Patreon Pin Up 9/3/18 (Patreon)

Sooo Streets of Rage 4 was recently announced, and I'm excited for it to a borderline shameful degree. As a huge fan of the originals, I went through a bit of an emotional roller coaster as I watched the slick animated reveal trailer. First it showcased series mainstay Axel, redesigned to look at least 50% more grizzled than last we saw him, as the "old man" look seems to be in for action stars at the moment. That was fine, but I found myself tensing up just before the appearance of his female counterpart, Blaze.

I had this nightmare vision of her being given the same modern makeover that every retro female character seems to get, (meaning she'd be stripped of all sexuality and anything else that might have made her personality fun, just to appease an easily offended vocal minority who were likely never even fans of said character in the first place.) But stunningly, the trailer revealed that they'd taken her sexiness and ran with it. Blaze still fights crime dressed like a total hooker, complete with big hoop earrings and loose hair that really aren't practical for street fighting, and personally I couldn't be happier. :D