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''Streets of Rage'' (known in Japan as '''''Bare Knuckle''''') was a popular Beat 'em Up series developed by Sega . The three games in the series were released between 1991 and 1994 . Although it was one of the most popular franchises on the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis , no new ''Streets of Rage'' games have appeared on subsequent Console s. After porting '' Die Hard Arcade '', a 3D beat 'em up from the Arcades to the Saturn, Sega was reportedly interested in Eidos ' '' Fighting Force '' ( 1997 ). Sega of Japan even produced a demo of a beat 'em up that was rejected by Sega of America, ignoring the popularity of the series in the early 90s . Barring the inclusion of all three existing titles in the Japanese version of '' Sonic Gems Collection '' {Link without Title} , it is very unlikely it will return with a new commercial title. CHARACTERS Axel Stone Playable character from ''1'' to ''3'', Axel is the front man of the series. He turns slowly from an all-around to a bruiser in the end of the series. His fighting Style is Martial Arts and his hobby is playing videogames. In the later games, his special attacks are a 360 degree flaming punch (''Dragon Wing'') and a punch/uppercut combo (''Dragon Smash''). His blitz attack is a flaming uppercut named ''Grand Upper'' (though it was changed to bare knuckle for the US release of Streets of Rage 3, and seriously toned down in that game due to its excessive power in Streets of Rage 2) Adam Hunter Playable character in ''1'', kidnapped in ''2'', appears in the end of ''3'' to rescue the team twice. Blaze Fielding Like Axel, Blaze is a playable character in all the games. While she starts out the series as a stereotypical female character (fast but weak), she ends up becoming the series' "all-arounder" by the second game. With even stats and amazing technique, Blaze is usually seen as the best character to use in Streets of Rage 3. Her special techniques in the later two games are a cartwheel kick (''Embukyaku'') and a fireball (''Kikousho''). Her standard blitz attack, ''Vertical Slash'', is a forward somersault that strikes enemies with her fists. Max Hatchett/Thunder Only playable in ''2'', Max, a wrestler, is by far the slowest character in the series, but also the hardest hitting. Max is a friend of Axel, and makes a cameo appearance in the ending of the third game. In Streets of Rage 2, his special techniques were a Zangief-like spinning clothesline (''Thunder Bomb'') and a dashing tackle (''Thunder Tackle''). His blitz attack was the ''Power Slide''. His name differs between the US and European Games, being Thunder in the US version, and Hatchett in the European version. Eddie (Sammy) "Skate" Hunter Playable character in ''2'' and ''3'', the kid brother of Adam. Known as "Sammy Hunter" in ''Bare Knuckle'' and "Eddie 'Skate' Hunter" in the western versions, "Skate" being his nickname, as he is always on Rollerblades . Fast, but the weakest of all characters. Also, in ''Streets of Rage 2'', he was the only character who could dash. In both games, one of Skate's special moves was the ''Double Spin Kick''. In Streets of Rage 2, he uses the ''Corkscrew Kick'' and in Streets of Rage 3, he uses ''Migraine'', a flurry of punches. Dr. Zan Gilbert A former syndicate henchman, Zan tells Blaze about the robot conspiracy in ''3'', and is one of the four initially selectable characters. Zan is himself part robot, a Cyborg . Unlike the other characters in Streets of Rage 3, Zan has no specialized blitz weapon attacks; every weapon results in the same projectile attack for him. His special techniques are the ''Electric Body'' and ''Electric Hand'', using his cyborg half to shock the opponents. Roo Roo is a Kangaroo mini-boss in ''Streets of Rage 3''. If you defeat his cruel trainer, Bruce, before defeating Roo, he becomes playable when you use a continue. You can also press Up+B+Start at the title screen to select Roo at the character selection screen. A distinction of this character, besides being the only non-human playable character, is that he cannot use weapons. Ash A minion of Mr. X and the first mini-boss you face in ''Bare Knuckle 3''. His character is a very stereotypical homosexual, having the female 'Death Scream', a very feminine run, even a stupid little 'Laugh' taunt (which can still be heard in ''Streets of Rage 3'' in the sound test) and tons of female mannerisms. Because of this, he was removed from ''Streets of Rage 3''. Normally, he'd appear after the waves of punks come by boat on Round 1-2. Like Shiva, he is also a secret playable character, unlocked in a very similar manner. Mr. X The Syndicate head, Mr. X survived two encounters with the ''SoR'' team, but in ''3'' is nothing more than a brain, having had his body broken in the previous games. Armed with a Tommy Gun , he is the final Boss in all three games. Shiva The boss you fight before Mr. X in ''Streets of Rage 2'' and twice in ''Streets of Rage 3''. He is Mr. X's right-hand man and a very skilled fighter, his repertoire of moves matching the regular playable characters. In the original Asian version of the game, he is a Transsexual but was censored into a man with long hair. He is also a secret playable character in ''Streets of Rage 3'', who can be unlocked right after defeating him at the end of Round 1 by holding down the B button until the start of Round 2. STREETS OF RAGE
Released in 1991 when Sega's 16 bit console needed an increase of sales against the SNES , which boasted most of Capcom 's arcade ports such as '' Final Fight ''. The story resembled a typical '80s street cop movie: an evil crime syndicate has taken control of a nameless city and three young police officers (Axel, Blaze and Adam) decide to turn in the badge, and take it on by themselves, walking the streets and fighting criminals, until they face Mr. X, the mastermind himself. Gameplay controls were simple, attack and jump, but effective enough to keep movement smooth. The third button was a "call for help" which would cause the screen to whip back to the beginning of the Level , from which a police car would arrive and launch a rocket at the player's current location. The resulting explosions would affect all the enemies on screen, but leave the player intact. Each character has a weaker point in three abilities: Axel can't jump high, Adam walks slowly and Blaze doesn't hit hard. The game has multiple endings, you could either destroy Mr.X and that was it or you could become evil yourself. To do this you need a second player, then when Mr. X asks you to join him as his right hand, one player must say yes and the second player must say no, then what will happen is both of the players will be forced to fight with other, if the player who chosen yes wins then you will eventually have to fight Mr. X and when you will win then you will get the bad ending. But if you said yes without the second player then Mr. X would press a lever with his foot and you would drop down and reach back to the sixth level and have to play all over again. A port for Sega's Game Gear Handheld appeared in 1992 , and on the Master System in 1993 . It was also released in two official Sega game packs. Considering the popularity of the title, it comes as no surprise it was bundled in several packs, including ''Mega Games II'' (with '' Golden Axe '' and '' Revenge Of Shinobi ''), ''Sega Classics Arcade Collection'' (a Mega CD compilation with the two previously mentioned titles, plus '' Super Monaco GP '' and '' Columns ''). The voice effects for the characters in this version of the game had all been redone and most fans agree that they sound a lot worse than before. Streets of Rage also appeared on the ''6 Pak'' (composed of ''Streets of Rage'', '' Sonic The Hedgehog '', ''Columns'', '' Revenge Of Shinobi '', '' Golden Axe '' and '' Super Hang-On ''); and ''Mega 6'' (composed of ''Streets of Rage'', '' World Cup Italia '90 '', ''Columns'', ''Super Monaco GP'', ''Revenge of Shinobi'' and ''Sonic the Hedgehog''). STREETS OF RAGE 2
A year after, Sega refined the successful original title. SOR2 was released to critical success and was a top seller for Sega in 1992. New Music by Yuzo Koshiro (inspired by early '90s club music), more defined Graphics and new moves. Two new characters, Sammy "Skate" Hunter and Max Hatchett (or Max Thunder, depending on your region) replaced Adam. The "rocket" screen-clearing attack was replaced by a special attack that could be used several times in a level and to release from enemy holds, but consumed players' health, and now all enemy characters, instead of just the bosses, also had their own Life Bar s (a clear nod to Final Fight ). A two-player versus arena mode was also added, and although it did not provide matches on par with other dedicated versus fighting games for the same platform, such as '' Mortal Kombat '' or '' Street Fighter '', it was considered a nice addition. Overall, ''Streets of Rage 2'' is regarded as the best game in the series, and one of the best beat'em ups of the 16-bit era, although it was considered by many fans to be relatively easy, even on the highest difficulty setting. (Then again, there was an elite and virtually impossible level of difficulty available through a secret code.) "Streets of Rage 2," driven by the strength of the fresh soundtrack, groundbreaking gameplay, and an incredible two-player cooperative experience, was easily one of the best games available for the console, regardless of genre. The beta version can be found as ROMS for emulators. The beta contains incomplete animations, some different sprites and loose gameplay. Most noticeably, an upskirt view of Blaze's kick move can be seen. In the story, Adam is kidnapped by Mr. X one year after the trio were believed to have destroyed the Syndicate. Then, with help from Max, a wrestler, and Adam's kid brother "Skate", they go on to defeat Mr. X on his island hideout. These first two Streets of Rage games were also ported over to the Game Gear and Master System in 1993 . STREETS OF RAGE 3
1994 was the year the series saw its end. ''Streets of Rage 3'', packed in a 24 meg cartridge, was an enhanced version of the previous title that had several enhancements such as a more complex plot, multiple endings, lengthier levels, better 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 (in the previous titles an object would only disappear when it was dropped for the third time), some bosses could be played after being defeated and a few Cutscenes were added to give the story depth. Max gave his place to Zan, a cyborg, who was important for plot reasons. While translating this game from Japanese to American and European audiences, Sega of America altered it significantly. The most notable changes were that the Playable Miniboss Ash was removed because he was clearly Homosexual , the costume colors were changed, the females are less scantily clad, and 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 ''Dr. Gilbert'' (who later turns out to be "Zan"), and the disappearance of a military general. In the American and European versions of ''Streets of Rage 3'', all references to ''Rakushin'' were removed, and 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 you didn't save the general you had to head to the White House , this too was changed in the US/Euro version where instead if you didn't save the chief then you had to head to the City Hall. Also, ''Bare Knuckle 3'', even in the highest difficulty setting, was significantly easier than ''Streets of Rage 3'' on default difficulty. Another change is that Axel, Blaze and Skate had their clothes altered. (Axel is dressed like Adam, Blaze's clothes were changed from red to gray, and Skate wears red and blue instead of red and yellow) Sega stated that these were changed to create "gender neutral colors". There were several endings, they are listed below.
Besides the fact that it was far more difficult than its predecessors, it was also criticised for having an abrasive and noisy soundtrack, more experimental than the previous two which used more melodies and dance beats. That said, there are no other 16-bit games with music like it, and it has its fans. STREETS OF RAGE 4? While the title is only tentative, early in the Sega Dreamcast production cycle, demos were made to bring the ''Streets of Rage'' series to the '' 128-bit '' platform. However, for many possible reasons (most attribute Sega execs at the time for not knowing their roots), it was never followed up with. Those demo clips can be viewed at Streets of Rage Expanded Universe . Any fan of the series can clearly recognize that the main character on the screen is Axel, and some interesting new team attacks were being developed. STREETS OF RAGE REMAKE Streets of Rage Remake (SORR) is an homage to the classic Streets of Rage trilogy which was published by , who did the music for all three Streets of Rage games. Gecko Yamori , known for his remixes of videogame music, has contributed his talents as well. The project also incorporates improved AI, a better color palette, and additional interactive elements. Of particular note is the addition of Adam as a playable character (available in the current beta). Adam was available in the first Streets of Rage but, despite being a fan favorite, was never featured as a playable character in the sequels. Adam will have an updated SOR 2/3 like appearance as well as new moves. Another noteworthy addition is the inclusion of the notorious lost stages from Streets of Rage 3. Prior to the game's release, screenshots from SOR 3 were featured in a magazine preview depicting playable characters riding motorcycles in game. For unknown reasons, these stages (incomplete but accessible through various means using a Rom Image and Emulator ) were not included in SOR 3's final release. The lost stages, known as The Bridge and The Wastelands, will be featured, complete with ridable motorcycles, in the final release of SORR. Though featuring all-new levels, SORR aims to provide a nostalgic experience which hails back to the late eighties and early nineties when 2D side-scrolling Beat 'em Up s were popular in arcades and on gaming consoles. Aside from some highly-anticipated updates, the goal of the Bombergames team is to stay as close as possible to the true essence of the franchise. In this sense, SORR cannot be understood as a sequel because its main purpose is to recapture the experience of the initial Genesis/Mega Drive games. As a work in progress, some details concerning the game are still unknown. However, the developers do maintain a website and forum that contain a wealth of information on the project as well as its current status. OTHER MEDIA Comics Three Comic Strip series based upon the games appeared in '' Sonic The Comic '' in the early 1990s (along with several other Adaptation s of popular Sega franchises). The first of these was written by Mark Millar , who has since become popular writing '' The Authority '' for Wildstorm and '' Ultimate X-Men '' and '' The Ultimates '' for Marvel . Soundtracks The first game's soundtrack was composed by Yuzo Koshiro . Another musician, Motohiro Kawashima , helped on the second, providing a few tracks, and making even more for the third. Three Soundtrack CD s were released in all, each of which now go for a pretty penny on the likes of EBay and Japanese markets.
The first game's music has a warm, Caribbean quality, and Koshiro has said he was listening to artists like Soul II Soul , Blackbox , Maxi Priest , and Caron Wheeler around the time of composing. #The Street of Rage #Character Select #Fighting in the Street #Attack of the Barbarian #Dilapidated Town #Moon Beach #Keep the Groovin' #Beatnik on the Ship #Stealthy Steps #Violent Breathing #The Last Soul #Big Boss #You Became the Bad Guy #My Little Baby (Good Ending) #Game Over #Round Clear #untitled ''(CD only)'' #Up & Up ''(CD only)'' #The Super Three ''(CD only)'' (The CD version uses the Sound Board II soundchip, rather than the Mega Drive's).
This is the easiest (note that this is relative to the other 2) Streets of Rage soundtrack to find. Composed and played by Yuzo Koshiro (with a few by Motohiro Kawashima ), this is said to be one of his greatest and it shows the power of the Mega Drive/Genesis soundchip. The music is described by Yuzo as "hard-core Techno ". The CD contains 20 tracks and was produced by him and Kyoji Kato. The track list is as follows: # Go Straight # In The Bar # Never Return Alive # Spin on the Bridge # Ready Funk # Dreamer # Alien Power # Under Logic # Too Deep # Slow Moon # Wave 131 # Jungle Base ''(M.K.) & (Y.K.)'' # Back to the Industry # Expander ''(M.K.)'' # S.O.R. Super Mix # Max Man ''(M.K.)'' # Revenge of Mr. X # Good End # Walking Bottom # Little Money Avenue ''(M.K.)''
#Fuze ''(M.K.)'' #Spinning Machine ''(Y.K.)'' #Boss ''(M.K.)'' #Beat Ambiance ''(Y.K.)'' #Cycle II ''(M.K.)'' #KAMADECOCO ''(Y.K.)'' #The Poets I ''(M.K.)'' #Shinobi Reverse ''(Y.K.)'' #Percussion ''(M.K.)'' #Moon ''(M.K.)'' #Happy Paradise ''(Y.K.)'' #The Poets II ''(M.K.)'' #Random Cross ''(Y.K.)'' #Dub Slash ''(M.K.)'' #Inga Rasen ''(Y.K.)'' #Bulldozer ''(M.K.)'' #Crazy Train ''(Y.K.)'' #Cycle I ''(M.K.)'' Not on the CD, but in the game: #The dance club track #Tunnelway #Fateful Meeting #Mr. X #Bad Ending #Good Ending #Game Over #Round Clear #Unused EXTERNAL LINKS
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