Streets of Rage 4, the sequel to the classic 1990’s beat-em-up series, has finally arrived. Taking place ten years after the events of its closest predecessor, 1994’s Streets of Rage 3, the new title sees players trying to save Wood Oak City from the control of the nefarious Y twins.

In order to defeat the twins and their plan to brainwash the city, players must take control of a variety of fighters. Some of these street warriors are new, but it’s also possible to unlock 12 classic fighters from the previous games, lovingly rendered in their original pixel forms.

Git Gud

Unlocking the 12 classic fighters takes a lot of time, and the only way to do it faster is to play better. At the end of each of Streets of Rage 4’s levels the player will be assigned a score based on a number of factors. These points are then added to a growing total, which will unlock new characters when it reaches certain milestones.

The biggest factors affecting this end-level score are the time it took to beat the level, the remaining health of the player character, and whether they have any unspent star powers. Remaining on lower difficulties gives less points, but the penalty for using Assists to gain extra lives is severe, which makes playing it safe a lot more attractive.

Racking up the points

Combos also score good points, but only if they aren’t interrupted. This means players should consider ending their combos early now and again, in order to bank the points they’ve earned rather than risking them trying to chase a bigger haul. Another way to earn bonus points is by beating a stage with a new character, which is handy as players will definitely be repeating stages if they want to unlock all 12 of the bonus characters.

Once the points are rolling in, here’s how many are needed to unlock each character:

  • Axel - Streets of Rage 1: 200k points Adam - Streets of Rage 1: 250k points Blaze - Streets of Rage 1: 310k points Axel - Streets of Rage 2: 390k points Blaze - Streets of Rage 2: 480k points Skate - Streets of Rage 2: 570k points Max - Streets of Rage 2: 650k points Axel - Streets of Rage 3: 730k points Blaze - Streets of Rage 3: 840k points Eddie - Streets of Rage 3: 940k points Dr. Zan - Streets of Rage 3: 1.05m points Shiva - Streets of Rage 3: 1.15m points

Streets of Rage 4 is available now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.