Streets of Rage (known in Japan as Bare Knuckle) was a popular beat 'em up video game series made by Sega, composed of three games, spawning from 1991 to 1994. Although it was one of the most popular series of the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, a Streets of Rage game hasn't appeared on the Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, or any other console Sega has worked on after quitting making home hardware in 2001. 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 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, it is very unlikely it will return with a new, commercial, title.
Characters
- Playable character from 1 to 3, Axel is the front man of the series. Turns slowly from an all-around to a bruiser in the end of the series
- Playable character in 1, kidnapped in 2, appears in the end of 3 to rescue the team from the exploding island.
- Like Axel, is a playable character on all games. As the female in the group, she's not as powerful as Axel but compensates by being faster (one of the most common formulas in this kind of videogames).
- 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 Adam's kid brother "Skate".
- 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.
- Roo is a 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 charecter, besides being the only non-human playable charecter, is that he cannot grapple.
- A former syndicate henchman, Zan tells Blaze about the robot conspiracy in 3. Zan is himself part robot, a cyborg.
- A minion of Mr.X and the first mini-boss you face in Bare knuckle 3. His charecter 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. He was removed from Streets of Rage 3, normally he'd appear after the waves of punks come by boat on stage 1-2. Like Shiva, he is also a secret charecter, unlocked in a very similar manner as Shiva is.
- The Syndicate head, Mr. X survived two encounters with the SoR team, but in three is nothing more than a brain. Armed with a Tommy gun, he is the final boss in all three games.
- 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 good fighter. He is also a secret charecter in Streets of Rage 3, having nothing to do with the plot, who can be unlocked right after defeating him at the end of stage 1-3.
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 begining of the level, from which a police car would arrive and a 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 on 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 of 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), a "Six Pack" (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 II
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 match for 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 the best game on the series, and one of the best beat'em ups of the 16-bit era.
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 defeating Mr. X on his island hideout.
Streets of Rage III
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, with several enhancements such as a more complex plot, multiple endings, lenghtier levels, better scenarios (with interactive levels and the return of traps like pits) and faster gameplay (with dash and make 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 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, and the plot was rewritten, leaving many gaps in the narrative. In the original Bare Knuckle 3 the story was 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 was 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.
Soundtracks
There were 2 soundtracks, both composed by Yuzo Koshiro, but they are very hard to find today.
- Streets of Rage 1 soundtrack
- Streets of Rage 2 Soundtrack
This is the easiest 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. The music is decribed 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
External links
Last updated: 08-28-2005 20:25:24
