Streets of Rage 3

"This is not a bad game, it's just not the fantastic game the two previous games in the series was."

Besides from the Sonic series, Streets of Rage might be the most popular series on the Sega Mega Drive. The first game in the series turned out to be much better than any beat em up which had been released and then the sequel turned out to be even better. In fact Streets of Rage 2 is so good that the next game in the series couldn't be better, just equal or worse. Streets of Rage 3 was released in 1994, and it's also the final game in the series.

Before I begin the actual review I would like to point out that there are a few changes between the Japanese and other versions of this game. First of all Sega of America decided to change to colours of our three returning heroes. Axel has the same colours as Adam had in the original Streets of Rage, Blaze wears Silver clothes instead of red, and Skate's clothes are blue and red in the non Japanese versions. I have no idea why they did that, why didn't Sega change the colours of Sonic while they were at it?

Another thing that's different is the difficulty, the game is much easier to beat in the Japanese version, while the enemies do a lot more damage in the American version. The hardest difficulty on the Japanese version is easier than the normal difficulty on the American version. This is why I prefer the Japanese version, since I have a feeling that Sega of America barely tested the game before they released it.

Finally the non Japanese versions has the evil "American thinking". The girls doesn't show as much of their skin, which I guess is acceptable, but the mini boss Ash (who also is an unlockable character in the Japanese version) was removed because of his "offensive looks". So what if he looks like he's one of the Village People and sounds like a girl, that's not a reason to remove him. The plot was also changed to the "American Audience", they even removed the opening.

Anyway back to the actual review. The plot in this game tried to be much better than the previous ones, yet I've never managed to get it. Maybe it's cause I don't understand Japanese and Sega of America just altered it. Axel, Blaze and Skate just found a bomb that they managed to disarm, thanks to their new friend Zan. But there might be more bombs in the city, so the gang once again have to fight on the Streets of Rage.

Unless you count the unlockable characters, there are four characters in this game. The two characters who makes the series, Axel and Blaze, are of course also in this game. While Adam didn't have enough time to help his friends, his little brother Skate from Streets of Rage 2 is also playable in this game. Finally there's a new character in this game, the robot Dr Zan.

In my opinion Sega have already failed here to make the game better as Streets of Rage, because Zan is a weaker and a lot more boring version of the muscle-man Max from Streets of Rage 2. Almost nothing have been changed with Axel and Blaze, while one of Skate's special move have changed. Zan on the other hand is a bit different from the other three. Ever weapon he picks up turns into a energy ball, which makes his attacks a little more stronger, I think.

One thing that has been added in Streets of Rage 3 is that Skate is no longer the only one who can run, now every single character can. Another thing that has been changed is that now you can no longer use the weapons you pick up as much as you want until you drop them, instead they have their own stamina-meter which decreases each time you hit something with that weapon.

Also each character has a few more special moves in this game, which can either be done if you gain stars after beating down a number of enemies, however you lose all your stars when you lose one life. Another way to do this new special moves is to use the X button and push the directional button in some way I have never figured out how. It's also possible for some characters to do special moves with different weapons. For example Blaze can do special moves with the knives and swords.

Beside from all this, there are two other things which have been added in this game. There's a counter in the middle of the screen, which allows you do use moves by using the special button (which usually is the A button) without losing any stamina if the counter is full. It's also now possible to roll either up or down by quickly pushing up or down twice. This opens new strategies to beat down the bosses.

Aside from all this, and that there are 3 different endings in this game, the game really isn't much more than just a worse version of Streets of Rage 2. The music which was gold in the two previous two games, the characters doesn't look half as cool in this game as in the Streets of Rage 2, and the whole game just isn't as fun to play. Also the characters is really badly balanced in this game, since Axel and Blaze are much better than Skate and Zan.

Yes Streets of Rage 3 is a disappointment, and I really wished that the series wouldn't have ended with this game. However even if this game doesn't live up to the two previous games in the series, it's still an enjoyable beat em up.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/19/07