Axel - Streets of Rage Series

Sega's Incredible Beat Em Ups!

Streets of Rage - A Mini Retrospective

Streets of Rage was Sega's answer to all of the Capcom beat em ups that were extremely popular at this time. Sega opted for a more realistic and gritty approach to the genre rather than the cartoony feel.

The feel of the game was inspired in part by the 1984 movie Streets of Fire which was a neo-noir "Rock and Roll Fable". It has turned into a cult classic while being dubbed a failure at the time.

There are four entries in the Streets of Rage series. Sega Genesis/Master System held Streets of Rage 1, 2 & 3 while modern consoles like PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC were what Streets of Rage 4 was released on.

Each title in the series takes what the previous entry has done and improves upon - both in terms of gameplay, characters, and story. That being said, Streets of Rage 2 is often sited as the best in the series.

Streets of Rage 1 - 1991 Sega Genesis/Master System

Part 1 was released in the very early 90s which means that there are elements in this entry that would be considered dated by today's standards. The title opens up to back drop of an 80s looking city, complete with incredible synth music created by Yuzo Koshiro who was inspired by the progressive house/trance music on the US at the time.

In Streets of Rage 1 we are able to choose from three separate characters who all have slightly different attributes allowing for some diverse play and creating replay-ability.

Adam is the tank, basically, he has a long reach and is strong while able to jump high. But he is also the slowlest of the three.

Axel is as strong as Adam, but has high speeds and less reach.

Blaze is the character who prioritize speed and movement over strength.

When I was growing up I was always picking Axel, but in my older years I often find myself enjoying the faster play of Blaze.

Something that added a big of a strategic element to the game play of the first Streets of Rage is the special. Once per level you can call on the police force back up to which a police vehicle comes screeching in and blasts the area with incendiary and kills everyone on the screen - except bosses and you somehow. Because of the limited use of this special you need to really think about how and when you want to use this ability.

In the later levels you lose this ability altogether which you've come to rely on and you have to fight with only the skills you aquired throughout your play.

Mr. X.

Ah the 80s and 90s when they have very specific styles of naming for things. Mr. X is the big bad in the whole Streets of Rage series. Mr. X is basically a mob boss who has his greasy and greedy fingers in everyone's pies. He controls the cops, the gangs and many organizations which leads to him basically owning the city.

Well our three heroes aren't a fan of this or the corruption of the coppers so they band together and 3-handedly take on an evil organization by themselves.

Throughout your time of these Streets of Rage you will be fighting various enemies sent by Mr. X in order to stop you. You get punks, samurais, dominatrices, and wrestlers. The usual.

Streets of Rage 2 - 1992 Sega Genesis/Master System

Released only a short year later Streets of Rage 2 takes everything part one did and makes it so much better. Gone are the single use screen clearing specials and in are individual character specials that drain a bit of health to ensure they are not spammed. We lose Adam (quite literally, he's kidnapped by our boy Mr. X) and gain Max and Skate. Max is a professional wrestle who is slow and strong while Skate is a roller blader who is fast but weak. Axel and Blaze remain relatively the same as they were being sort of in the middle. While Axel is a little stronger and Blaze is faster. Again, Blaze has become my favourite to use. I find she's not too fast that she's hard to control, but you can move around pretty freely in order to dodge attacks.

Gameplay is much more fluid here. Streets of Rage 1 had some stiffness that, honestly, didn't feel present until you played part 2. Everything from movement to attacks and special just feel better to control.

Generally the story is the same as part one, though we get a little more into sci-fi with this one. We fight some robots and aliens/monsters all while we go from level to level trying to beat Mr. X and save Adam.

Fun fact, Bare Knuckle is what this series is called in Japan, so the baddies in this picture are playing Streets of Rage 1!

Streets of Rage 3 - 1994 Sega Genesis

This one, both story and editions, gets a little more convoluted. Mr. X has a giant robot empire or something and is cloning people? I dunno man, it's wild. Also, there's a huge difference between the Japanese and North American version. The Japan one is basically how the game is supposed to be played while the North American one because of greed is much harder and far more censored. Essentially Blockbuster wanted the game to be hard enough that it would take more than one rental to be beaten and the result is a ridiculously hard game.

Character wise, we lose Max and gain Zan (as well as a secret character). Zan is a doctor who is a robot (or part robot?) who is tough and can stretch out a long ways to attack the enemies.

The gameplay and character control is much better here than the previous two releases. The characters have more ability to dodge and have added moves. The control is near perfect for this kind of game. We also have different gameplay segments like what is being shown by the picture. Here we are being chased by a bulldozer and we need to break the walls in front of us while also punch the bulldozer so it gets scared and backs off a bit. I mean, I didn't say it made sense, but it is fun and tense.

We also have a bar that indicates the optimal time to be using specials and not have it drain health. So basically we could wait and use our special or we can spam it and lose health just like we did in Streets of Rage 2.

I'd try and find a way to play the Japanese version of this one to get the most out of it as the North American one is basically unplayable which is a shame because it's a great game.

Streets of Rage 4 - 2020 PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC

There was a pretty large gap in release time between part three and part 4 - 16 years. That's a long time. Fans believed Sega forgot about the franchise, but we all wanted more. So fans took it upon themselves to create a fan game which takes the best parts of games 1-3 and creates a whilly customizable and extremely fun game. Legally it's in a bit of an iffy spot now that the franchise is back moving again.

The art work here is much different than what we've been seeing. We've gone from 16-bit graphics to modern day. So we have a huge step up and stylized version. Luckily, if you're not the biggest fan of the new character designs then it doesn't take much to unlock past versions of your favourite characters.

Our villians are new here as well, though they are still connected to our boy Mr. X. Here we have a more anime version of Ms. Y and Mr. Y who are twins. They face you in various levels throughout the campaign and not just at the very end. They their own individual way of facing you. Ms. Y being more in your face with a sword and Mr. Y being more of a distant throw stuff at you kinda guy.

Again, there's some people who aren't a fan of this and others who enjoy it. I personally enjoy. I think the character designs are great and the difference in the way they face you is a nice way to add diversity.

Modern games means modern problems. Streets of Rage 4 has a DLC titled Mr. X Nightmare. Luckily this adds a bunch of gameplay and is relatively cheap. If you just want to experience the story and the classic style gameplay of just going through the levels and beating the game that then you don't need this DLC. What Mr. X Nightmare gives you is a bunch of challenges which really tests how well you can play this game and control your character of choice. I've put in quite a number of hours into this and my best record was using Streets of Rage 3 Blaze.

Streets of Rage 4 has a number of characters making replayability basically endless. The control is the best it has ever been. We can dodge, create combos, customize specials, customize the looks of the characters, and so much more. It takes some time to get used to the moderness of it all, I was really not great at it when first came out and now I've beaten the game on some pretty advanced difficulties.

It's been five years since we've seen a release of another Streets of Rage. I know part 4 had its life extend some with the release of the DLC, but still, it's been a minute since we've been blessed with another.

Will they continue down the same path they did with 4? More modern, tons of characters, and some DLC? Or try and capture some nostalgia and go back to the classic style?

Who knows, well I mean, the people are making it do, but for me, I don't care. I would just like more.

Streets of Rage has been one of my favourite franchises since I first picked up my first copy of Streets of Rage 2 way back in the early 90s. After devouring that I bought part 1 to do the same. Luckily I didn't end up buying part 3 and only rented it a few times. And 4 I own on three different systems. You could say I'm a fan.

That's why when I randomly found this Axel figure in my local Walmart I didn't hesitate to pick up. It was the only one there and it seemed almost as if it was on the shelf by mistake, unless there's a huge Streets of Rage community here that I'm unaware of. Either way, it felt like it was meant to be and it is going to very loved and cherished here in its new home with me.

I have a number of figures that I'm hoping to go through like I did here. I'd like to explore some of my favourite franchises and relate it back to what I own physically in terms of merch or figures or art or whatever. As you can see from behind Axel, I have some Power Rangers figures that are wanting to be talked about.

The End

Thanks for reading!

Scott

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