My Played Video Games Review: Streets of Rage 1 for the Sega Genesis

Streets of Rage is an action side-scrolling beat-'em up video game developed and released by Sega of Japan in 1991 for the Genesis/Mega Drive. The game got later converted for the other Sega consoles and was later re-released as part of Sega compilations and download services.

I got the Bare Knuckle Japanese version during the early 1990s back then so I did not get to finish because of the damn language barrier. Now, I get to continue thanks to the Kega Fusion emulator with the USA version.

The Story

The ex-cops Axel, Adam, and Blaze are the solution to criminal punk pollution. The city is a war zone, and they are going out to give the gangs an ass-kicking.

These city fighters are martial arts maniacs with awesome moves. They are up against a mob of armed creeps. On the streets, it is just 2 of them against the crime hordes. Slam them and bash them with their own steel. Do an uppercut or a throw - these punks keep coming!

The Graphics and Sound

The graphics do not necessarily look bad, but they are nothing out of the ordinary. They are good for their early 1990s time and age, but if you played it today, it leaves a lot to be desired

The music is really great, each song is catchy in beat and rhythm, and they kinda keep you in the mood for playing. You might want to listen to the songs from the game and go to its Sound Test Mode to check them all out.

The sound effects are good, but pretty average for a beat-'em up game. The voices are okay when you are playing the game. But in Sound Test mode, they suck.

The Gameplay

The gameplay is above average for a beat-'em up. You choose one of 3 characters with different stats and go forth beating bad guys. You take them down using a few standard attacks.

The gameplay gets repetitive after beating the same enemies over and over. The only thing that enemies differ is their stamina and their color.

Also, the moves get boring after a while because of very little variety. Each hero character has their own set of moves and you try to mix it up, then you get bored. The characters have the same special move and it clears every enemy from the screen and does great damage.

The bosses are pretty good at moving, and each one is harder to kill than the next. However, it is easy to predict their attack pattern.

There are weapons to pick up and free lives, but those are limited.

Replay value is okay if you try beating the game using each character. Or going at it in hard difficulty with a friend as the 2nd player.

My Verdict

If you got the other Streets of Rage games and need to add this one to your collection then by all means get it. But there are other better beat-'em ups out there. Play this with a friend to get more enjoyment out of it.

Go play this retro gaming classic on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive or play it on your favorite emulators.

Let's keep on gaming in the free world!