Retro|Spective 072: Streets of Rage

[Asura]

Maybe it's because times were different but, as much as I enjoy Streets of Rage, it strikes me as odd how little talk there is about it being such a clone of Final Fight. Like had it been made for mobile these days by one of those companies that was known for just ripping off games (can't remember their names off the top of my head), we'd likely be very unforgiving.

It was an era thing, certainly. Even though it was clearly inspired by Final Fight, FF didn't come out on Megadrive, and the SNES version was a bit cut-down and missing a character. Given, it would later get a Mega-CD release but that was further down the road.

Am I right in thinking that early versions of SoRII gave Axel a move similar to Cody's spin kick? I've played that many fan games and rom hacks that I'm not sure anymore.

[QualityChimp]

"Clone" is a bit harsh.

Plenty of other beat 'em ups came out before Final Fight, but I don't hear you saying Final Fight is a clone of Double Dragon.

[Asura]

"Clone" is a bit harsh.

Plenty of other beat 'em ups came out before Final Fight, but I don't hear you saying Final Fight is a clone of Double Dragon.

I dunno; I mean even some of the enemies are similar. Aren't the fire-breathing fat guys in both, for example?

[QualityChimp]

I dunno; I mean even some of the enemies are similar. Aren't the fire-breathing fat guys in both, for example?

Fire breathing fat guys are also in Karnov and Bad Dudes Vs. Dragon Ninja.
Technically, it is Karnov in BDVDN.

Final Fight is a clone of Bad Dudes Vs. Dragon Ninja.

[Dogg Thang]

Yeah, there are a lot of direct similarities. Some of the enemies are similar to the point where it's not just a general beat em up thing. The intention is clearly to be their Final Fight.

Edit: An example.

J from Final Fight:

Y Signal from Streets Of Rage:

[Nu-Eclipse]

SoR/Bare Knuckle has always been an overrated series imo. The coin-op scrollers of that day were obviously always superior, especially Capcom (Belt Action Collection/Beat-em-up Bundle proves this) and Konami's finest. To be honest, I'd sooner play other Sega scrollers like Golden Axe and/or Alien Storm instead. SoR/Bare Knuckle just never struck me as being inventive or original, especially the second game which clearly pilfered elements from others before it and vs. fighters like SF2.

To be fair though, Yuzo Koshiro's music for all of the series has been consistently excellent and arguably makes it what it is. For me, SoR4 lives or dies by whether they can get him onboard again.

All of that said, 2 is clearly the best in the series. It's not even a contest.

[wakka]

I’d agree that SOR is style over substance to some extent. But what style. It’s such a cool game - and it’s got one of the best soundtracks of any game. I listen to it all the time.

[QualityChimp]

I'm being cheeky and totally acknowledge the similarities, I just feel SoR is enough of its own beast to dodge being labelled a clone.

I think it's those anorak guys that are most similar for me.

I can find several making-of for SoR 2, but it'd be interesting to be a fly on the wall when Sega sat down to plan the original and how they were influenced by their competition.
I'd also like to know how they wanted to change FF's coin-op origins to be more playable at home in SoR, rather than guzzling credits.

A lot of thought still went into these games and I think Streets of Rage was much more than a Final Fight clone, as reciprocated by this article by [MENTION=3611]Duddyroar[/MENTION] entitled "Streets of Rage was much more than a Final Fight clone"



Here is a really good video on the making of SoR2 and a small bit about the history of Yuzo Koshiro's company, Ancient, and how they had to prove themselves with the Master System port of Sonic before they could work on SoR.

[DeathAdder]

I posted a week or so ago that the impact when you hit someone in SoR seems a little tinny to me. There's a much more satisfying sense of "ooof, that had to hurt" in Final Fight.

Truth be told, I prefer the first Golden Axe to either of them.

[Asura]

I'm surprised anyone prefers Golden Axe to Streets of Rage.

[Team Andromeda]

To me Double Dragon will always be the king of the scrolling beat them up's and while I loved SOR series I was also one of those who rather play Golden Axe (more so in co-op)

I think SOR 3 is the best in the series due to the better controls and new moves, but I still remember the Saturday I picked up my brand new copy of SOR II from Woolworths and me and my mates all couldn't wait to get home to play it. The best compliment I could pay SOR II was me and all my friends that day played the game for hours on end and all said it looks and sounds like a 'Neo Geo' game.

[Asura]

it looks and sounds like a 'Neo Geo' game.

I would go for that, too. The Splash Wave video talks about how they were influenced by Street Fighter II, but I wonder - did quite a bit of Fatal Fury find its way in there?

[Leon Retro]

but I wonder - did quite a bit of Fatal Fury find its way in there?

Yeah, I can see that. I think the character designs might have been influenced by Fatal Fury. There's definitely a far more obvious Fatal Fury influence than SF2.

[Asura]

Yeah, I can see that. I think the character designs might have been influenced by Fatal Fury. There's definitely a far more obvious Fatal Fury influence than SF2.

Yeah; I mean Max in particular really looks like an SNK character to me. I could imagine him being the "heavy guy" in a Fatal Fury game.

[Dogg Thang]

There is more than a hint of Duck King in that Y Signal enemy that Final Fight and Streets of Rage seem to share.