Streets of Rage
The first Streets of Rage game landed in 1991 on the Sega Genesis, and it pretty much instantly became a classic among fans. The beat ’em up game took place in a once peaceful city now overrun by a huge criminal syndicate, which even contains factions of the police force. You play as three ex-police officers, as you combat the chaos and take the syndicate down. Even by today’s standards the sprites and backdrops of the game hold up well graphically. At the same time, the game had some of the best beat ’em up gameplay around, even letting you play in co-op with a friend. Streets of Rage was followed by two more games, which also received critical acclaim with Streets of Rage 3 being the last to be released in 1994. All three games also featured brilliant dance music inspired soundtracks that really added a unique personality.
All three games in the series have been re-released and ported many times on multiple systems, begging the question of why we haven’t just gotten a new game after all these years. With modern systems and graphics, a new Streets of Rage could really be something fun. It could be the perfect downloadable title for Sega to make, and provide both couch co-op and online multiplayer as well. It could easily be a retro throwback a la Sonic Mania, maybe even worked on by fans. Of course, you could make something entirely new with the basis of the series as well, if not a 2D game then maybe a 3D brawler developed by the Yakuza team? Whatever happens, we just need more Streets of Rage already.
