It's tricky to review Streets of Rage and be fair to it in light of the goodness that was to come in its sequel! Still it laid the foundations for even more future greatness so it is only fair to give the original game the respect it deserves. Basically Streets of Rage is Sega's answer to Final Fight, no doubt about it! The Axel character is a direct rip off of Cody from FF for example!
Streets of Rage comes into its own with two players. There are tons of moves the characters can perform, even some that involve teaming up to throw each other at the bad guys like gymnasts! Cracking punks over the head with a baseball bat or broken bottle is sickeningly violent but pleasing all the same.
Chip-tune legend Yuzo Koshiro created the music in this game and it's amazing as you might expect. 80's trance at it's best! The sound effects aren't so great however, with the shouts and screams of the characters sounding a bit 'scratchy'. Axel's battle yell sounds like a baby crying, for example!
Even hardcore fans of the series will agree that Streets of Rage hasn't aged well compared to second and third games in the franchise. The graphics are a bit dated now, with somewhat small characters and plain backgrounds. I also really dislike the special move which calls a police car to fire off some missiles as it really breaks up the intense action (this was replaced by a energy draining special move in Streets of Rage 2).
With Streets of Rage 2 expected to be available on the Virtual Console soon you could argue that there's no point in giving this a spin. While it's true that the second game is much better, we still have a soft spot for Streets of Rage. It lacks the depth of Streets of Rage 2 but is still very enjoyable and easy to get into, and certainly puts the SNES conversion of Final Fight in the shade.
1. Asa
19 Feb 2007, 18:45 GMT
I just downloaded this based on your review. I was a big Nintendo nut when this game out so I was blinkered to think Final Fight was the greatest game ever! I have now seen the error of my ways, I'm loving this one.
As you say Axel is secretly Cody thou!! haha
2. Christian
19 Feb 2007, 19:16 GMT
I love the Streets of Rage series! Hopefully we will see parts two and three for the VC as well.
3. Nathan G
19 Feb 2007, 20:31 GMT
OMG!! HAPPY DAYS!! Would be even happier if it comes out in the U.K, which Im sure it will its, just taking its time about it! I loved this game back in the days and although I do prefer 2, this ones still good!
4. Daniel Ferry
25 Feb 2007, 17:32 GMT
This better come to the uk soon! I have 800 points waiting for this bad boy for weeks!
5. Jadelouise
02 Mar 2007, 03:42 GMT
its out now in UK. Again i stress that i own this game 3 times already. 1 mega drive orignal and 2 and 3 PS2 and Gamecube Sonic Gems Collections.
6. Mendez
03 Mar 2007, 15:12 GMT
Wow, downloaded it last night, and it is AWESOME! =D
Well worth 800 points.
7. Levi
04 Mar 2007, 21:56 GMT
Mendez, you were right to d/l the game. I strongly recommend everyone do it too, ready for the SoR2, it'll make the new experiance all the so much better
Co-Op Mode is the best
Period.
8. The Pirate of Men's Pants
07 Mar 2007, 12:37 GMT
Arrrrr, it has to be said that SoR has a certain charm about it, regardless of the fact that SoR2 is a better game. Certainly at the time, I was bowled over by how good the original was, it never left my Megadrive cart slot when mates were round, the two player mode was ace! I'd say this is well worth a download, although I won't be myself as I already have the MD version, shipmates.
9. Jadelouise
08 Mar 2007, 01:24 GMT
ive seen streets of rage running on the wii and the boarders are reduced and its quicker. not full speed but its not that bad to be honest so some effort is being made. still when i get a wii its a usa one for me.
10. gaz dale
10 Apr 2007, 17:17 GMT
Went through on 2 player got just b4 final boss and then the game ended congratulating us on a well deserved victory even though we didnt get to fight the boss man. well annoying
11. RMA
19 Apr 2007, 16:29 GMT
gaz...very unfortunate. Completed this last week in 1p mode...no problems. Has anyone else had the same problem as gaz in 2p?
12. Mr 64
19 Apr 2007, 16:35 GMT
One of the flagship games of the early days of the Megadrive, featuring some great graphics and music for the era. Big sprites, animated backgrounds and wealth of enemies and weapons populate the eight levels of Streets of Rage, Sega's first attempt at capturing the massively popular sideways scrolling beat-em up market. But in 2007, how does the game actually play? Quite badly as a matter of fact.
In terms of gameplay I'd argue that it's almost a step backwards from Double Dragon 2 on the NES (the NES version was very different to the arcade original). The combat system doesn't feel as intuitive, the weapons aren't as much fun and the levels are not anywhere near as imaginative as a game released several years earlier for a much more inferior machine.
I have to be honest, Streets of Rage is not the game it was when I last played it in 1994. It's rough edges really show through now and it's main selling point at the time, it's presentation is not enough to save it now. It's also way too easy, especially in two-player mode me and my mate cleared the game at the first attempt.
I'd wait for Streets of Rage 2, that was a much better game if my memory serves me correctly.
13. PresidentLeever
22 Apr 2007, 00:26 GMT
I actually love the special attacks because of their over the top quality, and the soundtrack is my personal fav of the three.
14. Mr 64
23 Apr 2007, 13:50 GMT
I'll give the special attacks credit, they totally ridiculous, especially on the elevator level (stage 6/7?). I just meant the actual weapons you can pick-up are a bit of a disappointment as they all work the same (aside from the tear gas) and there are no real strengths/weaknesses to any of them. You can only use them one way too, which is a missed opportunity.
15. Damo
08 Jun 2007, 10:36 GMT
mr64 - How you can compare this to Double Dragon II on the NES is beyond me - SOR is a million times better than that flicker-filled crapfest!
16. Mendez
21 Jul 2007, 13:35 GMT
The game may be bettered by SoR2, but that doesn't stop it from being excellant. 5* anyday.
17. evilfrog
26 Aug 2007, 08:36 GMT
this was the only game where you can hold the enemy (including most bosses) and have your partner beat the crap out of them using well distanced blows.
18. alvieao
16 Sep 2007, 20:26 GMT
Ah, yes. The first Streets of Rage had a two-player mode (not to mention beating up the occasional female fighter) in which the SNES Final Fight lacked. Though it has enough new elements to separate from other FF-style clones. What's also wonderful in this game is the music; Yuzo Koshiro made the soundtrack so memorable as the gameplay itself. It feels like Revenge of Shinobi under a beat' em up premise (Team Shinobi/Overworks did both games). The first game has not aged well as SOR 2, but its charm remains in the hearts of Sega gamers and beat' em up fans alike.
19. Mad Bomber
22 Jan 2008, 18:23 GMT
5 stars. Easy. I love this game. I even love my police car driving bazooka firing buddies. (Wave hi fellas!) It's a blatant Final Fight clone, but a brilliant game that brings its own style to the table.
Still have really fond memories of me and a buddy taking out the street trash. I really didn't care for the super moves of the sequels though they are both 5 star games that brought something new to the series. Oh and I miss Adam Hunter.
20. Mixer152
27 Jan 2008, 11:15 GMT
Amazing game for its time although I dont think it holds up as well as the 2nd game.
I do prefer the soundtrack to the first game out of all 3 which I know alot of people would disagree with.
21. Roo
28 Feb 2008, 17:29 GMT
Can I just recommend to everyone that playing this with your mates, a few beers and with Eye of the Tiger playing on your CD player is better than just about anything on VC? Quality.
22. Tony
19 Mar 2008, 13:43 GMT
Great game not as good as SOR2 but still alot of fun. I still think it has the best 16-bit soundtrack out there.
23. N.A.T.O
30 Mar 2008, 11:21 GMT
Love this game! This is the first Megadrive game I ever saw and played, I can still remember the awe I felt at the visuals and especially the tunes. I have been a Sega nut ever since. Rock on.
24. mr.niceguy
17 Jun 2008, 04:21 GMT
I remember when I first saw the cart I thought it was Street fighters, for some reason. While I was disappointed at first when I found out it what it really was, that dissappointment quickly turned to joy, especially during
co-op(I probably never would have liked Street Fighters anyways). Funny how, until I saw the videos, I would always look back on this game with disdain, me and my brother had so much fun playing co-op on this game and it even taught me to be wary of women dressed in leather police costumes and carrying around whips. I just can't seem to remember why I started hating this game so much, perhaps it had simply become too hard(we got pretty far, considering it was our first beat 'em up) and I was simply tired of losing, or maybe I was just tired of the game and my brother wasn't(I started hating a lot of good games because of that reason). Who knows...
Oh well, me and my brother don't play together very much anymore, so maybe I should download this one to bring back the memories and perhaps we could start playing again.
Oh, and Mixer, in my opinion this game had the best music I had ever heard on the Genesis, and I had many of the Sonic games. The music is part of why that video brought back so many memories
25. Charco
01 Jul 2008, 20:51 GMT
Great game, it is better than Final Fight on SNES as it has two player. Music is fantastic too.
I must say though, if you liked the Streets of Rage series you simply HAVE to download Streets of Rage Remake from
www.bombergames.net
It's a brand new game, using sprites from the originals, has new or redone stages, has Adam from SOR1 as a playable character...the list goes on!! Basically it has all the best bits from the originals and more! It's freeware so there is NO excuse!!
26. KillerinstinctFan
26 Jul 2008, 22:11 GMT
This game is fantastic.for those of you who are looking Streets of rage remake i recommend downloading it from this website
www.toggle.com
this has less glithes and bugs so you should be able to finish SoRR no problem and yes SoR1 is way better then final Fight
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