My Played Video Games Review: Streets of Rage 3 for the Sega Genesis

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Streets of Rage 3 is a side-scrolling action, beat 'em up video game developed and published by Sega of Japan for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive in 1994. It is the third installment of the Streets of Rage series which I have posted about before, and the last game in the original trilogy.

I got a love/hate relationship with this game. I love its additional character action animations but hated its music and color palette. But this was a pretty big hit in my country during the mid-1990s.

The game was known as Bare Knuckle III in Japan. (Image source)

The Story

Crime lord Mr. X and his Syndicate surface once again to hatch the nasty evil plot of replacing important persons with cyborg clones! Hot lady cop Blaze Fielding launches a violent counterattack with Axel, Skate, and new cyborg partner, Dr. Zan! Do the new moves including jump kicks, power slams, spin punches, and blitz attacks! Do the new 2-player combo attacks and versus head-to-head battles! With 4 bone-busting endings to discover and new tunes to groove the action with.

Box and cartridge of the game. (Image source)

The Graphics and Sound

The graphics are some of the best that the Sega Genesis system can put out. Details such as the chains on the ceiling that swing when you slam an enemy, the daytime change to sunset, the water ripples, the moving clouds in the background, and the building and object shadows are nice touches. All the characters get new costumes and slight redesigns. The only real problem is the missing frames in actions like punching. They look too choppy.

The sound effects are good but music is a letdown. The music in the first two games was perfect. This one is just ugly techno music set to a beat. None of the songs are memorable, and even the Streets of Rage theme remix is shallow. What works before must not be tuned to be better because it mostly ends in disaster.

2 player co-op gameplay video sample of Streets of Rage 3. Watch in 360p for TV resolution of that time.

The Gameplay

The gameplay has changed for the better here. The characters in this game can do a dash and can roll aside to evade. New, exciting moves have been introduced as well as the special attack can finally be executed with the power bar filled up. No more decrease in the life gauge when the special move is applied.

The controls are rather easy. But you got to learn the ropes before you can do any new moves introduced to the character. New enemies and some familiar ones are introduced to keep a nice interest in this game. With new tag team moves now introduced, you and your 2 player friend can do some tag team moves previously not available in the previous games. Enemies have some new features like picking up weapons, picking your food, and new moves.

The replay value is still very good with a friend to play it with. It has multiple endings worth replaying. Playing the game as each of the main and secret characters will keep you glued to it for a while.

My Verdict

Streets of Rage 3 is solid. It provides a good challenge, has a nice action personality, and is just loads of fun. It is not as good as Streets of Rage 2 in the music department. But it is still a great beat-'em up that you should definitely check out.

Play and collect this for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive console or play it on a good emulator if you love side-scrolling beat-'em ups.

Let's keep on gaming in the free world!