Streets of Rage

aka: 3D Streets of Rage, Bare Knuckle: Ikari no Tekken, DSWAT, SoR, Streets of Rage Classic
Moby ID: 6599
Genesis Specs
Note: We may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made via eBay or Amazon links (prices updated 3/27 9:10 PM )
Included in

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

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Videos

See any errors or missing info for this game?

You can submit a correction, contribute trivia, add to a game group, add a related site or alternate title.

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)

The Foundation of one of the best beat em up series ever

The Good
Ahhh the game that started a direct rivalry between the snes and genesis beat em up genre. When Capcom brought Final Fight "a inferior port" to the super nintendo, the genesis stood up and produced Streets of Rage for their system though in the beginning a rather poor man's final fight. Lets talk about the good

The graphics for the time were decent. Though smallish compared to Final Fight they were able to support FAR more characters on screen to pummel compared to Final Fight. This game could support over TEN characters on screen to beat you to oblivion.

You get three characters to choose from. Axel, Blaze or Adam.

You get a special attack which is very useful in the game.

The Levels are quite varied and very diverse. Always a plus when playing a game where beating up people is the main focus.

The music! This game is the first game from Yuzo Koshiro. The Music in the Streets of Rage series has constantly outperformed the Final Fight series. In my opinion anyways. Some of the great themes in this game are the intro telling the storyline and the character selection screen. Most of the beats in the game are fairly memorable. The game beats Final Fight in the music respect hands down.

The Bad
Now for the downside of the first Streets of Rage game

Though more characters can be on the screen at once compared to Final Fight, the first streets of rage is inferior to final fight in the graphics department. Smaller characters compared to Final Fight.

The enemies are almost as cheap as Final Fight. They crowd you and beat the hell out of you and never let you up.

No Special moves like the first Final Fight. No character specials make this game more simplistic then Final Fight. Thankfully Streets of Rage 2 takes over soon.

Bosses can be EXTREMELY CHEAP. How cheap? Some of them can't even get a hit in with some characters due to their long ranged highly effective attacks that cause massive damage.

Cheap hits A PLENTY. FOR YOU!!!

The Bottom Line
This game is a great starting foundation for Streets of Rage for the inevitable SUPERIOR sequels which eventually overtake Final Fight in innovation and beatdown. A good game but not a classic like the sequel. Overall a good solid seven out of ten. Though if you have Streets of Rage 2 or 3 then this game pales in stark contrast to them or even the first Final Fight.

This game is dirt cheap and fairly easy to find. If you want some cheap good beatdown fun and can't find Streets of Rage 2 or 3 then get this.

Genesis · by Mr. Huh (105) · 2005

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

Taking it to the streets...

The Good
The first in the legendary beat ‘em up franchise from Sega. All of which appeared on the Sega Genesis, and the first two on the Master System and Game Gear. These were some of the finest games on the Genesis and of the 16-bit era.

In Streets of Rage series you chose between 3 characters. Axel, Adam, and Blaze. They become vigilantes, when Mr.X’s stranglehold on the city becomes to tight. The ex-cops vow to rid the streets of his insidious presence. Eight stages of head busting action await you before you can face Mr. X.

The Graphics in SOR are not that good. It came out in 1991 and compare it to other games at the time, like Sonic.

The Music/Sound is one of the areas where this game really excels. Yuzo Kosihiro’s soundtrack is incredible, there is not a single tune that does not kick ass. The sound effects are passable, but the incredible score makes up for this ten-fold.

The Gameplay is solid. With plenty of bone-cracking action to go around. It is one of the most satisfying action games this side of Shinobi III.

The Bad
The Graphics are bad, for the time. And compared to the others this one is weak.

The Bottom Line
Play this game, it is still fun after all these years.

Genesis · by MasterMegid (723) · 2006

[ View all 10 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
DSWAT j.raido 【雷堂嬢太朗】 (93195) 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

Analytics

MobyPro Early Access

Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!

Related Games

Streets of Rage 2
Released 1992 on Genesis, 1993 on Game Gear, 2003 on Windows...
Streets of Rage 4
Released 2020 on Windows, Linux, Macintosh...
Streets of Rage 3
Released 1994 on Genesis, 2007 on Wii, 2012 on Windows...
Streets of Rage 4: Mr. X Nightmare
Released 2021 on Windows, 2022 on iPhone, Android...
Fighting Force
Released 1997 on PlayStation, Windows, 1999 on Nintendo 64...
Rage (Anarchy Edition)
Released 2011 on Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Rage
Released 2010 on iPhone, iPad
Mean Streets
Released 1989 on DOS, Linux, 2014 on Windows...

Related Sites +

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 6599
  • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Satoshi Kunsai.

iPad, Android 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 March 25, 2024.