There are three universal laws in life: you’ll pay taxes, you’ll die, and you’ll love at least one Streets of Rage game. The old SEGA Mega Drive beat-‘em-ups are cult classics: they had style, swagger, and seriously filthy synthgrime soundtracks. The upcoming Streets of Rage 4 has a very different artstyle to its predecessors, but it looks slick all the same.

In fact, we’re really enjoying this Gamescom 2019 gameplay, which centres on an Asian-flavoured stage and features newcomer Cherry Hunter in a series of co-operative gauntlets. Our biggest complaint is the audio mix, which is frankly horrific – everything else looks spot-on. Let’s hope the combat remains fresh throughout the whole campaign, as these kind of games can feel repetitive these days.

[source youtube.com]