Underground

Underground is the fifth stage from Streets of Rage 4. A long sewer tunnel filled with toxic waste. It has become a refuge for gang members, but a mysterious operation also appears to be taking place there.

Story[]

After the party defeats Estel near the sewer entrance, they attempt to explain the situation to her and how the Syndicate is behind this. Estel doesn't listen, calling for backup, and the group is soon surrounded by an army of Murphies. When all seems lost, Adam appears, slamming down on the ground and disrupting the reinforcements with a mighty Sword Strike. He asks Estel to stand down, explaining he's part of the Special Investigation Forces, and tell her to let his friends leave. Estel angrily refuses, and Adam tells the group to go ahead, saying he'll have a "talk" with Estel, while cracking his knuckles.

Enemy List[]

On higher difficulties, enemy density is higher and other variants may appear.

Galsia / B.T.
Donovan / Altet
Dylan / Kevin / Francis
Garnet / Diamond / Ruby
Y. Signal
Koobo
Big Ben
Sugar / Honey / Caramel
Abadede (Retro Mini Boss)
Barbon (Boss)
Vulture / Wayne (Mania+)

Overview[]

Inside the Sewers[]

This is one of the stages with the highest numbers of Power Stars to be collected, with a total of four (five if playing on Mania+ and defeating the Retro Mini-Boss).

The player will start in the sewers, where, in addition to various holes, there are also toxic pools on the ground, and gas leaks that will periodically burst from pipes. Syndicate members can be seen in the background, installing large speakers all over the sewers. As the player progresses, fighting off various enemies, they'll eventually fight Garnet, Diamond and Ruby. The player can actually hit Garnet offscreen by throwing a weapon from a certain point, which makes her easier to dispatch, as normally approaching will also spawn Donovans and Altets.

After that, the player will find a area with three gas leaks close to each other, and face Dylans, Kevins and Francis. The player can bait them into being hit by the gas bursts, as those will damage enemies as well. A bit later, there will be a large area with toxic barrels, which when destroyed create toxic pools for several seconds; one of the barrels contain a Power Star. Waves of Donovan, Altet, and later Diamond and Ruby will appear; throwing them off at the holes is the fastest way to dispose.

There'll be a gas leak coming from the ground, forming pillars, players must time their advance to not be hit by those. After that, the player will find Koobo near a ladder; once the player reduces his health to around 70%, Big Ben will appear (two on later difficulties and three on Mania+). This is a difficult fight as Koobo will be constantly throwing pipes or using his teleknesis while Big Ben will charge breathing fire. Ideally, the player should try to dispose of Koobo first, as Big Ben is easier to avoid. After clearing the room, the player can go to the next area through the ladder.

Bar of the Rising Sun[]

The player will exit the sewers and find themselves in a dirty bathroom. Kevin will be seen kicking one of the closets, while a Galsia lies on the floor. As soon the player approaches, they'll attack, and various B.T. will also appear. Exiting the bathroom into the bar, the player will find Donovan, and once he's defeated, a short cutscene plays and various Sugar and Honey will engage. Ideally, the player should remain at the back and bait their attacks, moving up and down to avoid their charging headbutt, and punish accordingly.

This part of the bar is dangerous and the player can quickly get overwhelmed by enemies, which can be particularly deadly in Mania and Mania+. Threading carefully is advised by throwing weapons to hit enemies offscreen so they chase the player. Luckily, the area is literally with throwables, such as Explosive Vials, knives

A bit further, Donovan and Altet will be at the pool table, wielding cues; it is recommended to use Blitz Attacks or Special Attacks to disarm them, as the cues have long range and deal a lot of damage. The pool table can be destroyed, which will spawn a cue ball, a throw weapon. A bit further ahead there'll be a Yellow Signal playing a arcade machine; don't go near him nor attack the machine; a bit further a taser can be found to access the hidden level.

Before reaching Signal, various Sugars will appear behind the player. It is advised to take them down before continuing further to the right. After that, when the player gets past the arcade machine, various Galsias with knives can be seen, but a short scene will play, introducing Caramel, the second strongest variant of Sugar. After her health is reduced to around 70%, Honeys will appear. It is advised to fight at the bottom part of the screen to avoid the arcade cabinet being destroyed.

Retro Mini-Boss: Abadede[]

If the taser hasn't been destroyed, it can be taken to hit the arcade machine where the Yellow Signal was, and fight Abadede in a retro stage (two on Mania+); if playing with either version of Shiva or Roo, the secret level can be accessed by using a Defensive Special Attack on the cabinet. Abadede doesn't need to be defeated in order for the player to claim the Power Star; the two boxes near him will contain a turkey and the star. However, in Mania+, defeating both Abadedes will reward the player with yet another Power Star. Once exiting the retro stage, the player will be returned to the normal stage at full health.

Before exiting the bar through the door, Roo can be found as a bartender. If the player goes to him and hold up for three seconds, he'll drop one of each elemental vial, which can be taken to the boss arena.

Boss Fight: Barbon[]

Main article: Barbon#Streets of Rage 4

The player can break the many motorbycicles in the arena, which will contain healing items, money and Power Stars. But for each vehicle destroyed, a Sugar or Honey will appear.

On Mania+, Vulture will appear once Barbon reaches 70% health, and later Wayne at 30% health.

Trivia[]

"Barbon" boss theme was composed by Motohiro Kawashima.
This stage contains lots of visual references to other franchises, which can easily be spotted on the backgrounds of the stage:
- Right in the first screen of the level, there is a small set of drawings, which contains four turtles with different colors (red, orange, blue and purple) and a rat looking at them from the right. They represent, respectively: Raphael, Michelangelo, Leonardo , Donatello and Splinter. This is a reference to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, depicting franchise, which is also known for its own series of beat-em-up games made by Konami.
  - Dotemu would later publish a spiritual successor to the Konami titles, called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, developed by Tribute Games and released in June 16, 2022.
- Some of the graffiti on the large pipes have the names of some of the enemies, such as "Galsia", "Big Ben", "Koobo" or "Nora".
- There's a large graffiti of a skull with octopus tentacles coming from it, which resembles Marvel's HYDRA logo.
- Right after the second small bridge, there's a wall painting of Sonic the Hedgehog doing his signature Spin Dash technique on top of what looks like the classic Green Hill Zone's ground next to some rings. On the bathroom area of the level, there are two doodles of Sonic, one of them on a pipe near the ceiling, and the other on the corner of a wall.
- There's a large horizontal graffiti of Joe Musashi's head from the Shinobi series, in his Shinobi III outfit.
  - Lizardcube would later work on a Shinobi game that was first announced back in 2023.
At the bar, near the counter where Roo is located, there is a blackboard titled "Hell Pool", with the name of various thugs, such as Galsia, Donovan, Signal, Gold, Victoria, Diamond and Diva.