Highball
Which renderer to use
Highball can run each game through three different Direct3D translation layers. This is what the database knows for this title — empty rows are open questions, not failures.
| Renderer | Verdict | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| DXVKDirect3D 9-11 over Vulkan | Untested | no report yet — send one |
| DXMTDirect3D 11 over Metal | Untested | no report yet — send one |
| D3DMetalApple's Game Porting Toolkit | Reported | community reports |
No dated Highball run yet. When one lands it records the renderer, the engine build and the macOS version it was seen on — which is what stops a verdict quietly rotting. Send one.
Notes
Starts and plays on D3DMetal on the default engine on an M1 at 1920x1080, but crashes at some loading screens (the spinning star in the corner), first on opening Extras and then at the first big load of stage 2, with a .NET InvalidDataException in the game ('The archive entry was compressed using an unsupported compression method') and a page fault at the same address each time. The game's files verified intact in Steam. The exception comes from .NET's zip reading, which under Wine is Wine's Mono unless Microsoft's .NET Framework is installed in the environment; whether installing .NET Framework 4.8 cures it is being tested (highball-db#322).
Provenance
Reported by udance4ever (highball-db#322, 2026-10-05), Apple M1, macOS 27.0.1, Highball 0.10.6 beta, engine x64-sikarugir10.0_6-r21, D3DMetal, rated 5 of 5 after starting it, opening every menu and getting in game at 1920x1080. Not verified by the maintainer. After 18 minutes of play the same player revised it to playable but not stable: crashes at loading screens.
Before installing anything, it is worth checking whether the game already ships a native Mac build.
Common questions
Does Streets of Rage 4 work on Mac?
Streets of Rage 4 has no native Mac build, but it is reported to run on Apple Silicon through Highball, a free open-source compatibility layer. This comes from community reports rather than a Highball test run, so treat it as a reasonable expectation rather than a guarantee.
Which renderer should I use for Streets of Rage 4?
D3DMetal. Highball can translate Direct3D through DXVK, DXMT or Apple's D3DMetal, and the right choice varies by game. The database records D3DMetal for Streets of Rage 4. Highball uses it automatically when the game has a row; to set it by hand, open Settings, then Environments.
Contribute a result
This page is generated from an open database. If you have run Streets of Rage 4 on Apple Silicon, working or not, a report takes a minute and fills in the empty rows above. Send a report, or read how the data is put together.