Streets of Rage

aka: 3D Streets of Rage, Bare Knuckle: Ikari no Tekken, DSWAT, SoR, Streets of Rage Classic
Moby ID: 6599
Genesis Specs
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Description official descriptions

Streets of Rage, Sega's answer to Final Fight, follows the story of three young police officers (Adam Hunter, Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding) in a city controlled by a criminal syndicate led by a "Mr. X" where crime is rampant, which leads the three heroes to make a pact to leave the force and topple the syndicate by themselves.

Gameplay is straightforward and simple. Three buttons are used, one to jump, other to attack and another to perform a range attack from a support police car. Each character has a limited set of moves that include punching and kicking or performing a back attack (if in the open), two grapple moves (depending if holding the opponent in front or by the back), a flying attack, and if playing with another player two additional tag attacks, and different abilities: Adam is slow, but a good jumper and a hard hitter, Axel fast and also a hard hitter, but a lousy jumper and Blaze fast and a good jumper, but weak hitter. Levels are in typical arcade side-scroller fashion: move from left to right (with two exceptions), clearing screens from enemies one after another as fast as possible while avoid taking damage with a boss in the end. Some levels feature "death drops" where the player must avoid falling, while throwing enemies there at the same time, including a typical elevator level. Several items are scattered on the ground, from melee weapons and bonus points (and lives or additional police cars) to apples and turkeys (to restore health).

Spellings

  • ベア・ナックル 怒りの鉄拳 - Japanese spelling
  • 스트리트 오브 레이지 (베어너클) - Korean spelling

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Credits (Genesis version)

18 People (12 developers, 6 thanks)

Game Designed By
Programming
Designed By
Music
Sound Assistance
Special Thanks To
Presented By
  • SEGA
Cover Artwork by

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 78% (based on 48 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 166 ratings with 10 reviews)

Classic scrolling beat-em-up

The Good
First there was Final Fight,then came streets of rage,sega's own classic beat-em-up!.The city is in chaos,gang's roam the streets under the rule of Mr x,the Head of an evil crime syndicate.3 brave young police officor's go out to fight and restore peace to the city.My best bit's of this game are the boss battle's,one of the hardest bosses is probably the level 2 boss.I also loved the music and sound affect's that gave the game atmosphere.

The Bad
The grathic's can get a bit dull at time's,mainly on the first level,also the number of thug's that you face on a single screen can get really frustrating.Apart from those weak point's it's a great game.

The Bottom Line
If you ever see this game on Ebay or somewhere else,buy it!,along with an old Sega system to play it on.If you are a fan of beat-em-up's you wont be disappointed by streets of rage.

SEGA Master System · by william sterry (4) · 2006

Great game, could have been better though.........

The Good
This is such a fun game to play, alone or 2 player. The button response is perfect for the pace of this game. The graphics look pretty good and the game runs great without any lagging or choppy graphics. The levels are pretty cool and the artwork looks cool too. The music in this game is awesome too.

There are three characters to choose from (Adam, Axel and Blaze) each with unique abilities. I noticed Axel walks faster and Adam has long range kicks and they all have different attacks.

The enemies in this game are pretty interesting. From ninja's that jump from one side of the screen to the other to mistresses with whips, I'd say they're appropriate street scum.

The bosses in this game are pretty random, only in the sense that you would'nt expect big fat fire breathing fat guys. Did I mention they are fat?? A couple other random bosses would be the tall boomerang throwing guy, the tall guy with "Freddy Kruger" gloves and what street thug game would be complete with out the random wrestler? Yeah that's right, a wrestler, only he doesn't fake punch you, he's the real deal.

Oh, and the best part of the game, the weapons. There are pipes for swinging, bats for bashing, knives for "shanking" and bottles for breaking on peoples heads and of course using the remains to stab, repeatedly. Also when things get tough you can Call For Back-up and police cruiser will rush to the scene and lay down some heavy artillery.

The Bad
Don't get me wrong, I love this game but there are some things that annoy me. For instance the constant re-use of the same bad guys. The game continually changes the color of the enemies and then tries to pawn them off on you as some different bad guy. Then the game takes it a step farther by doing the same thing with Bosses! I guess creating a handful of more characters was too much to ask for.

The Bottom Line
Awesome action packed game, one of the best for Genesis. A good start to nice lil' trilogy.

Genesis · by DudeOfMonson (97) · 2007

streets of rage--release your rage

The Good
This is perhaps the most awesome of all kick arse games for the Sega Genesis. The amount of times this has helped me to release my anger.

The special's have come in handy i don't know how many times, but you can not use them on level 10, the final round.

The Bad
The levels are almost the same, with the exception of levels seven and ten. You also cant high kick the level 2 boss, god damn it.

The Bottom Line
Well worth the money.

Genesis · by paul cairey (319) · 2002

[ View all 10 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
DSWAT j.raido 【雷堂嬢太朗】 (93190) Jul 20, 2013

Trivia

References

  • Many in-game sounds and even the main font were lifted directly from Revenge of Shinobi.

  • In difficult situations, you can press the 'special attack' button. A cop will drive by in a car and set the entire environment on fire with a rocket launcher. The artwork of the police car may look familiar, it's exactly the same car used in E-SWAT: Cyber Police, an older SEGA arcade title which also got converted to the Mega Drive.

  • The game is referenced in the second episode of the second season of the US Netflix series Narcos. Pablo Escobar can be seen playing the game with his son on a Genesis system. He gives his son instructions and comments on having to fight a woman.

Release

One of the few games to be packed in with the Genesis.

Soundtrack on vinyl LP

In summer 2015, Data Discs released a vinyl soundtrack with the remastered soundtrack from the game. The remasterings were done in collaboration with the composer of the original game tracks Yuzo Koshiro. The LP features 16 tracks, 8 on each side. The recording were made from the original NEC PC-88 files, as well as a sampling from the Yamaha YM2612 chip of the Mega Drive/Genesis console.
(Source: Product description on Data Discs website, LP at Discogs)

Awards

  • EGM
    • 1992 Buyer's Guide - Hottest Videogame Babe

Information also contributed by Jo and Robbb

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Satoshi Kunsai.

Android, iPad added by GTramp. Nintendo 3DS added by Michael Cassidy. Windows added by 666gonzo666. Wii added by Guy Chapman. iPhone added by Sciere. Linux, Macintosh added by Foxhack. Arcade added by Kohler 86. Game Gear, SEGA Master System added by festershinetop.

Additional contributors: chirinea, Sciere, Alaka, j.raido 【雷堂嬢太朗】, Thomas Thompson, GTramp, Rik Hideto, Jo ST, Harmony♡.

Game added June 7, 2002. Last modified February 13, 2024.