Streets of Rage

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.

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.

The Good
The graphics are good considering the Master System's limitations. The changes from the 16-bit version are interesting as well. Instead of the crushers in Level 6, there are vertical electric currents to avoid. Level 6 also ends with a boss who is a little old man with a rocket-launcher. He is dressed like a stereotype English toff in a top hat and tails (?!) Certainly more original than just facing the Level 2 boss again. The game's still quite fun to play, especially if you have someone on hand to join in.

The Bad
Though this is a pretty good conversion in terms of graphics, the music is pretty dull and the fighting becomes repetitive. Of particular annoyance is the inability to grab enemies. Try moving in on them to hold them and you'll be given a punch or a kick for your troubles.

The Bottom Line
A scrolling beat-em-up in the style of arcade games like Final Fight. As one of three trained fighters, make your way through eight levels of street-fighting action. There are numerous weapons such as pipes, knives and the like which are hidden inside barrels and bins or which can be obtained by knocking them out the hands of enemies. In later levels, hazards such as holes in an uncompleted bridge present themselves. There's a two-player mode in which a friend can join in.