Streets of Rage 3

Infobox VG| title = Streets of Rage 3


alternate titles = Bare Knuckle 3 -- Japanese Title
developer = Sega
publisher = Sega
designer =
composer = Yuzo Koshiro
Motohiro Kawashima
engine =
released = 1994
genre = Beat 'em up
modes = Single player, Multiplayer
ratings = vgratings|CERO=A ("Sonic Gems Collection")|ESRB=E10+ ("Virtual Console")|VRC=MA-13
platforms = Sega Genesis, Gamecube, Virtual Console
media = 24-megabit cartridge
requirements =
input = Genesis controller

Streets of Rage 3 (Bare Knuckle 3 in Japan) is a side-scrolling beat 'em up released by Sega in 1994 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. It is the last part of the "Streets of Rage" series. It was later released for the Japanese version of "Sonic Gems Collection", GameCube, PlayStation 2, and for the Wii Virtual Console on September 24, 2007.

Overview

"Streets of Rage 3", packed in a 24 megabit (3 megabyte) cartridge, had several enhancements over "Streets of Rage 2" such as a more complex plot, multiple endings, longer levels, more in-depth 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 (though they could now be integrated with semi-special moves with certain characters), hidden characters were added and a few cutscenes were added to give the story greater depth. "Max Thunder" gave place to "Dr. Zan Gilbert", a cyborg, who was important for plot reasons.

Gameplay

The gameplay features a large increase in pace from "Streets of Rage 2". The heroes move and attack faster, but so do the enemies. Enemy attacks can also be avoided with new running and vertical-dodge moves, though most player attacks deal less damage than in the predecessor. The level timer has been removed and was replaced with a 'power meter' (see below). The end-of-level 'Time bonus' has been replaced with a 'Life bonus', determined by the amount of life a player has at the end of a level.

A significant change is that special moves no longer always drain the player's life bar, thanks to the power meter. The power meter takes a few seconds to fill, and when empty, the player is weaker in attacking, and takes more damage when hit and when using special moves. When full however, the player attacks and defends at full strength, and use of a special move will not drain the player's life bar at all, though it will drain the power meter to empty again. However, although the power meter makes a large difference to the player's strength in "Bare Knuckle 3", in Streets of Rage 3 the difference is barely noticeable. The change means special moves can be used much more often, extending a character's normal repertoire. Though this is balanced by the moves being weaker.

The semi-special (blitz) moves are also much weaker than in the previous game initially, but can be upgraded, with the 'power star' system. On gaining 40,000 points on a single life, the player receives a power star (maximum 3), enabling a more powerful blitz attack. Losing a life will cost the player a power star, making them difficult to preserve later in the game.

Traps in stages are brought back from the original game; enemies can once again be thrown into pits or off the side of an elevator. Trains and various electric/laser devices also make appearances. Other features to make a return from the first game in the series are co-operative attacks, and the inability to throw the heavy fire-breathers, where attempting to do so will fail, with the player taking damage.

There are also increases in enemy intelligence: more enemies can pick up weapons, or block attacks, some enemies employ co-operative attacks, and some enemies can even steal exposed food items.

ynopsis

Plot

The crime boss, Mr. X, may have been defeated twice, but he is not down and out yet. He has started a research company called RoboCy Corporation to act as a cover for his business activities. The world's best robotocist, Dr. Dahm, has been brought in to help him create an army of realistic robots to replace important officials from the city. With the replacements in place, Mr. X plans to run the city using a remote control device. His criminal organization, The Syndicate, has strategically placed bombs around the city to distract the police while the city officials are dealt with.

Dr. Zan discovers what the research is really for and knows the Syndicate must be stopped. He contacts Blaze Fielding with the details of The Syndicate's plan. Blaze quickly contacts her old comrades Axel Stone and Adam Hunter for a task force to bring down The Syndicate once and for all. Axel quickly joins the task force, but Adam can't make it and sends Eddie "Skate" Hunter instead.

Rounds

*Round 1: Harbor - the coastal harbor where the search begins.
"Mini-Boss:" Ash (Japan version only), a stereotypical effeminate man/drag queen.
"Boss:" Shiva.

*Round 2: Night Club - the task force fights their way through Syndicate-controlled streets and invades a crime-filled nightclub.
"Mini-Bosses:" Bruce and Roo ("Danch" and "Victy" in Japan), if Bruce is defeated first Roo escapes and becomes a playable character.
"Boss:" Twin acrobatics Mona and Lisa ("Onihime" and "Yasha" in Japan).

*Round 3: Construction Site - the task force follows the Syndicate's trail through the construction site of the new city hall.
"Mini-Boss:" a Donovan enemy operating a bulldozer.
"Boss:" Robot Axel ("Break" in Japan).

*Round 4: Subway - a hidden subway tunnel which is being used for illegal cargo hauling and training site for an army of dangerous ninjas.
"Mini-Boss:" none.
"Boss:" Ninja Lord Yamato.

*Round 5: Syndicate Hideout - the task force battles their way to the top level; however, Mr. X is no longer there.
"Mini-Boss:" none.
"Boss:" Robot X.

*Round 6: Save the Chief of Police - the task force races against time to save the Chief of Police, who is being held hostage and will be killed by toxic gas.
"Mini-Boss:" none.
"Boss:" Jet.

*Round 7A: Syndicate Robot Factory - if the Chief of Police is rescued in time, the task force then arrives at the Syndicate's true stronghold. Here, the team enters the laboratory and fends off Mr. X's robots before taking on the evil mastermind himself.
"Mini-Boss:" Dr. Dahm ("Dr. Zero" in Japan), a stereotypical mad scientist operating a mechanic claw.
"Boss:" Robot Y ("Neo X" in Japan).

*Round 7B: City Hall - if the task force fails saving the Chief of Police, this leaves the way for an impostor to take his place at a press conference in the City Hall.
"Mini-Boss:" none.
"Boss:" Super Shiva.

The 4 endings of the game

*Good Ending - after saving the Chief of Police, the heroes head to the Syndicate Robot Factory, where they eventually find Mr. X's true form: the villain's brain is encased in a life-preserving glass tube, protected by a super-assassin robot named Robot Y ("Neo X" in Japan), who starts a 3 minute countdown; if Robot Y is destroyed before the timer expires, the heroes escape the exploding factory (with Adam's help) and disarm all bombs, thus saving the city. This is the true ending of the game.
*Bad Ending #1 - this ending occur at the same situation of facing Robot Y, described above, but with a difference: if the timer expires before Robot Y is defeated, all bombs will detonate and reduce the city to a complete ruin.
*Bad Ending #2 - if the task force fails in saving the Chief of Police from his toxic death, the chase gives way for an impostor taking his place at a press conference in the City Hall / White House. The task force must battle their way to the conference and expose the Syndicate to the world's media. Zan swears he will find and terminate Mr. X to stop him from ruling the city; watching everything in a big screen at the safety of his true hideout, the real Mr. X is seen in shadows, sitting on his crime throne and crushing a wine glass on his hand in wrath.
*Bad Ending #3 (Syndicate Hideout Ending) - if the game is played on the easiest difficulty, it will finish at Round 5. The ending sequence has a defeated Robot X explaining that the heroes had not figured out the location of his prisoner (the Chief of Police), and the real Mr. X is again seen crushing the wine glass on his hand.

Characters

*Axel Stone, unlike its predecessor, (since there is a 6 feet 7 inches cyborg as a playable character), this time Axel is the "powerhouse" of the game (excluding Shiva and Ash, who are superpowered). He is not anymore the Technique Master of the game, but he still remains a solid technician. His low speed and poor jumping ability are his downsides. His special attacks include the Dragon Wing and Dragon Smash.

*Blaze Fielding, along with Axel, is one of the only characters to appear in all "Streets of Rage" games. This time she is the best technical fighter and the weakest one after Skate and Roo. Her stats are very balanced making her the all-rounder of the game. Her special attacks include the Embukyaku (Backflip) and Kikousho (Fireball).

*Eddie "Skate" Hunter, named "Sammy" in Japanese version, he debuted in "Streets of Rage 2". He is the second fastest character and the second best jumper but still the weakest of all. His special attacks include the Double Spin Kick and Rolling Punches. He is also portrayed as an expert hacker according to the cutscenes.

*Dr. Zan Gilbert, a cyborg, replaces Max from "Streets of Rage 2", although he is neither as slow nor as strong. His reach is great, due to his robotic arms, and his special attacks are the Electric Body and Electric Reach. When he picks up a weapon, it changes into plasma balls which he can throw at enemies; how much power it can be thrown with before it expires depends on what type of weapon he uses.

*Ash (Japanese version only) is a minion of Mr. X's organization. Ash is a very tall man, wearing green (blue as playable character) tightpants, a golden necklace depicting the female symbol, a purple (red as playable character) waistcoat and cap, and black high-heeled leather boots. He strikes effeminate poses, such as covering his mouth while laughing girlishly with his knees bent inward. His attacks consist mainly of grabbing and throwing his opponents; in fact he has his own combo of slaps which have miserable range albeit powerful. When defeated, he cries. Being a homosexual caricature, he was removed from the U.S. / European ports of the game.

*Shiva (a boss character who debuted in "Streets of Rage 2" as Mr. X's personal bodyguard) is another one of the main villians and is also unlockable (by holding down B until the next stage after defeating him). Even though he has a portrait in a cutscene it is not used when unlocked (on the character select screen and at the end of the stages). He combines voice samples from "Axel" with others of his own. His moveset as a playable character is incomplete compared to the heroes of the game due to him being an enemy character. When playable, Shiva has the fastest punches and attacks of every character and the longest reach; his special move Final Crash, on the other hand, is powerful but due to its short reach it rarely manages to strike the enemies effectively. Shiva does not have a back attack, however his "back attack" can be used on non-boss enemies indefinitely as it strikes the enemy but they will not move back as they normally would.

*Roo ("Victy" in Japan), is a kangaroo wearing boxing gloves and green or blue pants. The party encounters this kangaroo in the downtown Atlas district that is Round 2, in which he is controlled by Bruce ("Danch" in Japan), a cruel clown trainer who wields a barbed whip. Roo is capable of several different spinning attacks, and kicking while standing on his tail. Interestingly, and oddly enough, he uses a lot of the same voice samples as Skate, and his semi-special moves resemble Zan's. To unlock Roo as a playable character, the player must kill Bruce without killing Roo. The animal then escapes, and becomes available in next continue.

*Secret characters that can be unlocked, either by actions in-game or by Game Genie codes, and then selected when the player uses a continue. One of them, Ash, is easily accessible (Japanese version only, "Bare Knuckle 3"). All 3 secret characters (Ash, Roo and Shiva) are unable to pick up and use weapons.

Regional differences

While translating this game from Japanese to American and European audiences, Sega of America altered it significantly. The most notable changes were that the miniboss character "Ash" was removed because he was a stereotypical gay man, females were given more modest clothing (by switching "dominatrix" visuals with jacket and jeans pants, short jeans clothing with longer outfits), and the costume colors were changed. "Axel" is dressed like "Adam", "Blaze's" clothes were changed from red to white, and "Skate" wears red and blue instead of his default red and yellow. Sega stated that these were changed to create "gender-neutral colors". The voice-effects were also changed, with most noticeably "Axel's" catchphrase of "Grand Upper" for his semi-special move being replaced with "Bare Knuckle".

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 certain "Dr. Gilbert" (who later turns out to be "Dr. Zan" himself), and the disappearance of a military general. In the American and European versions of "Streets of Rage 3", all references to "Rakushin" were removed, the general was replaced by the chief of police and a scheme to switch city officials with robot clones was invented. Another difference was if the player failed to save the general, the player has to head to the White House. This too was changed in the U.S. / Euro version where instead if the player failed save the chief, then the player has to head to the City Hall, although the building depicting the City Hall was still clearly the White House.

Also, "Bare Knuckle 3", even on the highest difficulty setting, was significantly easier than "Streets of Rage 3" on default difficulty.

A comprehensive list of all the changes between the versions, as well as a complete translation of the Japanese script, can be found at [http://soronline.classicgaming.gamespy.com/sor3_sor3vsbk3.htm SOR online] .

References

* [http://www.meanmachinesmag.co.uk/review/411/streets-of-rage-3.php "Streets of Rage 3" Megadrive review] from Mean Machines Archive

External links

* [http://www.streetsofrage.net/ Streets of Rage Expanded Universe]
* [http://www.ntsc-uk.com/feature.php?featuretype=ret&fea=ClassicGameStreetsOfRage NTSC-uk's "Streets of Rage" Retrospective]
* [http://soronline.classicgaming.gamespy.com/sor3.htm SOR Online: "Streets of Rage 3" section]
*
* [http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=67E948C9177AB4F3 A complete video walkthrough of Streets of Rage 3]