Streets of rage

The game takes place in a large city, in which a cruel criminal syndicate seized power. The syndicate became stronger and stronger, and even the police and the city government were already in the hands of criminals. The leader of the bandits at the same time remained incognito for everyone. Violence, looting and destruction became commonplace in a city whose streets were unsafe even during the day.

Since the police were controlled by bandits, three young former police officers decided to administer justice on their own. Adam Hunter, Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding declare war on the city’s criminal community. ^[1] Having made their way through hordes of enemies, the heroes get to the residence of the main villain and defeat him in a fierce battle.

The game has two possible endings: good and bad.

In a single player game, only a good ending is available, for this you need to refuse the offer of Mr. X and defeat him. If you accept his offer, he will send you back to the sixth level.

In the two-player mode, both good and bad endings are available. To get a bad ending, the first player needs to agree to the offer of Mr. X, and the second to refuse. If the player who agrees to the offer wins, if the question is repeated, you need to refuse the offer of Mr. X and defeat him. So the bad ending will open. If both players agree, then they will go back to the sixth level, and if both refuse, you can get a good ending.

The game is a typical beat 'em up of the 16-bit era . The gameplay is similar to the earlier creation of Sega in the same genre - Golden Ax . The player progresses gradually through the sections of the level and deals with a large number of enemies. The levels can be moved both back and forth, and down and up. Management is extremely simple: one button for a jump controller, one for strikes and a third for special moves that cause serious damage to bosses and kill all the main opponents. Each of the three possible characters has their own tricks, produced by pressing the two main buttons in a certain sequence. In addition, from time to time it becomes possible to use weapons in battle: knives, glass bottles, bats, pipes and pepper spray, temporarily paralyzing the enemy, as well as restore health by eating an apple, chicken or fried meat. The game consists of 8 levels, at the end of each of which the player will meet with the boss - a particularly strong enemy. And if there are two players, they will meet two bosses (this rule does not apply at levels 5 and 6).

Levels

1. City. Boss - Antonio, a huge bandit armed with a boomerang . When approaching, he kicks the player, throws his boomerang at the player at a distance.
2. City slums. Boss - Southerner, a bandit with huge shuko , attacks only when approaching.
3. Beach. The boss is the wrestler of Abadede. Attacks the player, having previously dispersed.
4. Unfinished bridge. Boss - Bongo, fat man with a fiery breath.
5. Ship. Abadede meets again in the middle. Bosses - Onihime and Yasha (Mona and Lisa), girls who own judo.
6. Plant. In the middle, Bongo meets again. Bosses are two clones of Southerner.
7. Lift. There is no boss and you can drop opponents down.
8. The top floor of a skyscraper. Here the player meets with the bosses of the first 5 levels, and then with the final boss - Mr. X. Mr. X is armed with a Thompson assault rifle , from which he will shoot at the player. If you hesitate, Mr. X will hit your character with a butt.

Characters

• Adam Hunter is a black former cop and professional boxer . It has high strength, medium jumps, but low speed.
• Axel Stone is also a former policeman. The main character of the game, a master of hand-to-hand combat. It has high strength, low jumps and medium speed.
• Blaze Fielding is a girl, a former policeman and judo specialist. Blaise’s shots are much weaker than other heroes, but throws do the most damage. In addition, it jumps higher and moves faster than others.

Opponents

Ordinary opponents that meet the player throughout the game.

• Garcia is a regular punk hired by the Syndicate. In addition to attacking kicks and arms, Garcia can attack a player with a knife or bat.
• The signal is punk. In addition to the usual strokes, this punk can throw the player through himself, as well as make a tackle attack.
• Nora is a girl. Hit the player with a whip. After several hits from the player, Nora may fall to her knees and the player will have to wait until she gets up.
• Hakuyou is a student of the 4000-year-old Chinese art of Kung Fu Shaolin, because of his cruelty he became a member of the Syndicate. Its main feature is a spinning jump shot, which can also hit the player with the palm of his hand.
• Jack is a juggler. Juggles with axes or torches with which he can throw himself at the player. If a player is nearby, Jack can knock him down.

In the Japanese market, the game came out under the name Bare Knuckle: Ikari no Tekken and was identical to the European-American version.

Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear

Following success on the Sega Mega Drive, the game was published for Sega 8-bit gaming systems. The version of the game on the Master System remained virtually unchanged, apart from the lack of special technique and, for obvious reasons, simplified graphics and sound. The option for Game Gear had more significant differences: only two characters to choose from, Axel and Blaze, the absence of special moves and only 6 levels.

Others

Streets of Rage has been included in the collections of games for more advanced gaming systems several times. So in 1993, the game appeared on the Sega CD in the Sega Classics Arcade Collection ^[2] , and in 2005 the Streets of Rage trilogy was included in the Japanese version of the Sonic Gems Collection of classic games (in the European and North American versions it was replaced by the first and the second part of the game Vectorman ) for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube gaming systems. And finally, in 2009, all three parts of the game were included in the Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 ^[3] .

In 2007, a version of the game appeared for the Virtual Console Wii , and in 2009 it became available for download on the Apple iOS App Store .

Since 2010, the game has been available as part of the SEGA Mega Drive and Genesis Classics compilation for Linux , macOS , Windows platforms , since 2018 - PlayStation 4 , Xbox One ^[4] and Nintendo Switch ^[5] .

Streets of Rage has been praised by both ordinary users and specialized magazines and sites. 2.6 million copies of the game were sold worldwide, making the game fourth in terms of sales among Mega Drive games after Sonic the Hedgehog , Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Mortal Kombat ^[6] .

Reviews

• The British video game magazine Mean Machines rated the game 90 out of 100 points, noting the excellent graphics and detailed background rendering and especially appreciating the multiplayer version of the game ^[7] .
• The site dedicated to video games, The Video Game Critic, gave the game almost the highest rating in 2004 - A-, calling the game wonderful both in terms of graphic design and beautiful cityscapes, excellent music and gameplay. ^[8]
• The American video game magazine GamePro in July 1993 put Streets of Rage versions on the Sega Game Gear 4.5 points out of 5. The game was named the best in its genre ^[9] .

• Walkthroughs on GameFAQs
• “Streets of Rage” on allgame