Streets of Rage

About This Game

Gameplay

Streets of Rage is a beat 'em up featuring aspects of Double Dragon and Final Fight.#cite_note-MegaZone-4) Players act as Adam Hunter, Axel Stone, or Blaze Fielding, who save Wood Oak City from being overtaken by a criminal syndicate led by Mr. X.#cite_note-MMS-5) The three traverse eight levels and all have a total of 40 moves, such as headbutts, backslams, and reverse kicks.#cite_note-EGMrev-6)#cite_note-MegaZone-4) Surrounding the landscape are weapons that can be used to attack enemies, like knives, glass bottles, pipes, and baseball bats, and food items which increase energy, such as apples and chicken.#cite_note-MegaPlay-7)#cite_note-MegaZone-4) As in Sega's previous beat 'em up Golden Axe "Golden Axe (video game)"), enemies walk onto the screen from both sides as well as occasionally appearing from other locations. Foes include ninjas, punks, and women in bondage, and up to 12 can appear on-screen.#cite_note-EGMrev-6)#cite_note-MegaZone-4) The player must defeat each opponent to progress through eight locations, known as rounds. Apart from round 7, there is a boss battle at the end of every round with a disproportionately large enemy.

History

The working title for Streets of Rage was DSWAT. This was to signify the idea that it took place in the same universe as ESWAT: City Under Siege, an earlier Sega game. The cop car from the ending of ESWAT on the Genesis is the same as the support car in this title.#cite_note-8) Lead designer Noriyoshi Oba broached the idea of doing a street fighting game along the lines of Final Fight "Final Fight (video game)") and Double Dragon "Double Dragon (video game)") with Yuzo Koshiro. Oba was also influenced by action television shows such as Starsky & Hutch and The A-Team. The game was designed for players to focus on preventing enemies from swarming them, as well as to work with a second player using various cooperative team moves.