After playing this one, I can get why it is commonly known as the black sheep in the series.
...but, it doesn't mean I can just accept that so easily.
There are a fair share of characteristics that make this, perhaps, the most uninteresting entry in the SoR franchise:
1) The most blatant downside you'll immediately notice is the soundtrack. It is far from bad, but it is FAR from the great OSTs from the first two games. Whilst before I felt that Yuzo Koshiro's techno compositions were more like "real music playing on my Genesis", here it felt more like the "video game version of techno beats"; it reeks of chiptune, and most of the tracks are boring and repetitive, lacking a lot of the punch present in the sound of the previous titles, which represented the sheer mastery Koshiro had on the Mega Drive hardware.
2) It looks weird. We have seen glimpses of sci-fi near the end of SoR2, but here I think they may have gone a bit too far; everything is high-tech. On top of that, the stages don't look as colourful and diverse as before.
3) Lastly, the biggest issue: the reputation the game has got from it's US release, which unmercifully BUTCHERED the game's difficulty (making it too hard, that is) and story, and even changed the colour pallete of the main characters sprites.
Besides all of that? Streets of Rage 3, or better, Bare Knuckle III, the superior and definitive Japanese version of the game, was easily my favourite in the series so far.
Gameplay-wise, this game felt perfect. It has, by far, the best controls of the first three games, and what was previously slow and methodic is now a fast-paced adventure filled with action.
1) Every character can now dash and dodge vertically on the screen.
2) There is a bar that fills up within a few seconds, and if you perform your special move when it's full, it won't hurt your HP like it would in SoR2. If you do your special move when it's not full, however, it will take out a lot of life. A super clever way to not punish the player for performing a useful and strategical move, but also keep them from abusing the specials for invencibility frames.
3) Weapons, like pipes, planks, baseball bats and swords have their own durability bar, which depletes as you hit enemies. This can make gameplay more varied by making you experiment more with different tools instead of sticking to a particular one for as long as you can, as well as it prevents you from abusing a weapon's reach and knockback.
4) They FINALLY took advantage of the Genesis/Mega Drive's six button controller, and we FINALLY have the rear attack mapped to a specific button! There's also a button mapped with a knockback attack you would usually have to hold the B button to perform. Super useful.
5) The stages are, once again, more varied in terms of gimmicks, enemy variety and overall challenges. I felt that SoR2 left a bit to be desired on it's last stages, but the stage gimmicks from the first game are back and better than ever. The cherry on top is the final stage and boss, which will test the player's skills to the fullest with timed events.
5) Besides it's more dull colouring, the game looks phenomenal, much more detailed than the first two, and definitely one of the prettiest games from the 16-bit era.
Sure, it definitely lacks the charm of SoR2, but it's still an absolute joy to play through and through. An amazing console brawler, and a true Streets of Rage experience, with the best gameplay so far.
...but, it doesn't mean I can just accept that so easily.
There are a fair share of characteristics that make this, perhaps, the most uninteresting entry in the SoR franchise:
1) The most blatant downside you'll immediately notice is the soundtrack. It is far from bad, but it is FAR from the great OSTs from the first two games. Whilst before I felt that Yuzo Koshiro's techno compositions were more like "real music playing on my Genesis", here it felt more like the "video game version of techno beats"; it reeks of chiptune, and most of the tracks are boring and repetitive, lacking a lot of the punch present in the sound of the previous titles, which represented the sheer mastery Koshiro had on the Mega Drive hardware.
2) It looks weird. We have seen glimpses of sci-fi near the end of SoR2, but here I think they may have gone a bit too far; everything is high-tech. On top of that, the stages don't look as colourful and diverse as before.
3) Lastly, the biggest issue: the reputation the game has got from it's US release, which unmercifully BUTCHERED the game's difficulty (making it too hard, that is) and story, and even changed the colour pallete of the main characters sprites.
Besides all of that? Streets of Rage 3, or better, Bare Knuckle III, the superior and definitive Japanese version of the game, was easily my favourite in the series so far.
Gameplay-wise, this game felt perfect. It has, by far, the best controls of the first three games, and what was previously slow and methodic is now a fast-paced adventure filled with action.
1) Every character can now dash and dodge vertically on the screen.
2) There is a bar that fills up within a few seconds, and if you perform your special move when it's full, it won't hurt your HP like it would in SoR2. If you do your special move when it's not full, however, it will take out a lot of life. A super clever way to not punish the player for performing a useful and strategical move, but also keep them from abusing the specials for invencibility frames.
3) Weapons, like pipes, planks, baseball bats and swords have their own durability bar, which depletes as you hit enemies. This can make gameplay more varied by making you experiment more with different tools instead of sticking to a particular one for as long as you can, as well as it prevents you from abusing a weapon's reach and knockback.
4) They FINALLY took advantage of the Genesis/Mega Drive's six button controller, and we FINALLY have the rear attack mapped to a specific button! There's also a button mapped with a knockback attack you would usually have to hold the B button to perform. Super useful.
5) The stages are, once again, more varied in terms of gimmicks, enemy variety and overall challenges. I felt that SoR2 left a bit to be desired on it's last stages, but the stage gimmicks from the first game are back and better than ever. The cherry on top is the final stage and boss, which will test the player's skills to the fullest with timed events.
5) Besides it's more dull colouring, the game looks phenomenal, much more detailed than the first two, and definitely one of the prettiest games from the 16-bit era.
Sure, it definitely lacks the charm of SoR2, but it's still an absolute joy to play through and through. An amazing console brawler, and a true Streets of Rage experience, with the best gameplay so far.