The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
Yep that’s right. The old Sega classic that was the daddy of side scrolling beat’em ups on the Mega Drive could get a fourth after almost 8 years in hiding. Possibly on the X-box!!!
A quick history of “Streets of Rage”: (skip to the bottom if you don’t want to read this)
Streets of Rage:
The first Streets of Rage (known as “Bare Knuckle” in Japan) was released in 1991 at which point Sega where looking for some good Mega Drive only games as the release of the SNES was not far away. Sega where especially looking for a Final Fight style of game as Capcom developed home conversations of their arcade games exclusively for Nintendo. At this point Capcom where already making a version of Final Fight for the SNES.
The game was ground breaking at the time of its release. The graphics where the best seen on the Mega Drive at the time and was shown off proudly by Sega demonstrating what the Mega Drive was capable of. The sound and the music where done by Yuzo Koshiro (who was very famous in Japan for his work in video games) both sound and music where excellent at the time even though the Mega Drive sound chip was very poor and very inferior to the SNES’s sound chip.
Saying this, the gameplay was nothing special and Streets of Rage is a clone of the arcade version of Final Fight with a few extras added in. One of the best was the simultaneous 2 player option which was not available on the SNES version of Final Fight) At the time of release, Streets of Rage was the best side scrolling beat’em up on the Mega Drive and was only beaten by the sequel.
Streets of Rage did so well that Sega started on a sequel that was planned for release the next year.
Streets of Rage 2:
Everybody who had a Mega Drive eagerly anticipated the sequel to the first Streets of Rage. The game was groundbreaking for the time and was hailed as a classic. Streets of Rage 2 used a 16-meg cartridge, which was double the size of the original game allowing for greater improvements. Anybody who has played the original and Street of Rage 2 could easily see how the extra memory had been used.
The character graphics had been greatly improved and the number of animation frames had also been increased. This allowed the main characters as well as the enemies to have more fluid movement and also to have a larger number of “personal” moves. The backgrounds had also been greatly improved and often changed many times though out one stage which didn’t happen in the previous game. Overall the graphics where easily of arcade quality and showed that the Mega Drive was still a serious rival to the more technologically advanced SNES.
The number of characters available for selection increased to 4. All the characters had their own moves, which meant they where quite different to play from the next character. The old “special move” system was re-moved and replaced allow the gameplay to run more smoothly.
The number of enemies also increased with their own way of fighting and own special moves made the game more challenging. Alongside this more weapons where added.
Compared to the original Streets of Rage, Streets of Rage 2 was longer, looked and sounded better and had multiple screens.
A new addition was Duel. This pitted two human fighters against each other in a fight to the death!
Streets of Rage 2 was an example of what a sequel should be like. Everything that was in the original was improved and expanded instead of just being a rehash of the original.
Streets of Rage 3:
It took 2 years for Streets of Rage 3 to be released to a somewhat disappointed gaming world. It received a mixed review. After Streets of Rage 2 made major improvements on its predecessor Streets of Rage 3 didn’t change very much. The first criticism that the game received was that is added nothing new to the series and sold far less than Streets of Rage 2.
Streets of Rage wasn’t a poor game, it’s just wasn’t original enough. The graphics had only been slightly improved, with better animation and more frames added. A new character had replaced one from the previous game and now two secret (boss) characters where available to play if you knew how to unlock them, one of which being a Kangaroo with boxing gloves!
The game was faster and harder than Streets of Rage 2, having more enemies on the screen at once, the enemies being stronger than before and some intelligence added to the enemies (some even picked up your health items, such as apples, when their own health was low!) A new “Special move” meter was added which meant that the special attacks did not cost any health and the most powerful special moves could only be pulled off now and again when the meter was fully charged.
Some of the old features from the first game where brought back. Like the ability to throw bad guys over your shoulder if they grabbed you from behind. Interactive scenery was also included into the game including holes in the floor to throw your enemies down and elevators. Cut scenes where added to the game as well as alternative endings.
Streets of Rage 3 also suffered from a number of different problems. The familiar appearance of the main two characters had changed and the music was awful. Yuzo Koshiro didn’t do as good as job as he had done with Streets of Rage 2 and had really let himself down. The sound effects where also very poor and often sounds disappeared when too much action was going on.
Streets of Rage 3, despite having a 24 meg cartridge, didn’t add anything original.
Streets of Rage 3 was to be the last game in the series to be released on the Mega Drive. Plans where made to release the fourth game on the Saturn, but it just didn’t happen.....
The many Beginnings (and Ends) of Street of Rage 4:
Streets of Rage had been pushed as far as it could have been when run by a 16-bit machine. A more powerful machine was needed if the series was to be improved and the plan was to release the next game in the series on a Next Generation console which where release in 1994.
Streets of Rage had only (up on to this point) appeared on Sega consoles so the idea of releasing it on either the Playstation or the N64 was not even conceived. The next step was onto the Saturn. The game was obviously going to be turned 3D and receive improvements similar to those done on Golden Axe and Shinobi both of which where crap.
The first plan was to buy the incomplete Fighting Fore from Core and turn the game into Streets of Rage 4 but (to my relief) the deal never took place. The idea of realising the sequel onto the Saturn was ditched, as the Saturn was not very good at handling 3D games but was the best machine at the time for handling 2D graphics. Many games where realised in 2D for the Dreamcast. Some of the public cried out for another 2D version of Streets of Rage to be released with incredible visuals but Sega dismissed the idea and wanted the next game to be 3D.
Another attempt at Streets of Rage 4 was made in 1996-97 when a 3D game called Rage was released in the arcades and then ported to Saturn. It was rumoured at one point that this was, at one point, Streets of Rage 4 but Sega didn’t want to the game to be released on an arcade machine.
Dreamcast, Streets of Rage 4:
When the Dreamcast was released, work began on Streets of Rage 4 for the console. A demo was made and shown to Sega of America. Sadly executives of the company where not aware of the history of the game and its mass followers and dismissed the idea. The main reason for the game being dismissed was its genre. With many games going 3D side scrolling beat’em ups had gone out of fashion and many attempts to turn these games 3D had failed badly, like Fighting Force (which is pants). Sega of America did not want to make a game that, in their opinion, would have no chance of making any money.
Streets of Rage on the X-box.....
With the death of the Dreamcast (well nearly) and Sega turning mainly into a software developer plans are being made to port Streets of Rage 4 onto another console, the X-box being the most favourite choice by Sega at the moment. Yuzo Koshiro has, however, confirmed that Streets of Rage 4 will make an appearance on the X-box. Yuzo’s sister has already designed 5 new characters and may feature a link up feature mode allowing a number of X-box owner’s to link up their box’s and play together. The game will be fully 3D and may even be in a first person perspective.
There are rumours that Hitmaker who are working on Crazy Taxi 3 for the X-box might make Streets of Rage 4. A demo is already up and running so the game might not be that far away.
For more information visit the following web sites:
http://www.segaweb.com/news/0101/058.html
http://www.segaweb.com/features/sor4interview.html
http://xboxactive.com/archives/00000456.php
My opinion (if anybody cares!):
I’m more than a little disappointed that Streets of Rage, which is one of my favourite “old” games, might make an appearance on the X-box *spits on the ground* but there is always a chance that it might be made for other consoles like many other Sega game, Crazy Taxi for example.
Axle and Blaze have been in the past 3 Streets of Rage game so I’m sure they will be back in the next game but 5 new characters!?! Does this include Axle and Blaze or are we going o see 5 new characters completely. Also previous playable characters might be included in the selection, like Skate, Adam, Max and Dr. Zen. So there is a potential for 5 to 11 playable characters depending on how you look at it. Also it is still on the drawing board so this could change.
I’m not too sure I want to the game to go 3D either. I’ve played Fighting Force and many of my friends have and we all agree that it is a very poor game. The two main problems with this game are:
1. The camera angles can be very bad at times.
2. Without a “locking on” system you end up trying to punch somebody and miss completely ending with you getting your butt kicked!
But I’m sure these can be ironed out. Onimusha is a great 3D game so a combat system similar to this could greatly improve the game.
At the end of the day I’m not sure about the news that Streets of Rage 4 is going to be made. If it is made I hope that lives up to it’s past reputation and that it does get ported to the PS2.
Darkreaper
P.S.
I got most of my information from Streets of Rage Online, which is a great website. It’s worth a visit.
http://www.classicgaming.com/soronline/main.htm
A quick history of “Streets of Rage”: (skip to the bottom if you don’t want to read this)
Streets of Rage:
The first Streets of Rage (known as “Bare Knuckle” in Japan) was released in 1991 at which point Sega where looking for some good Mega Drive only games as the release of the SNES was not far away. Sega where especially looking for a Final Fight style of game as Capcom developed home conversations of their arcade games exclusively for Nintendo. At this point Capcom where already making a version of Final Fight for the SNES.
The game was ground breaking at the time of its release. The graphics where the best seen on the Mega Drive at the time and was shown off proudly by Sega demonstrating what the Mega Drive was capable of. The sound and the music where done by Yuzo Koshiro (who was very famous in Japan for his work in video games) both sound and music where excellent at the time even though the Mega Drive sound chip was very poor and very inferior to the SNES’s sound chip.
Saying this, the gameplay was nothing special and Streets of Rage is a clone of the arcade version of Final Fight with a few extras added in. One of the best was the simultaneous 2 player option which was not available on the SNES version of Final Fight) At the time of release, Streets of Rage was the best side scrolling beat’em up on the Mega Drive and was only beaten by the sequel.
Streets of Rage did so well that Sega started on a sequel that was planned for release the next year.
Streets of Rage 2:
Everybody who had a Mega Drive eagerly anticipated the sequel to the first Streets of Rage. The game was groundbreaking for the time and was hailed as a classic. Streets of Rage 2 used a 16-meg cartridge, which was double the size of the original game allowing for greater improvements. Anybody who has played the original and Street of Rage 2 could easily see how the extra memory had been used.
The character graphics had been greatly improved and the number of animation frames had also been increased. This allowed the main characters as well as the enemies to have more fluid movement and also to have a larger number of “personal” moves. The backgrounds had also been greatly improved and often changed many times though out one stage which didn’t happen in the previous game. Overall the graphics where easily of arcade quality and showed that the Mega Drive was still a serious rival to the more technologically advanced SNES.
The number of characters available for selection increased to 4. All the characters had their own moves, which meant they where quite different to play from the next character. The old “special move” system was re-moved and replaced allow the gameplay to run more smoothly.
The number of enemies also increased with their own way of fighting and own special moves made the game more challenging. Alongside this more weapons where added.
Compared to the original Streets of Rage, Streets of Rage 2 was longer, looked and sounded better and had multiple screens.
A new addition was Duel. This pitted two human fighters against each other in a fight to the death!
Streets of Rage 2 was an example of what a sequel should be like. Everything that was in the original was improved and expanded instead of just being a rehash of the original.
Streets of Rage 3:
It took 2 years for Streets of Rage 3 to be released to a somewhat disappointed gaming world. It received a mixed review. After Streets of Rage 2 made major improvements on its predecessor Streets of Rage 3 didn’t change very much. The first criticism that the game received was that is added nothing new to the series and sold far less than Streets of Rage 2.
Streets of Rage wasn’t a poor game, it’s just wasn’t original enough. The graphics had only been slightly improved, with better animation and more frames added. A new character had replaced one from the previous game and now two secret (boss) characters where available to play if you knew how to unlock them, one of which being a Kangaroo with boxing gloves!
The game was faster and harder than Streets of Rage 2, having more enemies on the screen at once, the enemies being stronger than before and some intelligence added to the enemies (some even picked up your health items, such as apples, when their own health was low!) A new “Special move” meter was added which meant that the special attacks did not cost any health and the most powerful special moves could only be pulled off now and again when the meter was fully charged.
Some of the old features from the first game where brought back. Like the ability to throw bad guys over your shoulder if they grabbed you from behind. Interactive scenery was also included into the game including holes in the floor to throw your enemies down and elevators. Cut scenes where added to the game as well as alternative endings.
Streets of Rage 3 also suffered from a number of different problems. The familiar appearance of the main two characters had changed and the music was awful. Yuzo Koshiro didn’t do as good as job as he had done with Streets of Rage 2 and had really let himself down. The sound effects where also very poor and often sounds disappeared when too much action was going on.
Streets of Rage 3, despite having a 24 meg cartridge, didn’t add anything original.
Streets of Rage 3 was to be the last game in the series to be released on the Mega Drive. Plans where made to release the fourth game on the Saturn, but it just didn’t happen.....
The many Beginnings (and Ends) of Street of Rage 4:
Streets of Rage had been pushed as far as it could have been when run by a 16-bit machine. A more powerful machine was needed if the series was to be improved and the plan was to release the next game in the series on a Next Generation console which where release in 1994.
Streets of Rage had only (up on to this point) appeared on Sega consoles so the idea of releasing it on either the Playstation or the N64 was not even conceived. The next step was onto the Saturn. The game was obviously going to be turned 3D and receive improvements similar to those done on Golden Axe and Shinobi both of which where crap.
The first plan was to buy the incomplete Fighting Fore from Core and turn the game into Streets of Rage 4 but (to my relief) the deal never took place. The idea of realising the sequel onto the Saturn was ditched, as the Saturn was not very good at handling 3D games but was the best machine at the time for handling 2D graphics. Many games where realised in 2D for the Dreamcast. Some of the public cried out for another 2D version of Streets of Rage to be released with incredible visuals but Sega dismissed the idea and wanted the next game to be 3D.
Another attempt at Streets of Rage 4 was made in 1996-97 when a 3D game called Rage was released in the arcades and then ported to Saturn. It was rumoured at one point that this was, at one point, Streets of Rage 4 but Sega didn’t want to the game to be released on an arcade machine.
Dreamcast, Streets of Rage 4:
When the Dreamcast was released, work began on Streets of Rage 4 for the console. A demo was made and shown to Sega of America. Sadly executives of the company where not aware of the history of the game and its mass followers and dismissed the idea. The main reason for the game being dismissed was its genre. With many games going 3D side scrolling beat’em ups had gone out of fashion and many attempts to turn these games 3D had failed badly, like Fighting Force (which is pants). Sega of America did not want to make a game that, in their opinion, would have no chance of making any money.
Streets of Rage on the X-box.....
With the death of the Dreamcast (well nearly) and Sega turning mainly into a software developer plans are being made to port Streets of Rage 4 onto another console, the X-box being the most favourite choice by Sega at the moment. Yuzo Koshiro has, however, confirmed that Streets of Rage 4 will make an appearance on the X-box. Yuzo’s sister has already designed 5 new characters and may feature a link up feature mode allowing a number of X-box owner’s to link up their box’s and play together. The game will be fully 3D and may even be in a first person perspective.
There are rumours that Hitmaker who are working on Crazy Taxi 3 for the X-box might make Streets of Rage 4. A demo is already up and running so the game might not be that far away.
For more information visit the following web sites:
http://www.segaweb.com/news/0101/058.html
http://www.segaweb.com/features/sor4interview.html
http://xboxactive.com/archives/00000456.php
My opinion (if anybody cares!):
I’m more than a little disappointed that Streets of Rage, which is one of my favourite “old” games, might make an appearance on the X-box *spits on the ground* but there is always a chance that it might be made for other consoles like many other Sega game, Crazy Taxi for example.
Axle and Blaze have been in the past 3 Streets of Rage game so I’m sure they will be back in the next game but 5 new characters!?! Does this include Axle and Blaze or are we going o see 5 new characters completely. Also previous playable characters might be included in the selection, like Skate, Adam, Max and Dr. Zen. So there is a potential for 5 to 11 playable characters depending on how you look at it. Also it is still on the drawing board so this could change.
I’m not too sure I want to the game to go 3D either. I’ve played Fighting Force and many of my friends have and we all agree that it is a very poor game. The two main problems with this game are:
1. The camera angles can be very bad at times.
2. Without a “locking on” system you end up trying to punch somebody and miss completely ending with you getting your butt kicked!
But I’m sure these can be ironed out. Onimusha is a great 3D game so a combat system similar to this could greatly improve the game.
At the end of the day I’m not sure about the news that Streets of Rage 4 is going to be made. If it is made I hope that lives up to it’s past reputation and that it does get ported to the PS2.
Darkreaper
P.S.
I got most of my information from Streets of Rage Online, which is a great website. It’s worth a visit.
http://www.classicgaming.com/soronline/main.htm
Yeah i loved streets of rage aswell. It would look really good in 3-D Graphics, i think it will come out on Game cube more than xbox, Any way good post and thanks for telling us the news on this most popular game.
Streets of rage was one of my favourite games on the MD, but I won't be able to play this new game sinse I'n not getting an x-box. damn it.
I don't think the developers of the game will change the basic gameplay much, I think the only improvement we'll see are better graphics. Thats what usually happens when a game is remade or sequeled from past consoles, developers just recycle the same title with the same gameplay. If streets of rage 4 comes with exactly the same type of gameplay the past 3 games did, then I think the game will flop. There needs to be an improvement on the game so it will appeal to fans and newbies of the series alike.
Beat em ups of this type where great in the day, but many see them a too repetative in todays gaming world.
I don't think the developers of the game will change the basic gameplay much, I think the only improvement we'll see are better graphics. Thats what usually happens when a game is remade or sequeled from past consoles, developers just recycle the same title with the same gameplay. If streets of rage 4 comes with exactly the same type of gameplay the past 3 games did, then I think the game will flop. There needs to be an improvement on the game so it will appeal to fans and newbies of the series alike.
Beat em ups of this type where great in the day, but many see them a too repetative in todays gaming world.
I believe Microsoft bought the rights to Shenmue in America. Although only America.
Shenmue 2 should be out on X-Box soon. Although a number 3 will be a long way away yet!
It should be possible to port the game to other consoles in Europe and Japan, but without being able to do it in America, it is doubtful whether it will be done at all. But still, I can always dream.
I did think it was coming out on GC up until a few days ago when NOM said that Virtua Fighter Adventure would feature all previous Virtua Fighter characters. That means it's certainly not Shenmue like I'd hoped.
I want Ecco the Dolphin 2 as well!
NOTE: I am probably wrong about everything I've said above. Just what I've heard that's all. But I'm certainly right about what I said about Ecco.
Shenmue 2 should be out on X-Box soon. Although a number 3 will be a long way away yet!
It should be possible to port the game to other consoles in Europe and Japan, but without being able to do it in America, it is doubtful whether it will be done at all. But still, I can always dream.
I did think it was coming out on GC up until a few days ago when NOM said that Virtua Fighter Adventure would feature all previous Virtua Fighter characters. That means it's certainly not Shenmue like I'd hoped.
I want Ecco the Dolphin 2 as well!
NOTE: I am probably wrong about everything I've said above. Just what I've heard that's all. But I'm certainly right about what I said about Ecco.
Man that was wicked game on the Mega Drive Sega aren't bringing the real classics out on the PS2 like they are bringing PAnzer Dragon which i have heard is brilliant out on the XBOX and now Streets Of Rage. The have also brought out Jet Set Radio out on XBOX which i would have definately brought that aswell. Also i would have brought the Phantasy Star Online games if they were coming out on PS2 SEGA what is wrong with you start bringing the greats out on PS2 please.
P.S. Does anyone know if SEGA are going to be bringing out a new Shemue game for any of the Next Gen consoles as i have not heard anything about it but they would be silly not to.
P.S. Does anyone know if SEGA are going to be bringing out a new Shemue game for any of the Next Gen consoles as i have not heard anything about it but they would be silly not to.
Loved that game... Streets of Rage.. *sighs*
But will they be able to recreate that gameplay? Doubtful :(
Sega are kinda lil pigs at the moment ain't they.. choosing who they want when they want :D
But will they be able to recreate that gameplay? Doubtful :(
Sega are kinda lil pigs at the moment ain't they.. choosing who they want when they want :D
Good for Sega!
Stil, I don't think Sega 'favour' XBox at the moment - They are also bring ing SMB2 (and the orginal is alrady out) the superb PHS 1 & 2 and others to the Gamecube, so they are spreading it around.
Stil, I don't think Sega 'favour' XBox at the moment - They are also bring ing SMB2 (and the orginal is alrady out) the superb PHS 1 & 2 and others to the Gamecube, so they are spreading it around.
Yep that’s right. The old Sega classic that was the daddy of side scrolling beat’em ups on the Mega Drive could get a fourth after almost 8 years in hiding. Possibly on the X-box!!!
A quick history of “Streets of Rage”: (skip to the bottom if you don’t want to read this)
Streets of Rage:
The first Streets of Rage (known as “Bare Knuckle” in Japan) was released in 1991 at which point Sega where looking for some good Mega Drive only games as the release of the SNES was not far away. Sega where especially looking for a Final Fight style of game as Capcom developed home conversations of their arcade games exclusively for Nintendo. At this point Capcom where already making a version of Final Fight for the SNES.
The game was ground breaking at the time of its release. The graphics where the best seen on the Mega Drive at the time and was shown off proudly by Sega demonstrating what the Mega Drive was capable of. The sound and the music where done by Yuzo Koshiro (who was very famous in Japan for his work in video games) both sound and music where excellent at the time even though the Mega Drive sound chip was very poor and very inferior to the SNES’s sound chip.
Saying this, the gameplay was nothing special and Streets of Rage is a clone of the arcade version of Final Fight with a few extras added in. One of the best was the simultaneous 2 player option which was not available on the SNES version of Final Fight) At the time of release, Streets of Rage was the best side scrolling beat’em up on the Mega Drive and was only beaten by the sequel.
Streets of Rage did so well that Sega started on a sequel that was planned for release the next year.
Streets of Rage 2:
Everybody who had a Mega Drive eagerly anticipated the sequel to the first Streets of Rage. The game was groundbreaking for the time and was hailed as a classic. Streets of Rage 2 used a 16-meg cartridge, which was double the size of the original game allowing for greater improvements. Anybody who has played the original and Street of Rage 2 could easily see how the extra memory had been used.
The character graphics had been greatly improved and the number of animation frames had also been increased. This allowed the main characters as well as the enemies to have more fluid movement and also to have a larger number of “personal” moves. The backgrounds had also been greatly improved and often changed many times though out one stage which didn’t happen in the previous game. Overall the graphics where easily of arcade quality and showed that the Mega Drive was still a serious rival to the more technologically advanced SNES.
The number of characters available for selection increased to 4. All the characters had their own moves, which meant they where quite different to play from the next character. The old “special move” system was re-moved and replaced allow the gameplay to run more smoothly.
The number of enemies also increased with their own way of fighting and own special moves made the game more challenging. Alongside this more weapons where added.
Compared to the original Streets of Rage, Streets of Rage 2 was longer, looked and sounded better and had multiple screens.
A new addition was Duel. This pitted two human fighters against each other in a fight to the death!
Streets of Rage 2 was an example of what a sequel should be like. Everything that was in the original was improved and expanded instead of just being a rehash of the original.
Streets of Rage 3:
It took 2 years for Streets of Rage 3 to be released to a somewhat disappointed gaming world. It received a mixed review. After Streets of Rage 2 made major improvements on its predecessor Streets of Rage 3 didn’t change very much. The first criticism that the game received was that is added nothing new to the series and sold far less than Streets of Rage 2.
Streets of Rage wasn’t a poor game, it’s just wasn’t original enough. The graphics had only been slightly improved, with better animation and more frames added. A new character had replaced one from the previous game and now two secret (boss) characters where available to play if you knew how to unlock them, one of which being a Kangaroo with boxing gloves!
The game was faster and harder than Streets of Rage 2, having more enemies on the screen at once, the enemies being stronger than before and some intelligence added to the enemies (some even picked up your health items, such as apples, when their own health was low!) A new “Special move” meter was added which meant that the special attacks did not cost any health and the most powerful special moves could only be pulled off now and again when the meter was fully charged.
Some of the old features from the first game where brought back. Like the ability to throw bad guys over your shoulder if they grabbed you from behind. Interactive scenery was also included into the game including holes in the floor to throw your enemies down and elevators. Cut scenes where added to the game as well as alternative endings.
Streets of Rage 3 also suffered from a number of different problems. The familiar appearance of the main two characters had changed and the music was awful. Yuzo Koshiro didn’t do as good as job as he had done with Streets of Rage 2 and had really let himself down. The sound effects where also very poor and often sounds disappeared when too much action was going on.
Streets of Rage 3, despite having a 24 meg cartridge, didn’t add anything original.
Streets of Rage 3 was to be the last game in the series to be released on the Mega Drive. Plans where made to release the fourth game on the Saturn, but it just didn’t happen.....
The many Beginnings (and Ends) of Street of Rage 4:
Streets of Rage had been pushed as far as it could have been when run by a 16-bit machine. A more powerful machine was needed if the series was to be improved and the plan was to release the next game in the series on a Next Generation console which where release in 1994.
Streets of Rage had only (up on to this point) appeared on Sega consoles so the idea of releasing it on either the Playstation or the N64 was not even conceived. The next step was onto the Saturn. The game was obviously going to be turned 3D and receive improvements similar to those done on Golden Axe and Shinobi both of which where crap.
The first plan was to buy the incomplete Fighting Fore from Core and turn the game into Streets of Rage 4 but (to my relief) the deal never took place. The idea of realising the sequel onto the Saturn was ditched, as the Saturn was not very good at handling 3D games but was the best machine at the time for handling 2D graphics. Many games where realised in 2D for the Dreamcast. Some of the public cried out for another 2D version of Streets of Rage to be released with incredible visuals but Sega dismissed the idea and wanted the next game to be 3D.
Another attempt at Streets of Rage 4 was made in 1996-97 when a 3D game called Rage was released in the arcades and then ported to Saturn. It was rumoured at one point that this was, at one point, Streets of Rage 4 but Sega didn’t want to the game to be released on an arcade machine.
Dreamcast, Streets of Rage 4:
When the Dreamcast was released, work began on Streets of Rage 4 for the console. A demo was made and shown to Sega of America. Sadly executives of the company where not aware of the history of the game and its mass followers and dismissed the idea. The main reason for the game being dismissed was its genre. With many games going 3D side scrolling beat’em ups had gone out of fashion and many attempts to turn these games 3D had failed badly, like Fighting Force (which is pants). Sega of America did not want to make a game that, in their opinion, would have no chance of making any money.
Streets of Rage on the X-box.....
With the death of the Dreamcast (well nearly) and Sega turning mainly into a software developer plans are being made to port Streets of Rage 4 onto another console, the X-box being the most favourite choice by Sega at the moment. Yuzo Koshiro has, however, confirmed that Streets of Rage 4 will make an appearance on the X-box. Yuzo’s sister has already designed 5 new characters and may feature a link up feature mode allowing a number of X-box owner’s to link up their box’s and play together. The game will be fully 3D and may even be in a first person perspective.
There are rumours that Hitmaker who are working on Crazy Taxi 3 for the X-box might make Streets of Rage 4. A demo is already up and running so the game might not be that far away.
For more information visit the following web sites:
http://www.segaweb.com/news/0101/058.html
http://www.segaweb.com/features/sor4interview.html
http://xboxactive.com/archives/00000456.php
My opinion (if anybody cares!):
I’m more than a little disappointed that Streets of Rage, which is one of my favourite “old” games, might make an appearance on the X-box *spits on the ground* but there is always a chance that it might be made for other consoles like many other Sega game, Crazy Taxi for example.
Axle and Blaze have been in the past 3 Streets of Rage game so I’m sure they will be back in the next game but 5 new characters!?! Does this include Axle and Blaze or are we going o see 5 new characters completely. Also previous playable characters might be included in the selection, like Skate, Adam, Max and Dr. Zen. So there is a potential for 5 to 11 playable characters depending on how you look at it. Also it is still on the drawing board so this could change.
I’m not too sure I want to the game to go 3D either. I’ve played Fighting Force and many of my friends have and we all agree that it is a very poor game. The two main problems with this game are:
1. The camera angles can be very bad at times.
2. Without a “locking on” system you end up trying to punch somebody and miss completely ending with you getting your butt kicked!
But I’m sure these can be ironed out. Onimusha is a great 3D game so a combat system similar to this could greatly improve the game.
At the end of the day I’m not sure about the news that Streets of Rage 4 is going to be made. If it is made I hope that lives up to it’s past reputation and that it does get ported to the PS2.
Darkreaper
P.S.
I got most of my information from Streets of Rage Online, which is a great website. It’s worth a visit.
http://www.classicgaming.com/soronline/main.htm
A quick history of “Streets of Rage”: (skip to the bottom if you don’t want to read this)
Streets of Rage:
The first Streets of Rage (known as “Bare Knuckle” in Japan) was released in 1991 at which point Sega where looking for some good Mega Drive only games as the release of the SNES was not far away. Sega where especially looking for a Final Fight style of game as Capcom developed home conversations of their arcade games exclusively for Nintendo. At this point Capcom where already making a version of Final Fight for the SNES.
The game was ground breaking at the time of its release. The graphics where the best seen on the Mega Drive at the time and was shown off proudly by Sega demonstrating what the Mega Drive was capable of. The sound and the music where done by Yuzo Koshiro (who was very famous in Japan for his work in video games) both sound and music where excellent at the time even though the Mega Drive sound chip was very poor and very inferior to the SNES’s sound chip.
Saying this, the gameplay was nothing special and Streets of Rage is a clone of the arcade version of Final Fight with a few extras added in. One of the best was the simultaneous 2 player option which was not available on the SNES version of Final Fight) At the time of release, Streets of Rage was the best side scrolling beat’em up on the Mega Drive and was only beaten by the sequel.
Streets of Rage did so well that Sega started on a sequel that was planned for release the next year.
Streets of Rage 2:
Everybody who had a Mega Drive eagerly anticipated the sequel to the first Streets of Rage. The game was groundbreaking for the time and was hailed as a classic. Streets of Rage 2 used a 16-meg cartridge, which was double the size of the original game allowing for greater improvements. Anybody who has played the original and Street of Rage 2 could easily see how the extra memory had been used.
The character graphics had been greatly improved and the number of animation frames had also been increased. This allowed the main characters as well as the enemies to have more fluid movement and also to have a larger number of “personal” moves. The backgrounds had also been greatly improved and often changed many times though out one stage which didn’t happen in the previous game. Overall the graphics where easily of arcade quality and showed that the Mega Drive was still a serious rival to the more technologically advanced SNES.
The number of characters available for selection increased to 4. All the characters had their own moves, which meant they where quite different to play from the next character. The old “special move” system was re-moved and replaced allow the gameplay to run more smoothly.
The number of enemies also increased with their own way of fighting and own special moves made the game more challenging. Alongside this more weapons where added.
Compared to the original Streets of Rage, Streets of Rage 2 was longer, looked and sounded better and had multiple screens.
A new addition was Duel. This pitted two human fighters against each other in a fight to the death!
Streets of Rage 2 was an example of what a sequel should be like. Everything that was in the original was improved and expanded instead of just being a rehash of the original.
Streets of Rage 3:
It took 2 years for Streets of Rage 3 to be released to a somewhat disappointed gaming world. It received a mixed review. After Streets of Rage 2 made major improvements on its predecessor Streets of Rage 3 didn’t change very much. The first criticism that the game received was that is added nothing new to the series and sold far less than Streets of Rage 2.
Streets of Rage wasn’t a poor game, it’s just wasn’t original enough. The graphics had only been slightly improved, with better animation and more frames added. A new character had replaced one from the previous game and now two secret (boss) characters where available to play if you knew how to unlock them, one of which being a Kangaroo with boxing gloves!
The game was faster and harder than Streets of Rage 2, having more enemies on the screen at once, the enemies being stronger than before and some intelligence added to the enemies (some even picked up your health items, such as apples, when their own health was low!) A new “Special move” meter was added which meant that the special attacks did not cost any health and the most powerful special moves could only be pulled off now and again when the meter was fully charged.
Some of the old features from the first game where brought back. Like the ability to throw bad guys over your shoulder if they grabbed you from behind. Interactive scenery was also included into the game including holes in the floor to throw your enemies down and elevators. Cut scenes where added to the game as well as alternative endings.
Streets of Rage 3 also suffered from a number of different problems. The familiar appearance of the main two characters had changed and the music was awful. Yuzo Koshiro didn’t do as good as job as he had done with Streets of Rage 2 and had really let himself down. The sound effects where also very poor and often sounds disappeared when too much action was going on.
Streets of Rage 3, despite having a 24 meg cartridge, didn’t add anything original.
Streets of Rage 3 was to be the last game in the series to be released on the Mega Drive. Plans where made to release the fourth game on the Saturn, but it just didn’t happen.....
The many Beginnings (and Ends) of Street of Rage 4:
Streets of Rage had been pushed as far as it could have been when run by a 16-bit machine. A more powerful machine was needed if the series was to be improved and the plan was to release the next game in the series on a Next Generation console which where release in 1994.
Streets of Rage had only (up on to this point) appeared on Sega consoles so the idea of releasing it on either the Playstation or the N64 was not even conceived. The next step was onto the Saturn. The game was obviously going to be turned 3D and receive improvements similar to those done on Golden Axe and Shinobi both of which where crap.
The first plan was to buy the incomplete Fighting Fore from Core and turn the game into Streets of Rage 4 but (to my relief) the deal never took place. The idea of realising the sequel onto the Saturn was ditched, as the Saturn was not very good at handling 3D games but was the best machine at the time for handling 2D graphics. Many games where realised in 2D for the Dreamcast. Some of the public cried out for another 2D version of Streets of Rage to be released with incredible visuals but Sega dismissed the idea and wanted the next game to be 3D.
Another attempt at Streets of Rage 4 was made in 1996-97 when a 3D game called Rage was released in the arcades and then ported to Saturn. It was rumoured at one point that this was, at one point, Streets of Rage 4 but Sega didn’t want to the game to be released on an arcade machine.
Dreamcast, Streets of Rage 4:
When the Dreamcast was released, work began on Streets of Rage 4 for the console. A demo was made and shown to Sega of America. Sadly executives of the company where not aware of the history of the game and its mass followers and dismissed the idea. The main reason for the game being dismissed was its genre. With many games going 3D side scrolling beat’em ups had gone out of fashion and many attempts to turn these games 3D had failed badly, like Fighting Force (which is pants). Sega of America did not want to make a game that, in their opinion, would have no chance of making any money.
Streets of Rage on the X-box.....
With the death of the Dreamcast (well nearly) and Sega turning mainly into a software developer plans are being made to port Streets of Rage 4 onto another console, the X-box being the most favourite choice by Sega at the moment. Yuzo Koshiro has, however, confirmed that Streets of Rage 4 will make an appearance on the X-box. Yuzo’s sister has already designed 5 new characters and may feature a link up feature mode allowing a number of X-box owner’s to link up their box’s and play together. The game will be fully 3D and may even be in a first person perspective.
There are rumours that Hitmaker who are working on Crazy Taxi 3 for the X-box might make Streets of Rage 4. A demo is already up and running so the game might not be that far away.
For more information visit the following web sites:
http://www.segaweb.com/news/0101/058.html
http://www.segaweb.com/features/sor4interview.html
http://xboxactive.com/archives/00000456.php
My opinion (if anybody cares!):
I’m more than a little disappointed that Streets of Rage, which is one of my favourite “old” games, might make an appearance on the X-box *spits on the ground* but there is always a chance that it might be made for other consoles like many other Sega game, Crazy Taxi for example.
Axle and Blaze have been in the past 3 Streets of Rage game so I’m sure they will be back in the next game but 5 new characters!?! Does this include Axle and Blaze or are we going o see 5 new characters completely. Also previous playable characters might be included in the selection, like Skate, Adam, Max and Dr. Zen. So there is a potential for 5 to 11 playable characters depending on how you look at it. Also it is still on the drawing board so this could change.
I’m not too sure I want to the game to go 3D either. I’ve played Fighting Force and many of my friends have and we all agree that it is a very poor game. The two main problems with this game are:
1. The camera angles can be very bad at times.
2. Without a “locking on” system you end up trying to punch somebody and miss completely ending with you getting your butt kicked!
But I’m sure these can be ironed out. Onimusha is a great 3D game so a combat system similar to this could greatly improve the game.
At the end of the day I’m not sure about the news that Streets of Rage 4 is going to be made. If it is made I hope that lives up to it’s past reputation and that it does get ported to the PS2.
Darkreaper
P.S.
I got most of my information from Streets of Rage Online, which is a great website. It’s worth a visit.
http://www.classicgaming.com/soronline/main.htm