Retro|Spective 072: Streets of Rage

[Neon Ignition]

Blood on the pavements, bodies in the alley and a squad car pulling up as an officer fires a rocket launcher at a punk looking guy with a switch blade. These are...




Mainline Entry 01 - Streets of Rage
Formats: Mega Drive and Various
Otherwise known as Bare Knuckle, Streets of Rage was one of Sega's 16-bit walk along beat em ups and featured three playable characters armed with their fists and a special ability to call upon. Playing as Axel, Blaze or Adam the ex-cops take to the streets to fight back the criminal elements that have overridden the city. The game offered two-player co-op as players worked through the various stages, enemies and bosses in this popular addition to the bulging genre at the time.



Mainline Entry 02 - Streets of Rage 2
Formats: Mega Drive and Various
Releasing the very next year, the second game introduced two new characters and replaced the cop car special of the original for individual character special abilities. Largely a refinement on the original game, it was none the less widely received as a much better experience and to this day the peak of the series. With a total of four characters, the game once again saw the player set out to retake the city and to rescue the original games playable character Adam.



Mainline Entry 03 - Streets of Rage 3
Formats: Mega Drive and Various
Two years passed after the acclaim of the second game before the third would arrive. The third entry attempted to expand on the experience by offering a more detailed storyline with multiple endings and faster paced gameplay. Features such as a team attack and stage traps were also brought back to the series as well as the ability to upgrade blitz moves. Three of the characters from the second game returned alongside a new character Dr Zan. The game wasn't as well received as the second entry but reviews were still decent, however the series ended here... until this year.




Share your thoughts and memories of Streets of Rage

[QualityChimp]

Mainline Entry 02 - Streets of Rage 2

FAKE NEWS!

There was never a 4-player SoR2 etc.

[Neon Ignition]

It was a secret mode you accessed by completing the game 5 times on hard in a row whilst naked but to be that good took AGES|SEGA

[Leon Retro]

I remember getting the first game for Xmas 1991 and really liking it. But I soon realised it was quite a chore to play through, so I didn't go back to it. SOR2 is definitely the best game in the series and easily one of the best examples of the genre. I still think the graphics and music are excellent. It's much more fun to play through again and again than the first game. I've only played the third game a few times and thought it was OK.

[Atticus]

My main memory of Streets of Rage is primarily what a wonderful surprise it was. In a similar move to what I did again at the SNES launch, I got a Mega Drive for Sonic the Hedgehog ... it came with Sonic and a game called Streets of Rage ... and guess which one I played the most. I was already a fan of scrolling beat 'em ups in the arcades but I knew nothing about it (this was my first home console, I swapped my Game Gear with a mate for it). Straight away I loved the darkness and neon in the visuals and a proper doozey of a soundtrack. Wow. Characters were great and the moves were satisfying too. The sequels may have done some some things better but as an overall experience I still prefer the first one. It just has something about it. Proper classic ... I still play it on my Xbox 360

[QualityChimp]

I thought the first game was excellent and had that great Sega vibe from that time with the certain style of graphics and sound effects you could spot straight away.

I liked the special moves, but even when younger, I questioned the realism of a vigilante calling some cop mates, who rolled up, firing a bazooka into the air to kill everyone in the vicinity except you and, presumably, any innocent bystanders.
That report would be a nightmare to write up.

I've mentioned before, that on the Mega-CD VHS that came with Mean Machines, they had a preview of SoR2 and that was more memorable the the MCD games before it.

Downsides to SoR2 was that Max wasn't as good as Haggar, who wants to play a rollerblading kid and I could never get the team-up moves to work.

Other than that, I love it. It's amazing in so many ways, especially the incredibly varied locations and the sublime soundtrack.
It works better in-game, but I could listen to Yuzo Koshiro's soundtrack in the car and I'd even see him live.
I think it's his soundtracks, especially this and Revenge of Shinobi, are the reason why I like Carpenter Brut (alongside John Carpenter Soundtracks.)

Streets of Rage 3 is a washout for me.
It came too late in the MD's like to take notice and old dudes with cyborg arms jumped the shark for me.
In fact, I only found out there was a SoR3 when I was first tinkering with MAME.

I'm very tempted to get the MD collection for the Switch.

[QualityChimp]

I still play it on my Xbox 360

That's a good shout!

I've just checked and I apparently "own" this (via Gold, May 2018 with Vanquish and MGS Phantom Pain - that was a good month!).
It's backwards compatible, so I may have a go on this at some point this week, thanks!

[DeathAdder]

It's quite a good series, but I prefer Golden Axe, Final Fight and some of the other Capcom games. Never understood the immense love for SoR.

[BigDeadFreak]

I swapped my Game Gear with a mate for it

Normally they just come with games and a power adapter. You actually gave your mate away too! Amazing

[jamesy]

I think the 3rd game gets too much negativity towards it due to the soundtrack having some dodgy tracks. I think it's an absolute cracker if you can get into the mindset of some levels having terrible background noises instead of music. Even with that though there are still some great tracks in it. Gameplay is fast with the new roll and running mechanic. I should say I am talking about Bare Knuckle 3, can't comment on the western versions as I haven't played them much at all.

[Baseley09]

SOR3 is a don the soundtrack is awesome, 2 is good n all but has 0% nostalgia for me.

The first game is where its at badass music and bazooka from car specials.

[randombs]

I play SoR2 as Max. Sure he's slow, but I just -> -> B my way through the stages and it makes up for it.

[dataDave]

SOR3 is a don the soundtrack is awesome

I very nearly picked up the vinyl at a record fair a couple of months back, wish I did now.

[Neon Ignition]

I only have pretty straight forward memories of the games myself, well the first two as I never bothered with SOR3, I mostly recall the original game I think from a friends house as a kid. I've always had limited attention span for walk along beat em ups, they're a very repetitive and shallow playing genre and all too often you can play several from different companies and feel like you're still playing reskins of the same game. It wasn't a genre I was surprised to see die off and it always felt releases aesthetics were mostly what made or broke them and SOR had most of the appeal on that front.

[Dogg Thang]

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.