A few years ago a fun little arcade-style beat-em-up launched on Steam, called Devil's Dare, a solo and co-op zombie beat-em-up that channelled classic games such as Streets of Rage and Final Fight. Now the game's been completely revamped as Streets of Red: Devil's Dare Deluxe, and it has a release date of February 22.
The game's a joyous ode to classic beat-em-ups of the '90s, not to mention videogames and horror movies in general, so we've put together a list of 5 reasons you'll want to pick up Streets of Red: Devil's Dare Deluxe when it releases next week.
5. Gorgeous pixel art
Let's start off with how lovely it all looks. Streets of Red boasts a gorgeous pixel art style, packed with detail and with some wonderful character design. The animation, particularly on the anime-style attacks, is lovely. The game jointly conveys classic arcade games alongside doing things its own way, so it's a real treat for the eyes.
4. Fantastic co-op experience
One of our biggest joys in gaming is in the humble co-op game. Who can forget the hours spent on Left 4 Dead, or blasting through Halo's campaign? Or even (if you're old enough) playing through The Simpsons Arcade with friends, or arguing who gets Raphael in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? We're always on the lookout for a great co-op experience, and Streets of Red channels the best arcade games around. You can play local co-op with up to 4 people in shared or split-screen, and while it's a shame there's no online co-op yet - remember, neither does Gang Beasts, and that's a hugely popular game that's not even playable solo.
3. Videogames Vs Horror Movies
Name us one other place, videogame or otherwise, where you can play as famous videogame characters fighting iconic movie monsters? You'll be able to take the main player characters into battle with weapons from games such as Ghouls 'N' Ghosts, Final Fantasy VI, Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy VII, Street Fighter and more. Then when you get there, you'll meet enemies from such franchises as Friday the 13th, Aliens, The Fly, and even Stranger Things. It's just so wonderfully geeky we could explode.
2. More Easter Eggs than you can eat
If being packed with player facsimiles of videogame characters facing off against iconic monsters such as the Alien, Jason Voorhees, Resident Evil's dogs, zombies, and even the Demogorgon wasn't enough, Streets of Red: Devil's Dare Deluxe is also chock-full of references to everything in popular culture. Expect attacks on the Benny Arcade Expo 20XX, the bartender from The Shining watching from the background, the cry of "Fatality!" when you make a kill, the mouser robots in the sewer level, and even a jetpack-riding Jim Sterling as a boss. We've exploded from the geekiness by this point. It's glorious.
1. Proper Arcade Experience, with Permadeath
Yes, it's an isometric side-scrolling beat-em-up of the type that was popular in the 80s and 90s, and it's a lovely-looking one to boot with adorable pixel-art. However, there's other games of this type out there, so what makes Streets of Red so special - well, other than everything else on this list? It's a Proper Arcade Experience, that's what, meaning that death actually matters, and you'll need to feed in coins if you want to keep playing. Don't worry, not real money, you pay with coins earned in-game. Once they're gone though, it's back to the start. It's a rogue-lite arcade game!
As mentioned, Streets of Red: Devil's Dare Deluxe releases on February 22, so if you're looking for a fresh challenge in a classic genre, with more geeky references than you can count, give it a try!
This is a sponsored post on behalf of Streets of Red, developer Secret Base, and publisher Maple Whispering Co.
