Streets of Rage 3

1994 · Beat 'em up · Genesis

About Streets of Rage 3

Streets of Rage 3 (1994) is the last of Sega's original Genesis beat 'em up trilogy, with running, dodge rolls, branching stages and an experimental, semi-random techno score by Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima.

Streets of Rage 3 in Depth

Up to two players fight waves of enemies as Axel, Blaze, Skate or the new Dr. Zan, a robot who turns every weapon he picks up into a ball of energy; meeting certain conditions unlocks Shiva and Roo the kangaroo, and in Japan a third bonus character, Ash. Every character can now run and dodge-roll vertically. Blitz attacks can be upgraded through successive play, and a recharging meter allows a special attack without losing health when it is full. Some weapons have their own special moves, but all weapons now break after a set number of uses, and the unlockable characters cannot hold them at all. Pits return from the first game, and some stages branch, for instance depending on whether players clear a room before a character dies from poison gas. Enemies are smarter, picking up weapons, blocking, attacking together and even stealing health-restoring food. A Battle mode pits two players against each other.

In the Western story, the Syndicate's Mr. X has set up the RoboCy Corporation and hired the roboticist Dr. Dahm to replace Wood Oak City's officials with robot duplicates, with bombs planted around the city to distract the police. Dr. Zan alerts Blaze, who calls in Axel and Skate. There are four endings depending on difficulty and timing.

Making Streets of Rage 3

Sega designed the sequel with a more complex plot, character dialogue, longer levels and faster play than the first two games, adding hidden characters and a few cut-scenes. Koshiro and Kawashima, both from Streets of Rage 2, drew on the Detroit hard techno popular in Tokyo clubs; Koshiro said his system generated sounds "you ordinarily never could imagine on your own". Critics were split on the music: Mean Machines called it "terrible", while Fact later called it the pair's "crowning achievement".

Reviewers praised the new moves, larger sprites and six-button pad support but felt it advanced the series little; Mega called it "uninspiring and easy to finish" before ranking it among the best Mega Drive games, and GameFan said the localisation "neutered" a fine game and urged readers to import the Japanese version. It was re-released in collections including Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection and the Genesis Mini 2, and Streets of Rage 4, which continues from its true ending, followed in 2020.

Streets of Rage 3 Trivia

The Japanese story is different: a new explosive called Raxine kills thousands and a general, Ivan Petrov, vanishes; the West made Petrov the police chief and dropped Raxine.
The Western release cut Ash, a gay stereotype, made female enemies' outfits less revealing and changed the heroes' colours.
The Western Normal setting is harder than the Japanese Hard, and the English version cannot be completed on Easy.
Koshiro created an "Automated Composing System" for the music, using heavily randomised sequences.
A section in which players ride motorcycles was cut but can be reached, unfinished, with a Game Genie code.