Genesis street of rage

[zalirom]

The Mega Drive had a hardware architecture that allowed the creation of pixel art graphics that were very attractive for the time.

 

[cjl8336]

a lot of games did a good job with their graphics given the color palette limitations

 

[oxyhime]

Still pictures don't do it justice, even though the first one still has its rough edges in terms of spritework and animation. But as an an original beat'em'up (not a port) on the Megadrive, it's pretty incredible. As long as you have a 2P.

And that soundtrack? Words aren't enough. I know it's a meme to mention SoR's soundtrack at this point, but Go Straight is a masterpiece. There are professional music producers out there that wouldn't be able to push out something so controlled and energetic and "efficient" if their life was on the line.

 

[RageBurner]

The Mega Drive was something magical. Yes, the SNES is technically superior in most respects (it was much newer hardware for one), but the MD not only had a charm of its own, but could often pull competent multiplatform ports/game versions. It was also substantially faster.

 

[Ikagura]

1: Good but obviously aged
2: The best despite being quite slow sometimes
3: Bleh (even if the translated japanese version fixes many issues)
4: Really good but not as much as the second

Still pictures don't do it justice, even though the first one still has its rough edges in terms of spritework and animation. But as an an original beat'em'up (not a port) on the Megadrive, it's pretty incredible. As long as you have a 2P.

And that soundtrack? Words aren't enough. I know it's a meme to mention SoR's soundtrack at this point, but Go Straight is a masterpiece. There are professional music producers out there that wouldn't be able to push out something so controlled and energetic and "efficient" if their life was on the line.

While Go Straight is really iconic (like Fighting in the Street from the first) I still think that Spin on the Bridge (the second level) is much more complex rhythmically wise

I love the delayed beat.

Kawashima did some good tracks too

 

[RageBurner]

I personally place 4 on the same level as 2 (gasp, horror, I know), then JP 3 (US 3 doesn't even score), then 1.

 

[Ikagura]

I personally place 4 on the same level as 2 (gasp, horror, I know), then JP 3 (US 3 doesn't even score), then 1.

I think that the only reason why I'd rate SoR 4 below is only because it was a sequel made 25 years after the latest entry but did mostly what worked with the three games.

I love the way they handled combo-ing (especially when you can still juggle with the defeated enemies until they hit ground) and other quirks but I also don't really like the way some levels are built (they should've had more sections or even fusing two levels in a bigger one) nor the super armor for some other. The DLC improved the game tho (thankfully we got to play as Shiva and Max).

Maybe it's me but romhacks for SoR 2&3 is a god send (especially those adding Adam back).

 

[RageBurner]

So you think they played too safe? that's probably true, but if it works, it works, I guess.

SORR deserves a mention too, I feel, despite the controversy of Sega shutting it down. It was so flexible people recreated all 3 games pretty closely in engine, but with the improved animations/graphics and mechanics.

 

[SpikeSlania]

I either had the fortune or misfortune of playing Streets of Rage before Final Fight. With how well Sega did with especially the 2nd game and Yuzo's music, when I finally tried playing Final Fight recently I just felt a little let down with how often the 2 series gets compared :P

 

[Ikagura]

So you think they played too safe? that's probably true, but if it works, it works, I guess.

I'll be honest, SoR 4 could've totally been made in 2008-2011 in its style if Sega wanted it to be (since Castle Crashers proved that beat'em ups were still possible).

I think that the quality of the game itself isn't as high as the expectations of a 25 years hiatus but it's just my opinion.

Maybe I'm harsh and I'm speaking as someone who bought the game like one full year after its release so my opinion may have been influenced by something else (since I was hesitant on buying it back when it came out as I didn't really know LizardCube/DotEmu).

SORR deserves a mention too, I feel, despite the controversy of Sega shutting it down. It was so flexible people recreated all 3 games pretty closely in engine, but with the improved animations/graphics and mechanics.

Sega shutting it down really made me sad. They are not that much better than Nintendo despite what people are saying.

Remake is great (although I hate that they added guns enabled by default but thankfully these are optional like the smoke effects). It's legit a great game in itself.

You should try SoR X (and OpenBOR game) which is as good as Remake imo.

I either had the fortune or misfortune of playing Streets of Rage before Final Fight. With how well Sega did with especially the 2nd game and Yuzo's music, when I finally tried playing Final Fight recently I just felt a little let down with how often the 2 series gets compared :P

I've played Final Fight last year as I was in a Street Fighter binge but honestly I feel like the game was cheap as hell with the player in several instances.

Actually the way to survive is to use what I qualify as a legitimate exploit as you did a combo then turn your back to continue the combo again without knocking them down.

 

[RageBurner]

I know I'm going to ruffle some feathers here, but I never thought Final Fight is on the same level as SOR at all. Nothing objectively wrong with Final Fight, just doesn't feel anywhere as good to play, IMO.

 

[Ikagura]

Final Fight is good for being the game that allowed Street Fighter II to be made (since they both used a similar engine) but it's obvious that it was a quarter muncher.

I love the OST and the graphics though. But let's focus on SoR.

 

[UnDubious]

I like 1, it has that gritty rugged early Genesis feel. A lot of those Genesis games that came out from 1988 to 1991 were like that, before the SNES and Sonic's success pushed the Genesis in a more colorful and more lighthearted direction. 2 is great of course. And 3 is way better than it gets credit for, the addition of the roll and the specials gauge are real improvements. There's just the one level with the rails that goes on for way too long, and the samurai boss is annoying. Other than that, very solid. SOR4 is cool but it's not a real SOR.

--The original arcade Final Fight is great if you're in the zone because it keeps you so busy with all the enemies. The ports don't do it justice, and the SNES sequels suck (especially 2, terrible game).

 

[SpikeSlania]

I never did beat any of the original 3, but the 4th one I was actually able to beat. Semi curious to see what Sega is doing with the new title in the series

 

[Ikagura]

I like 1, it has that gritty rugged early Genesis feel. A lot of those Genesis games that came out from 1988 to 1991 were like that, before the SNES and Sonic's success pushed the Genesis in a more colorful and more lighthearted direction. 2 is great of course. And 3 is way better than it gets credit for, the addition of the roll and the specials gauge are real improvements. There's just the one level with the rails that goes on for way too long, and the samurai boss is annoying. Other than that, very solid. SOR4 is cool but it's not a real SOR.

--The original arcade Final Fight is great if you're in the zone because it keeps you so busy with all the enemies. The ports don't do it justice, and the SNES sequels suck (especially 2, terrible game).

I was thinking that the Genesis having more colours after '91 was mostly because more people understood the hardware and used its full colour palette.

But I get what you mean, Altered Beast, Golden Axe, Gain Ground and almost every other "pre-Sonic" game on the console felt much more "mature" and serious visually speaking.

But I'd argue it was also a bit of the case on the SNES comparing a game from '91 with one from '94 - '95. Consoles tend to have better graphics over time (well, until the last two gens sadly).

The Special Gauge is really a life saver and makes you do more special attacks with a good timing instead of that weird "health regens a bit if you kill an enemy with your attack but it does not always work".

The underground railway level was a neat idea on paper but agreed, it was a bit too long. The Samurai was a nice reference to Shinobi but having three times the same boss is just bad (even worse in the US version where each ones have three full health bar).

Why isn't SoR 4 a "real" Sor?

I haven't played 2 nor 3 so I cannot tell but Final Fight One on the GBA is a decent port imo.

I never did beat any of the original 3, but the 4th one I was actually able to beat. Semi curious to see what Sega is doing with the new title in the series

I have never finished SoR 1 in solo without save states, two players make it much easier despite the double amount of bosses.

SoR 2 was the first one I managed to finish without any help but it was because Max is quite overpowered as a brickhouse.

SoR 3 is just made to give kids a hard time... Bare Knuckles 3 is much more feasible but the path for the best ending is still challenging.

 

[UnDubious]

It's not a real SOR because it's some European game that looks like a French comic. I'm not saying it's bad. I liked it well enough up until I started playing on the harder difficulty levels, and then I started to feel like it was forcing me into gameplay styles I didn't like. On Normal, it's really good for a modern retro-style beat-'em-up, and way better than most sad attempts at making Western sequels to old Japanese games (never ever play the GBA Shinobi, for example). But to me the real series is just the Genesis trilogy, and SOR4 is basically an indie game homage to the real series that happened to get the rights.

 

[SpikeSlania]

I have never finished SoR 1 in solo without save states, two players make it much easier despite the double amount of bosses.

SoR 2 was the first one I managed to finish without any help but it was because Max is quite overpowered as a brickhouse.

SoR 3 is just made to give kids a hard time... Bare Knuckles 3 is much more feasible but the path for the best ending is still challenging.

Last year for my Birthday I did drag my brother over to my place for a day of couch gaming and pizza like we were kids again. We didn't managed to beat any Streets of Rage games but we did manage the newer Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game, think Shredder's Revenge? Wouldn't mind giving Streets of Rage another go for my birthday this year :p

 

[Ikagura]

It's not a real SOR because it's some European game that looks like a French comic.

Excuse me but the art style does not define what a "real" SoR is and honestly in an ocean of pixel art video games it's refreshing to see hand drawn 2D games instead of forcing some technical pseudo-limitations for the sake of appearing "retro".

On the other hand I may agree that the absence of Mister X left a mark in the game despite how strong the Y twins could be.

I almost wished we could get to see him in that simulator mode.

 

[IrkenElite]

beat 2 plenty of times, 4 is amazing.

 

[Ikagura]

Okay, one thing I liked in SoR 3 was the air control when doing a jumping attack.