a mild amount of "jiggle physics" for certain well-endowed female sprites and one cutscene depicting a rather sanitized depiction of a woman in a two-piece (adapted from similar official Sega artwork), that's as bad as it gets.

They also include the bizarre gay stereotype character Ash (who has female screams and animations) who is a potential unlockable character. This is generally played for weird laughs, not eroticism, as his being gay is merely implied, not stated. While Ash's moveset is bizarre, it has no outstanding red flags for sexual content (although his running animation looks very girly despite him being an obvious man).

Some enemies use some magic-like abilities, but it's left unclear to what extent they're true magic and to what extent they are based on technology, like teleportation. Aside from that and a rather bizarre boss that looks like an animatronic gone wrong that acts alive (which lacked any context in its source game as well), there is little else in the supernatural of concern.

Morally and ethically, the story is a distillation of the basic premise of the canon Streets of Rage games, in which the heroes along with what remains of the honest police of Wood Oak City join forces to take down the Syndicate turning the city and its environs into a den of crime and lawlessness. All of the canonical protagonists (bonus characters excepted, who are not canonically playable) fully expect to restore law and order when they have finished delivering justice on the streets where ordinary law enforcement is either too overwhelmed or corrupt to do so themselves and fully cooperate with honest police whenever they are available, who provide combat support.

There is an option to "steal" from the bonus shop whenever the shopkeeper (Blaze) is "asleep", but the game will impose a penalty for doing so of refusing to allow you to shop there or take another item for any reason until you paid back (in-game points of) the price of whatever was stolen.

Overall, while it's perfectly understandable Sega had to issue a C&D to protect their IP, it is otherwise not illegal in any way to track down a copy of this entirely free fan homage to the Streets of Rage series, and if you loved those games as I do, then you will get a major kick out of it. Morally, it's got concerning themes as mentioned, so be advised this is a game, at worst (with blood/gore/guns enabled) that would be unsuitable for anyone but teens or older, but can be censored to be more appropriate for a "Kids to Adults" audience like the original titles if need be. Given it's free and cross-platform, and even the official Streets of Rage 4 took some notes from it due to its quality, if you love classic beat-em-ups, then I can't recommend this highly enough.