Streets of Rage
Categories: 1991 computer and video games | 1992 computer and video games | 1994 computer and video games | Scrolling fighter games | Sega Genesis games | Game Gear games | Sega Master System games | Sega games
Streets of Rage (known in Japan as Bare Knuckle) was a popular beat 'em up series developed by Sega. The three games in the series were released between 1991 and 1994. Although it was one of the most popular franchises on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, no new Streets of Rage games have appeared on subsequent consoles. After porting Die Hard Arcade, a 3D beat 'em up from the arcades to the Saturn, Sega was reportedly interested in Eidos' Fighting Force (1997). Sega of Japan even produced a demo of a beat 'em up that was rejected by Sega of America, ignoring the popularity of the series in the early 90s. Barring the inclusion of all three existing titles in the Japanese version of Sonic Gems Collection [1], it is very unlikely it will return with a new commercial title.
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Characters
Axel Stone
Playable character from 1 to 3, Axel is the front man of the series. He turns slowly from an all-around to a bruiser in the end of the series. His figthing Style is Martial Arts and his hobby is playing videogames.
Adam Hunter
Playable character in 1, kidnapped in 2, appears in the end of 3 to rescue the team twice.
Blaze Fielding
Like Axel, Blaze is a playable character in all the games. As with many female characters in hand-to-hand fighting games, she's not as powerful as the males but compensates by being faster.
Max Thunder
Only playable in 2, Max, a wrestler, is by far the slowest character in the series, but also the hardest hitting. Max is a friend of Axel.
Eddie (Sammy) "Skate" Hunter
Playable character in 2 and 3, the kid brother of Adam. Known as "Sammy Hunter" in Bare Knuckle and "Eddie 'Skate' Hunter" in the western versions, "Skate" being his nickname, as he is always on rollerblades. Fast, but the weakest of all characters. Also, in Streets of Rage 2, he was the only character who could dash.
Dr. Zan Gilbert
A former syndicate henchman, Zan tells Blaze about the robot conspiracy in 3, and is one of the four initially selectable characters. Zan is himself part robot, a cyborg.
Roo
Roo is a kangaroo mini-boss in Streets of Rage 3. If you defeat his cruel trainer, Bruce, before defeating Roo, he becomes playable when you use a continue. A distinction of this character, besides being the only non-human playable character, is that he cannot use weapons.
Ash
A minion of Mr. X and the first mini-boss you face in Bare Knuckle 3. His character is a very stereotypical homosexual, having the female 'Death Scream', a very feminine run, even a stupid little 'Laugh' taunt (which can still be heard in Streets of Rage 3 in the sound test) and tons of female mannerisms. Because of this, he was removed from Streets of Rage 3. Normally, he'd appear after the waves of punks come by boat on Round 1-2. Like Shiva, he is also a secret playable character, unlocked in a very similar manner.
Mr. X
The Syndicate head, Mr. X survived two encounters with the SoR team, but in 3 is nothing more than a brain, having had his body broken in the previous games. Armed with a Tommy gun, he is the final boss in all three games.
Shiva
The boss you fight before Mr. X in Streets of Rage 2 and twice in Streets of Rage 3. He is Mr. X's right-hand man and a very skilled fighter, his repertoire of moves matching the regular playable characters. He is also a secret playable character in Streets of Rage 3, who can be unlocked right after defeating him at the end of Round 1.
Streets of Rage
Released in 1991 when Sega's 16 bit console needed a increase of sales against the SNES, which boasted most of Capcom's arcade ports such as Final Fight. The story resembled a typical '80s street cop movie: an evil crime syndicate has taken control of a nameless city and three young police officers (Axel, Blaze and Adam) decide to turn on the badge, and take it on by themselves, walking the streets and fighting criminals, until they face Mr. X, the mastermind himself.
Gameplay controls were simple, attack and jump, but effective enough to keep movement smooth. The third button was a "call for help" which would cause the screen to whip back to the beginning of the level, from which a police car would arrive and launch a rocket at the player's current location. The resulting explosions would affect all the enemies on screen, but leave the player intact. Each character has a weaker point in three abilities: Axel can't jump high, Adam walks slowly and Blaze doesn't hit hard.
A port for Sega's Game Gear handheld appeared in 1992, and on the Master System in 1993. It was also released in two official Sega game packs. Considering the popularity of the title, it comes as no surprise it was bundled in several packs, including Mega Games II (with Golden Axe and Revenge Of Shinobi), Sega Classics Arcade Collection (a Mega CD compilation with the two previously mentioned titles, plus Super Monaco GP and Columns). The voice effects for the characters in this version of the game had all been redone and most fans agree that they sound a lot worse than before. Streets of Rage also appeared on the 6 Pak (composed of Streets of Rage, Sonic the Hedgehog, Columns, Revenge of Shinobi, Golden Axe and Super Hang-On); and Mega 6 (composed of Streets of Rage, World Cup Italia '90, Columns, Super Monaco GP, Revenge of Shinobi and Sonic the Hedgehog).
Streets of Rage 2
A year after, Sega refined the successful original title. Better music (still by Yuzo Koshiro, inspired by early '90s club music), more defined graphics and new moves. Two new characters, Skate Hunter and Max Thunder replaced Adam. The "rocket" screen-clearing attack was replaced by a special attack that could be used several times in a level and to release from enemy holds, but wasted players' energy, and now all enemy characters also had their own life bars. A two-player versus arena mode was also added, and although it did not provide matches on par with other dedicated versus fighting games for the same platform, such as Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter, it was considered a nice addition. Overall, Streets of Rage 2 is regarded as the best game in the series, and one of the best beat'em ups of the 16-bit era, although it was considered by many fans to be relatively easy, even on the highest difficulty setting. "Streets of Rage 2," driven by the strength of the fresh soundtrack, groundbreaking gameplay, and an incredible two-player cooperative experience, was easily one of the best games available for the Sega Genesis, regardless of genre.
In the story, Adam is kidnapped by Mr. X one year after the trio were believed to have destroyed the Syndicate. Then, with help from Max, a wrestler, and Adam's kid brother Skate, they go on to defeat Mr. X on his island hideout.
Streets of Rage 3
1994 was the year the series saw its end. Streets of Rage 3, packed in a 24 meg cartridge, was an enhanced version of the previous title that had several enhancements such as a more complex plot, multiple endings, lengthier levels, better scenarios (with interactive levels and the return of traps like pits) and faster gameplay (with dash and dodge moves). Weapons could now only be used for a few times before breaking (in the previous titles an object would only disappear when it was dropped for the third time), some bosses could be played after being defeated and a few cutscenes were added to give the story depth. Max gave his place to Zan, a cyborg, who was important for plot reasons.
While translating this game from Japanese to American and European audiences, Sega of America altered it significantly. The most notable changes were that the playable miniboss Ash was removed because he was clearly homosexual, the costume colors were changed, the females are less scantily clad, and the plot was rewritten, leaving many gaps in the narrative. In the original Bare Knuckle 3 the story dealt with a new explosive substance called Rakushin, discovered by a Dr. Gilbert (who later turns out to be "Zan"), and the disappearance of a military general. In the American and European versions of Streets of Rage 3, all references to Rakushin were removed, and the general was replaced by the chief of police, and a scheme to switch city officials with robot clones was invented. Also, Bare Knuckle 3, even in the highest difficulty setting, was significantly easier than Streets of Rage 3 on default difficulty.
Besides the fact that it was far more difficult than its predecessors, it was also criticised for having a mostly mediocre musical score - which, unlike the previous games, was only produced, but not composed, by Yuzo Koshiro.
Streets of Rage IV?
While the title is only tentative, early in the Sega Dreamcast production cycle, demos were made to bring the Streets of Rage series to the 128-bit platform. However, for many possible reasons (most attribute Sega execs at the time for not knowing their roots), it was never followed up with. Those demo clips can be viewed on Tokyopia's World-Exclusive Video Demos of Streets of Rage for Dreamcast. Any fan of the series can clearly recognize that the main character on the screen is Axel, and some interesting new team attacks were being developed.
Other media
Comics
Three comic strip series based upon the games appeared in Sonic the Comic in the early 1990s (along with several other adaptations of popular Sega franchises). The first of these was written by Mark Millar, who has since become popular writing The Authority for Wildstorm and Ultimate X-Men and The Ultimates for Marvel.
Soundtracks
The games' soundtracks were composed by Yuzo Koshiro, and three CDs containing the music were released, but they are very hard to find today.
- Streets of Rage 1 soundtrack
- Streets of Rage 2 Soundtrack
This is the easiest (note that this is relative to the other 2) Streets of Rage soundtrack to find. Composed and played by Yuzo Koshiro, this is said to be one of the greatest soundtracks by him, and it shows the power of the Sega Genesis soundchip. 0The music is described by Yuzo as "hard-core techno. The CD contains 20 tracks. The track list is as follows:
- Go Straight
- In The Bar
- Never Return Alive
- Spin On The Bridge
- Ready Funk
- Dreamer
- Alien Power
- Under Logic
- Too Deep
- Slow Moon
- Wave 131
- Jungle Base
- Back To The Industry
- Expander
- S.O.R. Super Mix
- Max Man
- Revenge Of Mr. X
- Good End
- Walking Bottom
- Little Money Avenue
- Streets of Rage 3 soundtrack