Streets of Rage (Bare Knuckle in Japan) is a series of side-scrolling beat ’em up video games, centering on the efforts of several ex-police vigilantes trying to rid a fictional, large American city from a crime syndicate that has corrupted its local government. The first three games in the franchise were developed and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis in the early 1990s and have since been ported and re-released on various platforms. A fourth entry was released in 2020.

The games were well-received and have been re-released many times both on compilations and as standalone games. The electronic dance music soundtracks of the games, scored primarily by Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima, have also received praise.

History

Original trilogy

Three games in the series were released between 1991 and 1994. The first entry, Streets of Rage, introduced the four main characters, three young former police officers, Axel Stone, Blaze Fielding and Adam Hunter, and Mr. X, an evil mastermind. It is the only game in the series to feature a Shinobi-style special attack that defeats all non-boss enemies on-screen. Streets of Rage was released for Sega’s Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System and Game Gear consoles.

The second entry in the series, Streets of Rage 2, had new music (influenced by early ’90s club music) from series composer Yuzo Koshiro and newcomer composer Motohiro Kawashima, more defined graphics and a larger selection of moves. It also introduced two new characters: Eddie “Skate” Hunter, and Max Thunder (or Sammy “Skate” Hunter and Max Hatchett in some regions). Like the original title, Streets of Rage 2 was playable on Sega’s Genesis, Master System, and Game Gear.

The third entry to the Streets of Rage series, Streets of Rage 3, was less well-received than its predecessors; despite some enhancements, it was seen as very similar to Streets of Rage 2. This entry added a more complex storyline told using cutscenes. The Western version featured increased difficulty, with other elements altered or censored from the Japanese release. The music, again composed by Koshiro and Kawashima, was also criticized for being radically different from the music from the first two games. Unlike the two preceding games, Streets of Rage 3 was available only on the Genesis.

Series hiatus

Although it was one of the most popular Sega franchises in the 1990s, no new official Streets of Rage games were released for over 25 years after Streets of Rage 3, excluding rereleases of the first three games via various Sega game compilations.-

Sega is reported to have attempted to bring the series to the Saturn, and early in the production cycle for Sega’s Dreamcast a demo tentatively titled Streets of Rage 4 was made by Ancient. It showed a character similar to Axel fighting a group of enemies. Neither the Saturn nor the Dreamcast game, however, came to fruition. Backbone Entertainment later pitched a new Streets of Rage game to Sega, but this project also failed to proceed.

Numerous unofficial fan-made projects and remakes have been developed, including Beats of Rage and Streets of Rage Remake.

Revival

The 2015 crossover game Project X Zone 2 featured Axel Stone as a playable character, along with the Mr. X-possessed Robot Axel as a boss character. This marked the first new appearance of Streets of Rage characters in over 20 years.

The first new entry in the series since the Genesis, Streets of Rage 4, was announced in 2018 and released in 2020, taking place ten years after the events of Streets of Rage 3. The game was developed by Lizardcube, Guard Crush Games, and Dotemu, who previously released the 2017 remake of Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap.

A spin-off minigame based on the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series, Streets of Kamurocho, was released as part of Sega’s 60th anniversary celebration. It was developed by Empty Clip Studios and was only available for Windows via Steam on October 17–19 and November 13–16, 2020.

Characters