As we wait for the game to drop, perhaps this would be a good time to share our first experiences with the Streets of Rage series. Here are a couple of videos to get everyone going:
I got it pretty much at release. I was a big fan of Final Fight and Double Dragon, but side-scrolling beat'em were a little scarce in the early years of the Megadrive. Apart from Golden Axe (which I only partly considered part of the genre due to its swords and magic setting), the only beat'em up I remember playing and enjoying was an imported copy of DJ Boy:
Streets of Rage was on another level altogether from DJ Boy. Beat'em ups are a pretty straightforward and repetitive genre, so the presentation, mood and setting make a huge difference. SoR got it right from the very opening, with the moody music and scrolling cityscape:
Everything from the music to the character design was on point. The gameplay was great too, adding a few nice extra touches o the usual gameplay of the genre. It may seem like a small thing, but being able to vault over a grabbed character really added a new dimension and was impressive at the time. Even friends not usually that into non-sport video games loved it.
The music was amazing of course, and I have listened to the soundtrack countless times over the years. I'm a bit of a walker, and one of my favourite things to do when travelling to a new place is to simply aimlessly walk around the local neighbourhood, taking in the sights and sounds. If I'm in the mood, then I sometimes put on the SoR soundtrack while walking particularly urban environments. Another favourite place to listen to the music is while walking along the beach, especially the stage 3 music, Moon Beach:
Listening to that track now brings back memories of beaches in Thailand and Bali, as much as the game itself.
Watching the Sega Lord X video just now, I'm still really impressed by the sheer amount happening on screen. There are so many sprites and enemy characters moving around at the same time, all without the slightest bit of flicker or slowdown. This was pretty early on in the console's lifetime, and that would have been very impressive to anyone who had just upgraded from an 8-bit system.
Finally, who could forget that twist at the end? I wonder if we will be offered a similar choice in SoR4?
Anyone else got any Streets of Rage memories?