Streets of Rage

Infobox VG
title = Streets of Rage


developer = Sega (AM7)
publisher = Sega
composer = Yuzo Koshiro
released = 1991
genre = Beat 'em up
modes = Single player, Multiplayer
ratings = CERO: All Ages (A) ("Sonic Gems Collection")
Ages 12 and up (B) (Virtual Console)
PEGI: 7+ (Virtual Console)
platforms = Sega Genesis, Sega Game Gear, Sega Master System, MegaPlay, Virtual Console, Sega CD (in Sega Classics Arcade Collection)
media = 4-megabit cartridge
input = game pad

Streets of Rage (known as Bare Knuckle in Japan) is a side-scrolling beat 'em up released by Sega in 1991 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. It is the first installment of the "Streets of Rage" series which was followed by "Streets of Rage 2" and "Streets of Rage 3". The game was also converted over to Sega's Game Gear and Master System. In 2007, the game was released for the Wii's Virtual Console in North America and Europe, It's been hailed as a pioneer of Fighting side-scrolling games in Video Game history.

There was also a comic strip series based upon the games which appeared in "Sonic the Comic". These three stories are based on "Streets of Rage 2" and do not feature Adam. The games features an acclaimed soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro, which was released in the Japanese music market.

Gameplay

Gameplay is simple and remains the same throughout all three games: 'B' is used to attack and pick up items, 'C' to jump, and 'A' is a special attack, and by pressing the jump and attack buttons together the character will do a back attack. In "Streets of Rage", the special attack is 'assistance' from a police car which will pull up at the level's beginning and fire napalm for Player 1 and rocket-powered grenades for Player 2. The multiple explosions will take health from all enemies, but fortunately, not the players. The player is given one Special Attack per life or per level, with power-ups shaped like police cars giving another. Similar to the game "Golden Axe", enemies walk onto the screen from both sides as well as occasionally appearing from other locations (less so than in the game's sequels). With the exception of round 7, there is a boss battle at the end of every round with a disproportionately large enemy; unlike its sequels, none of the enemies are named within the game (only in the Japanese version's manual) and only the bosses have "Life Gauges" (that appear below the player's during the boss battle).

ynopsis

Plot

:"Turmoil in the Streets"

"What was once a happy, peaceful, productive city, full of life and activity, has fallen into the hands of a secret criminal syndicate. The leader of the syndicate has somehow managed to keep his identity a secret. The organization soon absorbed the city government (anyone can be had if the price is right). They even had the metropolitan police force in their back pocket. Looting, random violence and destruction are rampant. No one is safe walking the streets, day or night..."

As the chaos continued at full strength, three young police officers tried to establish a special attack unit. They were repeatedly turned down by their superiors, most of who had been bought by the organization or were too afraid to make a stand. One day, when they could no longer stand by and watch their city being demolished, they quit the force!'"

"Adam Hunter, Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding decided to forego their careers in legal law enforcement and put their lives on the line. They are without weapons, but each possesses great hand-to-hand combat abilities. Take them into the heart of the city and battle the most dangerous wave of bad dudes and chicks ever assembled. Make the city a place where people no longer have to walk the Streets of Rage!"

Characters

Adam Hunter, a boxer, has good strength and jump technique but is slow. This is his only appearance as a playable character in the "Streets of Rage" series, although he figures into the plots of the sequels.

Axel Stone, a martial artist, makes his first of three appearances in the "Streets of Rage" games. He has good strength and speed but a poor jumping ability. Also, he is very similar in design to Cody Travers, the famous character from both the "Final Fight" and "Street Fighter" series.

Blaze Fielding is a judo expert and is also playable in all three games. She is faster than the male characters but weaker. In addition, she is very similar in design to the main character in another side-scrolling beat 'em up by Sega, Flashgal, which was released in 1985.

Versions and ports

In Japan, the game and the series is known as "Bare Knuckle".

8-bit versions
A version of "Streets of Rage" for both the Sega Game Gear (1992) and Sega Master System (1993) were made.

The Game Gear version suffers from poor color palette and gameplay. It also omits Adam from the game and does not have the sprite animation for kneeing enemies. It features 2 players support by cable link. It also has only 6 rounds instead of 8.

The Master System version has a different graphic engine and gameplay mechanics, not being a port from the Game Gear version as was used to be in the late years of the system. It also features a boss on Round 6 which is not found in any other version of the game. It lacks 2 player support.

Arcade
Sega ported "Streets of Rage" to arcade cabinets using both their Mega Tech and Mega Play arcade boards, the difference being that in the Mega Tech version you pay for time, not credits.

Collections
A signature title and franchise for Sega during the Mega Drive era the title was collected often: firstly "Mega Games II" (with "Golden Axe" and "Revenge Of Shinobi") that was later bundled with the Sega Mega Drive.

"Sega Classics Arcade Collection" (a Mega CD compilation with the two previously mentioned titles, plus "Super Monaco GP" and "Columns", also available as in cartridge format for Mega Drive II). The voice effects for the characters in this version of the game were all redone.

"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", along with its two sequels, was included in the Japanese Version of the "Sonic Gems Collection" for the "Gamecube" and "PlayStation 2", but was omitted from the North American GameCube version to avoid it gaining a T rating, and also from the European GameCube and PlayStation 2 versions for similar reasons. They are now also available on GameTap.

Virtual Console
The Genesis version of "Streets of Rage" was made available for the Wii Virtual Console in North America on February 19, 2007 and in Europe on March 2, 2007.

Legacy

"Streets of Rage" was followed by two sequels: "Streets of Rage 2" and "Streets of Rage 3".

Comics

Three six-part 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 two 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, while the third (and a Poster Mag story) was written by Nigel Kitching. These three stories are based on "Streets of Rage 2" and do not feature Adam.

The first story, simply entitled "Streets of Rage", involved Axel, Blaze, and Max quitting the highly corrupt police force in order to do more good as vigilantes, taking down Max's ex-partner; the crimelord and martial artist Hawk.

The next serial, "Skates' Story" introduced Skates, delinquent stepson of Murphy, a friend of Axel and his team and one of the few honest cops left on the force, who was unwillingly drawn into joining Axel's group after his parents were killed by Mr X.

The third and final story, called "The Only Game In Town", involved the Syndicate unleashing an army of street gangs on our heroes, with the event turned into a gambling event as Mr. X opened a book based on whether or not the heroes would reach the river without being killed first. This ploy was played against the villain when Blaze bet on twenty-thousand dollars on her team's survival at odds of a thousand to one. This third story was notable for revealing that, for his failure, the old Mr. X had been the victim of a 'swimming accident' and had been replaced with a new one by the Syndicate at story's end. Like many non-Sonic stories in this magazine, the story had a cliff-hanger ending, with the new Mr. X promising that he would 'recoup his losses' and kill the heroes.

The Poster Mag story, called "The Facts of Life", involved the heroes causing a racket by fighting one of the many street gangs in a sleeping neighborhood. The police arrive and arrest the thugs, as well as take the heroes to a junkyard for execution. Along the way, Axel explains why he, Blaze, and Max quit the force to a young rookie officer. At the junkyard, just as the officers are about to shoot Max, Blaze breaks free of her handcuffs and proceeds to beat the stuffing out of the cops, with Axel, Skates, and Max following shortly. After the dust clears, the rookie officer says that he's seen the true colors of the police force and requests that Axel hit him. Axel does so until Blaze tells him to stop, and they and Max and Skates leave as dawn breaks.

oundtracks

The game's soundtrack was acclaimed, with several soundtrack albums being released. The soundtracks were composed by Yuzo Koshiro. Another musician, Motohiro Kawashima, helped on the second, providing a few tracks, and making even more for the third. Three soundtrack CDs were released in all, each of which now sell for high prices at auction and in Japanese markets.

External links

* [http://www.streetsofrage.net/streetsofrage.htm Streets of Rage Expanded Universe: Streets of Rage 1 section]
* [http://soronline.classicgaming.gamespy.com/sor1.htm Streets of Rage Online: Streets of Rage 1 section] (In-depth fansite for all three games)
* [http://www.meanmachinesmag.co.uk/review/179/streets-of-rage.php Streets of Rage review] from Mean Machines Archive
* [http://www.ntsc-uk.com/feature.php?featuretype=ret&fea=ClassicGameStreetsOfRage NTSC-uk's Streets of Rage Retrospective]
*moby game|id=/streets-of-rage
* [http://www.archive.org/details/Longplay-StreetsOfRage_GEN/ Complete Streets Of Rage video] on archive.org
* [http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=E707C85386030154 A complete video walkthrough of Streets of Rage]