On my seventh birthday, my parents finally gave in and bought their favourite and only child a SEGA MegaDrive II. It came packaged with Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and ‘MegaGames I’. My best friend at the time had been enjoying videogames as a pastime for a couple of years by then. Streets of Rage hadn’t called me to vigilantism until that same friend brought me to his fight club.
My friend had a Master System II, Mega CD and a lie about his Dad magically getting games and writing them to cartridges in his attic. Cartridges that looked exactly like the retail copies. I loved the guy but he had more front than Blackpool.
Moving back to the point, my brother-in-virtual-arms introduced me to many franchises I take for granted today or flat out miss. Sonic, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, ToeJam and Earl, that awesome McDonalds game and of course, Streets of Rage.
Streets of Rage always seems to conjure warm memories from my childhood. Straining my neck looking up at the CRT on a solid dark wood desk. We would eat apples and meats from old oil drums, pick up broken bottles, pipes and knives to take out a recently-surfaced criminal organisation. Then we would retire to play a wholesome session of Street of Rage.
It was the 90s. Atmosfear.
Streets of Rage had everything a Bart Simpson-wannabe looked for in a game. It was edgy and taboo by yesteryear standards. Suffering from with the same misinformed comments about videogame violence that hounded/promoted the Mortal Kombat series.
Streets of Rage opted for a state of pixelated realism that many Mega Drive titles opted for at the time, it was the most mainstream form of maturity 16-bit systems were mustering at the time. Bear in mind, this is around about the same time games retail and journo outlets were receiving pig organs in boxes to promote a certain video game.
The pulsating basslines, swimming keyboards and robotic drums made for an engrossing and memorable audio experience. Think 90s cop show mixed with chiptune funk. The second level on the beach always sticks in my mind, which is ridiculous for a title I played over 20 years ago.
Decline in Street Crime/Rage
Released between 1991 and 1994, the Streets of Rage series slowly declined commercially as time went on, most notably with its last entry Streets of Rage 3. Whilst the final instalment in the trilogy added cutscenes and increased difficulty settings in the west, it was mostly seen as a cash-grab clone of Streets of Rage 2. Series composers Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima moved from a funkier OST from the first instalment to more 90s club style tracks for the franchises second and third outings.
Rumours would have us believe Streets of Rage was prototyped for a SEGA Saturn and SEGA Dreamcast release, the latter with original staff on board. The only releases fans saw from the franchise following original releases was a Japan only remaster for mobile and a slew of re-releases starting with Sonic Gems to the recent Mega Drive/Genesis collection.
Fast forward to 2020, gamers suddenly give a hoot about the retro franchises of yesteryear. Talented indie developers have been picking up long-dormant names and re-imagining them for current gen releases, most notably WonderBoy III: The Dragon’s Trap. Not only did Wikipedia prompt the mention of this game, but it is one of my favourite releases on the Nintendo Switch! Not only is the Art style beautiful and the controls tight AF, but the same team are behind the highly anticipated Street of Rage 4.
Streets of Chill
In all honesty, the entire point of this article was to rejoice in the Streets of Rage 4 hype. It just looks beautiful and seems faithful to the original Streets of Rage, ignoring the latter half of the series. DotEmu has a lot of respect and passion for retro franchises whilst making sure they change up the formula in necessary yet creative ways, this writer has every faith in the next instalment of Streets of Rage.
Stay tuned for our review of Streets of Rage 4, complete with shards of broken glass, odd looking ginger kids and oddly large upper body muscles.
