The fangame itself received positive receptions as an unofficial series entry, with critics arguing that it surpasses the original Streets of Rage games.

Critics of Sega's legal actions argued that the company could have taken advantage of the fan-made project to enhance positive relationships with the gaming community.

[4] The likes of returning characters, remixes of the Streets of Rage trilogy's soundtracks, and multiple ingame pathways had previously been demonstrated in an early release of the fangame by 2007.

[2] The remake additionally includes cut content from the official games, like the previously scrapped motorcycle stage gimmick found in the codes of Streets of Rage 3.

[8] By the game's full release, Rock Paper Shotgun co-founder Alec Meer stated his concern that the fangame risks the provocation of copyright laws but expressed hope that it would remain because of it being apparently made from scratch and because its developers previously notified Sega about its existence.

[9] By early April 2011, the final version of Streets of Rage Remake released for the Windows PC platform on the Bombergames forums, the install file being free for download and measuring 218MB total.

Kotaku writer Michael McWhertor suspected that it was only due to recent press of Streets of Rage Remake that Sega noticed its existence and took legal action.

[10] A Sega spokesperson sent an emailed statement to Wired UK, stating on behalf of the company that while Sega was interested in supporting interested fans by involving them in beta testing games and other game development jobs that they felt the need to defend their intellectual property rights, which therefore can result in them requesting people to take down copyright violations.

He also gave praise to the remixes of the soundtracks as previously produced by the composer Yuzo Koshiro and the retaining of the retro game style but with visual enhancements.

The writer(s) of Revista OLD!Gamer in 2015 accused Sega of potentially fearing the remake's success and free access and deciding to take "revolting, but understandable" actions against it.

He considered the history of Streets of Rage Remake to be a counterpart example to the success felt by Sonic Mania, which was developed by fans in cooperation with Sega.

The cease and desist, the authors communicated, was an instance of fan-made content that "threatened" an industry because it was made without explicit permission despite positive fan appeals.

They also argued that while Sega had the right to protect their intellectual property from infringing works, they could have better responded to Streets of Rage Remake filling in a market failure for stagnant franchises.