Since developers LizardCube and Guard Crush Games announced they were working on Streets of Rage 4 last year, one question has been at the forefront of fans’ minds: Is Yuzo Koshiro, the musician who scored the first two Streets of Rage games, coming back? The answer is yes, and so is his Streets of Rage musical collaborator, Motohiro Kawashima.
Koshiro and Kawashima are just part of the Streets of Rage 4 soundtrack, which has drawn other all-star video game musical talent. Also contributing to the score are Yoko Shimomura, who wrote music for the original Street Fighter 2 and the Kingdom Hearts series; Hideki Naganuma, known for his work on the Jet Set Radio, Sega Rally, and Super Monkey Ball games; and Keiji Yamagishi, who wrote music for Ninja Gaiden and Tecmo Bowl.
In a new video discussing the soundtrack for Streets of Rage 4, Koshiro and Kawashima explain their approach to writing new music with modern sensibilities, while also retaining the spirit of the original Streets of Rage games. While they don’t appear to come to any definitive conclusions, it sounds like the duo may try to use old chiptunes-style tools while modernizing their sounds.
Koshiro had a long career with Sega, composing the soundtracks to games like The Revenge of Shinobi, Streets of Rage, and Shenmue. He collaborated with Kawashima on the music of Streets of Rage 2 and Streets of Rage 3.
The developers of Streets of Rage 4 have not announced a release date or platforms for the side-scrolling beat-’em-up.
