Streets Of Rage

Hello fellow RetroJunker's, Coldheart here, if you want to know anything about me PM me or send me an e-mail, (see profile) as I am not willing to post my contact details etc. here. This is my debut article on RetroJunk so any criticism is encouraged as long as it is supportive. Just a heads up!





Streets Of Rage, that sure takes me back... to 1997 when I first ever played it on my European Sega Megadrive, that was when I first got the SOR addiction. Back when I was a complete amateur, and thought Blaze was a man! Forgive me guys, I was young and it was my first time ever of playing it. However since then I have somewhat mastered the game and pretty much learned every trick-of-the-trade as it were. You are in for a treat in this article for I am about to, as they say "spill my guts on the page" over this game, as I am about to deliver an in-depth look at this awesome gaming masterpiece. By this, of course I do mean a review, not an essay as I would tire of producing. Maybe next time.



Ok, the basic drill first I think, enter the cartridge into your Sega system, watch the great city cut-scenes as the main menu loads. Press start, choose from either 1-2 player game or, of course an options menu. When you are content with your preferences, continue to choose your character(s) (as shown above). You are now ready to play Streets Of Rage, if it is your first time you are in for a real treat. Also I would like to make a brief checklist of things that will make your SOR experience the best it can be.
1. Crank up the volume on your T.V
2. Adjust your picture so it is at it's sharpest
3. If you have one, use your Turbo joypad, you'll see when you get playing.
4. Get ready to rock n' roll.





Ok, now for the analysing review, your first prompt is to choose your character to play through with, the basic attributes for each of the characters is below:

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I recommend using Axel, he is the most versatile and has the best moves by far, see for yourself (above).
But if you want the power moves of Adam or the speed of Blaze then by all means choose either of them.
Now we move onto the gameplay reviewing, there is 8 stages, which are each fun to play in their own way, however my personal favourites are: Stage 1,4,6,7,8 because they are the simply the most fun.
each level lasts roughly 10 minutes or so, with a boss at the end of each stage which are coupled with their own individual tactics and move patterns. These are not hard to adapt to, however you can easily figure out your opponents moves within the first few attacks. This is with the exception of stage 4 and 2 which seem random and pointless. I will now give a very brief runthrough of the 8 stages and the bosses within them:



After that prolongued passage I would now like to take this opportunity to review the games' graphics.



The graphics for the game, naturally are not Xbox 360 standard by any means, but they were in fact quite advanced for their time, and with that I appreciate them for what they are. Hell, they may be quite glitchy, pixelated and the sound might be very electronic and stiff, but hey, Is that gonna spoil your game? I hope not anyway, but if it does, I don't know why read this article, let alone play the game! Those 16bit cartridges surely did pack a punch, get it, punch!? But seriously they were quite good for their time, and I still play on my originals, including Streets Of Rage even today. It's like they say, you can't beat a classic, you can't keep a good (game) down, they don't make 'em like that anymore, these age old phrases are all relevant to SOR absolutely. One more thing I am going to mention is the special option, i.e the police raid which kills everyone in it's line of fire, and certainly helps to see the bosses off. This was always my favourite part of the game, the sounds of the tires screaming as the car brakes, the gunfire and the ever enjoyable sound of the enemies' cries in pain as they are obliterated. It seriously never gets old as far as I'm concerned, plus it helps to get you out of particularly sticky spots throughout the game, which you are almost certain to get into, unless you are me of course, joke.





So, after all is done, I feel that an overall conclusion is due for this superb gaming gem;



So, I hope you have all enjoyed reading this article; Streets Of Rage, as much as I have enjoyed writing it, feedback encouraged, as long as it is kept supportive and tasteful. If you feel anything about my article, I would like to hear about it. Thanks.

Once again, thank you for reading my piece, and hopefully you will look forward to my future publications, which I guarantee there will be providing this article get's published on the RetroJunk site.

The pleasure was all mine,
Coldheart.