Streets of Rage 3

Streets of Rage 3 (Bare Knuckle III in Japan) is a beat 'em up released by Sega in 1994 for the Sega Genesis. It is part of the Streets of Rage series.

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 gave place to 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 feast. Sound effect skips and collison detection problems added further to the players bewilderment about how the series apparently had taken a turn for the worse.

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 "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.

Endings
The game has 4 different endings, they are listed below.
 * If you fail to save the general/chief, you play an alternate Round 7 (The City Hall/The White House). At the end of this, you have to face a stronger Shiva as the last boss, instead of Robot Y (known as Neo X in Bare Knuckle 3).
 * If you do rescue the general/chief, you play the real Round 7 (The Robot Facility). You are expected to defeat Robot Y within a time limit. If you beat it after the timer expires, the bombs will still detonate in the city, turning it into a complete ruin.
 * If you destroy Robot Y before the timer expires, the bombs are defused and the city is saved; this is the best (and true) ending of the game.
 * There is an "Easy mode" ending in the U.S./Euro versions where Robot X in Stage 5 is the last boss. After defeating him, you are told to play the next difficulty mode.

Characters

 * Axel: The all-rounder character. His semi-special move is an uppercut and his special moves are an all around flaming punch and a furious punch combo. Axel also has a very powerful spinning punch move. This can accessed by choosing him in select mode then holding the A button and pressing the directional pad counter-clockwise until he appears in the game.


 * Blaze: Along with Axel, one of the only characters to appear in all Streets of Rage games. Her semi-special is a lunging somersault while her specials consist of a cartwheel and an energy blast.


 * Eddie 'Skate' Hunter (Sammy in Japanese Version) : Kid brother of the first game's Adam Hunter, debuted in Streets of Rage 2. He is the fastest character with a lunging cannonball attack as a semi-special. His special attack is a breakdance. He also has a very powerful combo which can be accessed by making him lose a life while having no score in the first stage.


 * Zan: A doctor who is part cyborg. Any weapon he picks up becomes an energy ball that increases his strength or can be thrown.

Secret characters
There are three secret characters that can be unlocked and then selected when the player uses a continue. One of them is only easily accessible in the Japanese version, Bare Knuckle 3. All the secret characters are unable to pick up and use weapons. In order of appearance:


 * Ash (Japanese release only) is a stereotypical homosexual minion of Mr. X's organization. Ash was cut from the U.S./European Streets of Rage 3 because he was stereotypically homosexual, and therefore seen as possibly offensive. He is a very tall man who wears tight green pants, a necklace depicting the female symbol, and a purple waistcoat. He strikes effeminate poses, such as covering his mouth while laughing girlishly with his knees bent inward. His attacks consist mainly of grabbing and throwing his opponents. When defeated, he cries. As soon as he is defeated, hold the 'A' button until the next scene begins to unlock him. Ash can also be unlocked in the U.S. and European versions by using a Game Genie code. Unlocked to gameplay, Ash has the most powerful punches, defeating enemies easier than the other playable characters (even Shiva), and has a different colour palette. He uses the same voice samples as Blaze. He first appears in the second part of Round 1-2. He captains a speedboat and drops off more enemies to fight as you make your way across the dock. If you reach the end, he will fight you. His boss music is very different from any others. In the U.S. version of the game, Shiva drives the boat, and instead of fighting him he is replaced with another Donovan enemy.


 * Shiva, another one of the main bad guys, is also unlockable. As soon as he is defeated in the first level, hold the 'B' button until Round 2 begins to unlock him. Even though he has a portrait in a cutscene it is not used when unlocked (on the character select screen and at the end of the stages). His moveset as playable is incomplete compared to the one he has as an opponent. As a playable character (often unlocked), Shiva has the fastest punches and attacks of every character, also the longest reach. He combines voice samples from Axel Stone character with others of his own.


 * Roo (known as Victy in Japan): The party encounters this kangaroo in the downtown Atlas district that is Round 2. Roo wears boxing gloves and green or blue pants. During the players' encounter with him in Round 2, he is controlled by Bruce (known as Danch in Japan), a whip-wielding clown trainer. If the player manages to defeat Bruce before Roo, Roo will run off and is then unlocked. Roo is capable of different spinning attacks, and kicking while standing on his tail. Interestingly, he uses a lot of the same voice samples as Skate. There is a code which can be entered at the 'Press Start' screen to have Roo unlocked from the beginning. If you reach the end of Round 2-1 with Roo, you will still have to fight Roo as a boss. Unlike Ash and Shiva, Roo has a profile picture.

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 inaudiable 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 instalment and generally as a pale imitation which did not warrant the 24Mb cartrage.

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

The American and European heavily edited and highly censored release only added to the growing list of player moans.

Trivia

 * Several pre-release screenshots show that there was originally a section where the players got to ride the motorcycles they are so often attacked by. This section was removed for the final version, but is still playable (though buggy and unfinished) with a Game Genie code in the Japanese version.
 * The Japanese version of Sonic Gems Collection includes Bare Knuckle I, II, III (Streets of Rage 1, 2 and 3). These, along with Bonanza Bros., are excluded from releases outside Japan to obtain lower age ratings.
 * The ninja characters named Mifune, Chiba and Kosugi are probably a reference to martial artist actors Toshiro Mifune, Sonny Chiba and Sho Kosugi.
 * Axel and Skate are absent from the European box art, while the new character Zan appears alongside Blaze.
 * Some period after the game's release, Sega originally planned to create Streets of Rage 4, a potential sequel to Streets of Rage 3. But because of financial problems, the project was scrapped.