Streets of Rage

Streets of Rage
developer	Sega
Publisher	Sega
First title	Streets of Rage (1991)
Last title	Streets of Rage 4 (2020)
Platform (s)	Sega Mega Drive , Sega Mega-CD , Sega Game Gear , Sega Master System , Wii ( Virtual Console ), iOS
Genre (s)	Beat 'em up

Streets of Rage ( SoR for short , known as Bare Knuckle in Japan ) is a series of beat-'em-up games. All parts of the series were produced by the Sega company and originally appeared only for the in-house game consoles .

Parts

Streets of Rage

The first part of the series was released in 1991 for the Sega Mega Drive . The game was implemented in 1992 for the Game Gear and a year later for the Sega Master System and was also part of the "Sega Classics Arcade Collection" published in 1992 for the mega-CD expansion. Due to the great popularity of the title, it was later included in various game collections for consoles. In addition, the first part of the series was published on March 2, 2007 on the virtual console of the Wii .

The game concept and the graphics were comparatively simple, but corresponded to the standards for console games that were common at the time.

The game could be played in single or two-player mode (Mega Drive and Master System only). To do this, you first had to choose one of the three available characters (ex- police officers Axel Stone , Adam Hunter , Blaze Fielding ). With these you had to fight your way through several levels , with the exception of an elevator, that always scrolled sideways . A range of punches and kicks was available, limited to a few movements, which was supplemented by effective partner moves in two-player mode. Furthermore, various weapons could be collected and used, e.g. B. knives, bottles or baseball bats. In critical situations, the player could call a police car at the push of a button, which completely freed the screen of enemies by using a rocket launcher. This function, known as Smart Bomb , was only available once per screen life. At the end of a level, a particularly resilient boss had to be defeated, who usually appeared twice in two-player mode.

Streets of Rage 2

After the great success of the first game, Sega published the second part of the series back in 1992, which was also implemented for the Game Gear and the Master System. The fundamental differences to Streets of Rage were only marginal. Graphics and sound, however, have been significantly improved, and the scope of the game (Sega's first 16-megabit module ever) has been significantly expanded, each stage now had numerous sections.

All four characters now had appealing and varied animation phases, the number of opponents was increased dramatically, and the level of difficulty was somewhat more moderate in contrast to the debut. Hardcore gamers, however, have been satisfied with the new Mania difficulty. There were also two new characters to choose from: the roller skater Skate Hunter and the wrestler Max Thunder . They replaced Adam Hunter , who disappeared after being kidnapped by Mr X and only reappeared in Part 3.

The function of the Smart Bomb was replaced by a special attack blow for each figure, which drained a small part of the player's life energy with each use (comparable to the special attack in Final Fight). Furthermore, each opponent now had its own life energy display, a character icon and an exact name, which varied in the different versions (PAL / JAP / US).

For the first time there was a mode in which two human players could compete against each other in an arena.

In the unofficial beta version of the game (Bare Knuckle 2) there were still numerous moves that did not make it into the final game and were strikingly reminiscent of Street Fighter II . Axel originally had a classic uppercut and the hurricane kick of the street fighter icons Ryu and Ken.

Streets of Rage 2 is considered the best part of the series and is now one of the classics for the Sega Mega Drive. In early June 2007, again for the Virtual Console of Wii releases. On August 29, 2007 it was also released for the Xbox 360 , at a price of € 5, as a download from Live Arcade . This was followed by a release for PlayStation 3 in the PlayStation Store on June 4, 2011.

Streets of Rage 3

The third part of the series appeared in 1994. Here, too, the graphics and sound have been adapted to the improved standards. The levels have been made longer and more complex, including the traps already known from the first part. The character Max was created by the cyborg Dr. Zan Gilbert replaced. In purely playful terms, the third part is a clear further development of the classic beating principle. The characters have a variety of new moves and the ability to run, which increases the pace of the game.

Streets of Rage 3 could no longer build on the old successes. On the one hand, after the appearance of titles like Mortal Kombat, it could no longer meet modern graphics expectations (digitized actors). On the other hand, the game principle seemed out of date, and Sega did not take up new developments in time. In addition, the title for the publications in the West has undergone some dubious changes, for example the level of difficulty has been increased drastically. By far the biggest point of criticism, however, was the game's soundscape . The previous resident composer of the series, Yuzo Koshiro, was no longer directly involved in Part 3, and the technoid tracks were as unusual as they took getting used to due to their highly experimental character. The 32-bit consoles from Sony and Sega themselves were also on the market in 1994, whereas Streets Of Rage 3 was still being released for the 16-bit Segas system, which was already aged at that time.

One of the announced features was ultimately no longer represented in the final version. For the first time, the characters should take a seat on motorcycles and provide a change from the monotonous everyday beating. The partially completed motorcycle levels fell victim to the red pen due to lack of time in the final phase of production. In the Japanese version (Bare Knuckle 3) these levels are still incomplete and can be selected with a cheat.

In addition to the unused levels, there is also a secret playable character that only made it into the Japanese version of Streets of Rage 3 or Bare Knuckle 3. The missing character is Ash, an apparently homosexual character who uses all the clichés and was most likely removed from the western version for this reason.

Streets of Rage 4

The fourth installment in the series, Streets of Rage 4 , was released on April 30, 2020 for PlayStation 4 , Xbox One , Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows .

Others

In the late 1990s there were rumors of a possible fourth installment for Sega's Dreamcast console. After the game production for this system has been discontinued, the release of a new part of the series is currently unlikely.

On December 31, 2006, a first version of the Streets of Rage Remake titled full version for Windows PCs was released. The game is a kind of remix of the first three games with improved graphics, new effects, characters and revised music. It is an unofficial production by fan group Bombergames and is available as a free download. The final version 5.0 was released on April 5, 2011 after several years of development, but shortly afterwards removed from the official website at SEGA's request. The exact background is still unknown.

Web links

• Streets of Rage series at MobyGames (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lucas M. Thomas: Streets of Rage 2 Review. In: IGN Entertainment . Ziff Davis , May 29, 2007, accessed August 19, 2015 . 
2. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from June 19, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.