Streets of Rage 3

aka: Bare Knuckle 3, SoR 3
Moby ID: 11193
Genesis Specs
Buy on Genesis
$159.99 used on eBay
Buy on Windows
$0.99 new on Steam
Note: We may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made via eBay or Amazon links (prices updated 3/23 9:57 AM )
Included in

Description official description

In part three of the Streets of Rage series, Mr. X is back and this time his plan involves replacing public officials with his own robots. Only Axel, Blaze, Skate, and new-comer Dr. Zan can stop him. Streets of Rage 3 features all of the beat 'em up action you would expect from a Streets of Rage game. One new feature is the special move power bar, where it only costs energy to do a special move if the bar isn't full. Also new is the ability to do special maneuvers with different weapons, depending on the character. For example, Skate has no special move with the pipe, but does have one with the knife. The opposite is true for Axel. Any weapon Dr. Zan picks up is turned into energy balls which he can throw at the enemies. Secret characters and multiple endings add replay value.

Spellings

  • ベア・ナックルⅢ - Japanese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (Genesis version)

78 People (63 developers, 15 thanks) · View all

Producers
Director
  • Yui
Product Manager
Main Planner
Assistant Planner
Concept Designer
Animation Designer
  • Ryuryu
Character Designers
Background Designers
Lead Programmer
Character Programmers
  • Takosuke (as Takosuke)
  • Chata
  • Nagisa
  • Mr. Nobody
Background Programmer
Music Producer
Music Composition
Music Programmer
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 78% (based on 30 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 68 ratings with 6 reviews)

1994.. The coming of Playstation, The end of Genesis.

The Good
Have you ever sat down and thought.. OK I feel like achieving the near impossible? Yes?! Then try and find a copy of this game and completing it all in the same day!! This game is very hard to find, especially in the U.K! You can find it on the net for about $40+! I have seen it retail for £83!!!! And thats alot for a game! If you aren't wanting to achieve the impossible and are almost maybe getting a copy of your own.. then you have to think to yourself 'do I REALLY want this game?' If you are a Streets of Rage fan the OF COURSE YOU WANT IT!!! It was 8 years before I could play this game after hearing about it. Streets of Rage 2 is an ultimate classic (definitely on the Mega-drive/Genesis top ten!) and I wanted more of the same - THE ULTIMATE SCROLLING BEAT 'EM UP!

Pressing the start button on the title screen gives me the same options and player set up as usual for the series, except one thing... THE most important thing.. THE MUSIC HAD CHANGED!!!!!!!!! What did they do?! I thought ' its ok, maybe the in-game music is like the other games'' I was wrong.. but not disappointed at all! The music (which is one of the main driving points of the series) is a combination Arcade style sounds mixed with Techno,Electro and Eclectic dance. Which basically means that it mixes you along with the rest of the game nicely!

The Bad
Um.. What happened to this being one of the last great games on the Genesis? The game which could define Sega's console for what it achieved?! Well, this game isn't anything special, no big differences. No Adam! You get to play as a kangaroo and not the guy from the very first game?! That wasn't a good idea really (I mean, COME ON! IT'S THE LAST STREETS OF RAGE!!) Well, they DID make the game really hard! OK, maybe thats not such a good thing.. People moaned about the second game being too easy, and now, too hard doesn't work!! What could they of done? I would of liked to see some classic bosses here, a long fight towards the end where you face every boss in the game one by one (like in the first and second game) Some more music would of been great! Adam back in it! A more imaginative fighting system (maybe chose whether to hit with feet first or hands first..)

The Bottom Line
ITS STREETS OF RAGE 3!!! If you loved the second game, then this is a fresh new look on the series, just don' expect much else to be different (Axel's jeans are black now..) All what is different is the kangaroo, Dr Zan robot man, the music, Axel's jeans have gone black and his face is weird, no Max from the second game, no 3-4 player option.. Delete all those, and you got one cracking fighting game! If you haven't played ANY of the series, then you're going to like this ALOT! Even though it's a bit hard.

I think all Streets of Rage fans should write to Sega and beg for another (with classic gameplay and no silly plot or C.G cut-scenes!!) And also, unlock-able Streets of Rage 1, 2+3 for those who can't get a copy! Write to them! If they make it, then the cause was just. :)

Genesis · by MrBee (28) · 2004

Lost in translation

The Good
In the same way SoR 2 improved on pretty much every aspect of the first, this one also improved on a fair number of areas. The minimal plot of the previous games, only told at the starting sequence now develops between the game with some cutscenes, and now there are a few different endings depending on well you do some key parts. Gameplay was also tweaked a bit: it's now possible to run with any character, as well as perform a defensive roll left and right (or more accurately, up and down). Weapons now can be used a certain number of times before breaking, instead of magically vanishing every third time it is dropped, and Axel's Rising Upper was toned down... until the player reaches two or more stars. Then, it becomes more powerful (and spectacular) than before, but gaining such ranking requires a lot of beating to be done, and each death means a setback. Level-design wise, death pits and traps re-appeared, making levels a lot more varied and opens strategies missing from the second. The developers weren't shy on that, and most levels include a part with them.

The ability to play as Shiva is interesting, although he's far too strong to be taken seriously.

The Bad
I really don't know what went through through the heads of Sega of America executives with this game. Making a few changes to close a bit on cultural differences (such as the removal of the character Ash - with all the noise about video game violence, the last thing they needed was accusations of gay bashing) is acceptable; butcher the story left and right because they could, change the character colours for no reason whatsoever and make the game impossibly hard are the reasons why the game is so lowly regarded among fans of the series. And not only is impossibly hard, but the ending is crippled for those who don't select anything but the hardest difficulty settings. Yeah, there's no doubt SoA knew how to screw up a game completely.

Surprisingly, the music isn't even half as good as the previous efforts. I've read somewhere the music was rendered rather than composed, which explains how Ventolin-ish it occasionally sounds like.

The Bottom Line
On an interesting note, the same SoA refused to give a green light on a SoR4 project for the Dreamcast. So not only they spoiled the last game, but also effectively killed the series. Nice.

Anyway, the game strikes me as a bit of a paradox. While its improvements come in the line of the previous games, making the game effectively better, the butchering of the game at the hands of SoA spoiled most of the game with idiotic changes and an incoherent plot. My advice is to play the original Japanese game with a translation of the plot at hand.

Genesis · by Luis Silva (13444) · 2006

Sega's Censorship

The Good
Streets of Rage 3 features improved graphics, animation, music and sound effects along with new fighting moves and a few storyline plot twists. On the surface it would seem as if Sega simply took what was great about Streets of Rage 2 and made it better.

The Bad
During the video game wars between Nintendo and Sega, the later sought to portray itself as being cooler and less stuffier then the Big N. This was done in its ad campaigns as well in its products.

Sega gave approval for Galoob to produce a Game Genie for the Genesis and Game Gear. Sega allowed games made for their systems to contain graphic violence, blood, gore and even some scantily clad females. Yet, Sega's own Streets of Rage 3 was heavily censored for release outside of the Asian market; drastically changing the original storyline (harsh language and nuclear weapons) as well as some enemies characters who were gay or transsexual. Why these changes were made is not all together clear. Their was intense political scrutiny placed upon the video game industry in the early 1990's and, maybe, Sega decided to retool the game so as to avoid controversy. Yet, it does create some obvious plot holes, a less dramatic storyline and undermines the notion that (as the ads said) Sega does what Nintendo doesn't.

The Bottom Line
Streets of Rage 3 is an action packed, beat em' up that builds upon the successful elements of the first two games. Fans of the genre, should enjoy the ride. However, the decision by Sega to drastically alter the original plot and censor certain elements from the game was a bad decision, which has never been fixed.

Genesis · by ETJB (428) · 2010

[ View all 6 player reviews ]

Trivia

Bosses

At the end of the third stage you will have to fight against... yourself (depending on which character you've chosen to play with)!

Cover

When the UK magazine Mean Machines Sega reviewed the game in 1994, they had their art editor draw a cover picture with Zan and Blaze standing in front of the building. Sega Europe bought the rights to the artwork to use it for the cover of the UK/Europe release.

Cut content

According to several pre-release screenshots, there was originally a section where the players got to ride the motorcycles they are so often attacked by. This section was obviously removed for the final version.

Hidden characters

In the Japanese version of the game (Bare Knuckle 3), along with the other hidden characters, you can also unlock and play as an 'effeminite' male character named Ash, after beating him in Round 1. He cannot wield weapons and has very few attacks, though he's ridiculously quick and is far too strong to use in a normal game. Ash can also be unlocked in the US version by using the Game Genie.

References

The character Blaze is very reminiscent of the female character in SEGA's 1985 coin-op Flashgal.

PAL and US version

There are a number of changes in the US and PAL releases: * A part of the intro and a picture in the bad ending were cut. * All characters but Zan have slightly different clothes. * The female enemies have more clothes. * The police chief (in the original a general) has no beard anymore. * The boss Ash was replaced with Sheeva (a character from the predecessor) and the boss Break was renamed to Axel. * In level one of the original, there is a hole in a wall in one place. The wall part was completely removed.

A detailed list of changes can be found on schnittberichte.com (German).

Patch

There is an unofficial translation patch available for the original Bare Knuckles 3 Megadrive release, which effectively allows to play the game in English without the content changes that happened when the game was officially localized.

Information also contributed by CaptainCanuck, Mad Griffith and Matt Keller

Analytics

MobyPro Early Access

Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!

Related Games

Streets of Rage 4
Released 2020 on Windows, Linux, Macintosh...
Streets of Rage
Released 1991 on Genesis, 1992 on Game Gear, 2011 on Windows...
Streets of Rage 2
Released 1992 on Genesis, 1993 on Game Gear, 2003 on Windows...
Streets of Rage 4: Mr. X Nightmare
Released 2021 on Windows, 2022 on iPhone, Android...
Streets of Rage Remake
Released 2003 on Windows
Road Rage 3
Released 2001 on PlayStation 2
Streets
Released 1993 on Atari 8-bit
Revenge on the Streets 3
Released 2023 on Linux, Windows, Macintosh

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 11193
  • [ 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 RKL.

iPhone, Windows added by Sciere. Linux, Macintosh added by Foxhack. Wii added by gamewarrior.

Additional contributors: Sciere, j.raido 【雷堂嬢太朗】, Trypticon, Patrick Bregger.

Game added November 30, 2003. Last modified March 25, 2024.