Streets of Rage 3

"Three's the charm."

Intro: Streets of Rage is a game that should have definitely more sequels than two. This is probably about the third best game for the Genesis (next to Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and 6-pak), and you're about to see why.

Story: 4/10 You're out to stop an evil scientist that's trying to do..something, and then something with a bomb. I'm really getting sick of these kinds of stories. Why can't there be a story in a game about cute fuzzy pink stuffed bunnies that eat a mutant cake and try to destroy the world? Now THAT would be a story.

Controls: 10/10 If you can't get the hang of this game's controls, you're a disgrace to gaming. A is jump, B is attack, and C is special attack, and your D-pad is the controls. How hard is that?

Audio: 7/10 Is it good? Is it bad? It's neither! Some music in the game is...ok....but the sound is really what rocks the house. The punches, kicks, beating the crap out of some street punk, all sound sensational, and not to be missed.

Graphics: 9/10 Considering this is only the Genesis, I'm surprised at the graphics in this game. They are very fluid, never a glitch. The characters in this game look very cool too.

Gameplay: 10/10 One might look at the back of the box and say, "Dude, this game ain't look to good. Too repetitive." Don't judge a game by the cover! True, all you're doing is beating up alot of people, but that's the best part! C'mon! Who among us hasn't wanted to bash a "hot-shot" with a few thousand fire punches?! That's what the special does. Example: Blaze shoots blue fire when she uses her special attack, but Axel rounds the enemy up with fire punches, as stated above. But that's not what they always do. There are two kinds of special attacks. One attack can be used when standing still (like a cart-wheel for Blaze), while the other one must be moving (like the blue fire thing). And then of coarse you can use just a regular ol' punch to conserve energy (specials use up health). You can also jump and attack. Basically, all you do is go from left to right, beating people up as you go. But sometimes that isn't all you need to do. In one level, you must brake through brick walls, while holding back a snowplow type thing. You can also play 2 player. And let me tell you; this is probably one of the best multiplayer games. Take that thing I said above for instance. While one person brakes the walls, the other one can distract the vehicle thing. 2 player makes things so much easier, and it's alot more fun too. Note: There are a total of 4 characters for you to master. Axel: the fire guy. Blaze: the all-around girl. Zan: the electric dude. And Skate: the fast guy. I'm not sure if his name is Skate though.

Replayability: 6/10 This is where it starts to go downhill. You'll play this game for awhile, but if you shut it off, you have to do it over again. And the levels are VERY repetitive. You won't really feel like doing the same things over and over again. But if you have a friend that likes to beat stuff up, you just found a goldmine.

Final Verdict: Buy I don't think this game got the recognition that it deserves. While you may not play it alot once you beat it, multiplayer is still one of the best out there. Pick it up; you'll be glad you did.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/06/05