Streets of Rage 3

Streets of Rage 3 (Bare Knuckle III in Japan) is a side-scrolling beat 'em up released by Sega in 1994 for the Sega Genesis. It is part of the Streets of Rage series. It was later released for the Japanese version of Sonic Gems Collection, for the GameCube and PlayStation 2, and re-released for the Wii Virtual Console on September 24, 2007.

Overview
Streets of Rage 3, packed in a 24 megabit (3 megabyte) cartridge, had several enhancements over Streets of Rage 2 such as a more complex plot, multiple endings, lengthier levels, better scenarios (with interactive levels and the return of traps like pits) and faster gameplay (with dash and dodge moves). Weapons could now only be used for a few times before breaking (though they could now be integrated with semi-special moves with certain characters), hidden characters were added and a few cutscenes were added to give the story depth. Max Thunder gave place to Dr. Zan, a cyborg, who was important for plot reasons.

Besides the fact that it was far more difficult than its predecessors, it was heavily criticized for having an unlistenable, abrasive and noisy Industrial soundtrack, quite to the surprise of Yuzo Koshiro fans; it was far more experimental than the previous two which used more melodies and dance beats. Also the graphics had a grainy, garish feel which was in fact a step backward from the super smooth Streets of Rage 2 visual style. Sound effect skips and collision detection problems added further to the players bewilderment about how the series apparently had taken a turn for the worse.

Storyline
This is the game's storyline, according to the Instructon Manual. These people will decide the fate of the city

Mr X: ''This mysterious crime boss may be out of sight, but he's not out of the city. He's lying low using a legitimate research company, RoboCy Coporation, as both a front for the Syndicate's business activities and the basis of his latest plan. He has brought in one of the world's most brilliant and eccentric roboticists - Dr Dahm - to create lifelike robots to replace key city officials. When the replacements are completed, Mr X can run the city by remote control. The Syndicate is using strategically placed bombs to divert the attention of the city police while Mr X deals with the city leaders, one by one.''

Blaze Fielding: ''An ex-cop who had helped overthrow Mr X twice before, Blaze now works as a private detective. When informed by Dr Zan that the next victim of the Syndicate's evil scheme will be her old friend, the Chief of Police, she immediately sets up a task force to go to his rescue.''

Dr Zan: ''A former RoboCy researcher converted into a cyborg during Dr Dahm's early experiments. Dr Zan probes a little too deeply into the corporate files and discovers what the secret research is really for. He knows the Syndicate must be stopped once and for all, but because of his criminal record he cannot approach the police. So he pays a visit to Blaze's agency and enlists her help.''

Axel Stone: ''After the Syndicate was defeated the second time, Blaze's old partner from the police moved far fom the city and set up a school of martial arts. The letter he receives from Blaze brings him back to the city at top speed.''

Adam Hunter: ''Not long ago, Mr X took out his anger on one of the three ex-cops responsible for his first defeat. Adam was kidnapped and held as bait for his friends, Axel and Blaze. Adam was rescued, and later rejoined the police force as a senior polic operative. He can't answer Blaze's call for assistance himself, but sends Skate instead.''

Eddie "Skate" Hunter: ''Since his last encounter with Mr X and his thugs, Adam's kid brother has grown smarter, stronger and faster. And he's ready to hit the Syndicate where it hurts.''

''Blaze, Axel, Skate and Zan... can they prevent the city from falling back into the hands of Mr X and his criminal organisation? Only you can help...''

The city that the Streets of Rage games are set is unnamed, but it seems to be based on New York. The box art of the US/Euro release of Streets of Rage features the Empire State Building in the background, and in the Round 2 of Streets of Rage 2, one can see the Twin Towers of the now-destroyed World Trade Center in the skyline. The Twin Towers can also be seen in the box art of Streets of Rage 3.

Criticism
The game flopped on release due to the scrolling beat' em up formula becoming increasingly unpopular with the likes of new one-on-one games being the "in" thing at the time.

The game also suffered from inferior graphics, sound and music to that of its predecessor, with smaller sprites, grainy artwork, patchy sound effects which sometimes did not work and near inaudible music. The game itself though was in fact quite playable although it was far too similar to Streets Of Rage 2 in terms of playability which rose to the game sometimes being referred to as Streets Of Rage 2.5, or even Streets Of Rage 1.5 as it was seen as inferior to the second installment and generally as a pale imitation which did not warrant the 24Mb cartridge.

The new characters were seen by some hoping for a return from Adam to the fight as uninteresting, bland and uninspired.

As well as problems with the game-play, the version of the game released in Europe and America was heavily edited and highly censored, leading to further complaints from fans.

Regional differences
While translating this game from Japanese to American and European audiences, Sega of America altered it significantly. The most notable changes were that the miniboss character Ash was removed because he was a stereotyped homosexual, females were given more modest clothing, and the costume colors were changed. Axel is dressed like Adam, Blaze's clothes were changed from red to white, and Skate wears red and blue instead of red and yellow. Sega stated that these were changed to create "gender-neutral colors." The voice-effects were also changed, with most noticeably Axel's catchphrase of "Grand Upper" for his semi-special move being replaced with "Bare Knuckle".

The plot was rewritten, leaving many gaps in the narrative. In the original Bare Knuckle 3 the story dealt with a new explosive substance called Rakushin, discovered by a Dr. Gilbert (who later turns out to be Dr. Zan), and the disappearance of a military general. In the American and European versions of Streets of Rage 3, all references to Rakushin were removed, and the general was replaced by the chief of police, and a scheme to switch city officials with robot clones was invented. Another difference was if you didn't save the general, you had to head to the White House. This too was changed in the U.S./Euro version where instead if you didn't save the chief, then you had to head to the City Hall, although the building depicting the City Hall was still clearly the White House.

Also, Bare Knuckle 3, even on the highest difficulty setting, was significantly easier than Streets of Rage 3 on default difficulty.

A comprehensive list of all the changes between the versions, as well as a complete translation of the Japanese script, can be found at SOR online.

Trivia

 * The Japanese version of Sonic Gems Collection includes Bare Knuckle I, II, III (Streets of Rage 1, 2 and 3, respectively). These, along with Bonanza Bros., were excluded from releases outside Japan to obtain lower age ratings. If not, Sonic Gems Collection would have the E10+ rating.
 * The ninja characters named Mifune, Chiba and Kosugi are probably a reference to martial artist actors Toshiro Mifune, Sonny Chiba and Sho Kosugi.
 * The European box art, featuring Zan and Blaze in front of the New York skyline, was originally drawn by the magazine Mean Machines Sega, used as the front cover for the edition that featured a review of the game. Sega bought the rights to the image.