Streets of Rage 3 - Sega Megadrive

Review comments

Streets of Rage 3 box art It's here! The third Streets of Rage game hits the Megadrive, bringing a gang of larger sprites and even more action with it. Both Axel and Blaze have returned, as word reaches them that Mr X is up to his old tricks again - but this time they are aided bu the Zan, a bionically-enhanced old geezer with a nice line in electro shock therapy, and a short but fast kid called Sammy. As for Max and Adam, they were last seen queuing for soup near Waterloo Bridge.

According to the rumours, X is preparing to unleash his nuclear arsenal on the world in revenge for his two humiliating defeats in the first two games. His location has been traced to a heavily-defended tower block deep with the city, But X's hoods stand between our heroic quartet and their plans to scupper his evil doings...

Staff comments

After Sonic comes the 'Rage. In common with the blue hedgehog, Sega's approach has been to make it more lavish than its two predecessors. Note that this doesn't mean more game; it takes about the same amount of time to tramp through SOR3 that it does for SOR2. All that extra memory (equivalent to the size of Sonic 2) has been spent on larger sprites, more backdrops, a smattering of new moves and music. What can be seen is the 'law of diminishing returns': Sega are putting vastly more in, and only getting slight improvements for it. However SOR3 looks and plays great - with a better feel than SOR2, and is only marred by exceptional easineess. Axel, in particular has been made too powerful. With this in mind, I still think SOR2 is the definitive Megadrive beat 'em up.

This third addition to the Streets of Rage series wipes the floor with the previous two in terms of graphics and presentation. Axel and Blaze have never looked so beefy, and with equally huge enemy sprites, the game is the best-looking scrolling beat 'em up available for the Megadrive. That said, if only Sega had lavished the same care on the gameplay, and added a few new elements. The same bad guy formations roll on for a quick bundle, with the bosses adding the only real variety to the proceedings. To me Streets of Rage 3 doesn't take enough risks. There are moments of inspiration, but it isn't until later in the game that any originality shows it face. In X's lair, a puzzle-solving element is added as the players search for him, and must find and smash terminals which seal off certain areas. If these ideas had been littered throughout the game, SOR3 would easily be a megagame. Don't get me wrong, I'm not slating the game as it's extremely playable - if a little easy - but with the proposed SOR4 already on the cards, let's hope Sega start looking for a few new ideas...

Retrospective comments

Streets of Rage 3 has been the victim of much flak over the past few years. Coming after the sublime SOR2, the third installment had a fight (ho-ho!) on its hands to better such a fantastic game.

On paper, it certainely seems like it should be up to the task - the game clocks in at a whopping 24 megs - eight more than the legendary Street Fighter II on the SNES! However, as this MMS review shows, the game was seen as something of a letdown. It didn't expand enough on the original concept, the music was 'terrible' and the plot a bit iffy.

In hindsight, it's easy to see why people were a bit cheesed off about shelling out £60 for a game that wasn't very different from one they already owned. But make no mistake about it, SOR3 is one of the finest scrolling fighters ever made, and easily the best one on the Megadrive. The visuals are goregous, with loads of animation. The levels are varied and colourful, and there's plenty of chellenge here too. The music takes some getting used to - ironically it pre-dated the 'trance' era that came a short while after release (although it has to be said that the MD's sound chip isn't up to the task on some of the tracks). The plot is still a bit naff, but this can be forgiven. All in all, SOR3 is a game worthy of re-assessment.

My advice is simple - if you're a fan of the series then SOR3 should be near the top of your retro shopping list (assuming you're sad enough to have one). If you've never played any of the SOR series before, SOR2 is probably a better entry point, but be sure to sample this third outing at some point.