Streets of Rage 3 for the Sega Genesis

Description

Much like the previous two games, Streets of Rage 3 is a side-scrolling beat ’em up in which up to two players fight against waves of enemies. Players can choose from returning characters Axel, Blaze, and Skate, along with a new character named Dr. Zan, a robot who automatically converts every weapon picked up into a ball of energy. By fulfilling certain conditions, two bonus characters, Shiva and Roo (known as Victy in Japan), can be unlocked for play, with a third unlockable character, Ash, being exclusive to the Japanese release.

Several tweaks have been made to the gameplay following Streets of Rage 2. Whereas only Skate was able to run in the previous game, now each character is able to run, as well as perform a vertical dodge roll. Blitz attacks can be upgraded through successive play, and a rechargeable meter allows players to perform a Special attack without losing any health when full. Certain weapons now have special attacks that can be performed in the same way as Blitz attacks. However, all weapons now have a limited number uses before they break, and unlockable characters are unable to hold weapons at all.

Stages in the game features traps, originally featured in the first Streets of Rage, such as bottomless pits, and some stages have alternate routes depending on certain actions, such as whether players can clear a room of enemies before a non-playable character is killed by poison gas. Enemy AI was also expanded so more enemies can pick up weapons, block attacks, employ co-operative attacks, and even steal exposed food items to regain health. Compared to the Japanese version, the Western release of this game features altered graphics and sound effects, and increased difficulty, and does not feature Ash as a playable character. Like the previous game, a Battle mode lets two players fight against each other.

Plot

After being defeated twice, Syndicate crime boss Mr. X has started a research company called RoboCy Corporation to act as a cover for his illegal activities. The world’s best roboticist, Dr. Dahm (Dr. Zero in Japan), has been brought in to help him create an army of realistic robots to replace important officials from the city. With the replacements in place, Mr. X plans to run the city using a remote control device. His criminal organization, The Syndicate, has strategically placed bombs around the city to distract the police while the city officials are dealt with.

Dr. Zan discovers what the research is really for and knows the Syndicate must be stopped. He contacts Blaze Fielding with the details of The Syndicate’s plan. Blaze quickly contacts her old comrades Axel Stone and Adam Hunter for a task force to bring down The Syndicate once and for all. Axel quickly joins the task force, but Adam cannot make it (due to his own assignments from within the police) and sends his young brother, Eddie “Skate” Hunter instead. The game has four endings depending on the difficulty level and if the player defeats certain levels in an allotted amount of time.

As of its sequel Streets of Rage 4, it follows a good ending route’s normal mode: It is revealed that the real Chief Ivan Petrov was kidnapped and replaced with a duplicate (one of them is either a disguised Shiva in a bad ending (if players have not saved Ivan) or a robot duplicate. After Ivan is freed, Axel suggest Adam to get Ivan to the city hall before his doppelgänger arrive, then goes to Mr. X’s robot factory hideout at forest. Once Dr. Dahm is apprehended to make him confess that all government officials are also being kidnapped and being replaced by their robot doppelganger like Ivan, the real Mr. X is revealed to be reduced to nothing but a brain in a laboratory capsule while controlling all robots with his mind. As the heroes are able to destroy Mr. X’s Robot Y and his capsule which kept his brain alive, the bomb timers are neutralized. However, a dying Mr. X attempt to self destruct the lab to die alongside the heroes, until Adam rescues them. With Mr. X now no more, RoboCy is defunct, Dr. Dahm is recovering at asylum after his testimony, and Dr. Zan’s name has been cleared.