Streets of Rage 3

n/a

Streets of Rage 3
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Virtual Console, iOS, Steam
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega AM7
Genre: Action
Release Date RRP Code
ESRB VRC PEGI OFLC CERO Missing Parameter! Tectoy

Streets of Rage 3, called Bare Knuckle III (ベアナックルIII) in Japan, is a side-scrolling beat 'em up released by Sega in 1994 for the Sega Mega Drive. It is the last part of the Streets of Rage series and a sequel to Streets of Rage 2.

The game features several enhancements over Streets of Rage 2 such as a more complex plot, multiple endings, longer levels, more in-depth scenarios (with interactive levels and the return of traps like pits) and faster gameplay (with dash and dodge moves). Weapons can now only be used for a few times before breaking and can now be integrated with unique moves with certain characters, hidden characters have been added along with several cutscenes to give the story greater depth. Controls are identical to its predecessors.

Compared to its prequels, Streets of Rage 3 is a less common and more expensive game to find second-hand in its original Mega Drive form. It has, however, been released for the Japanese version of Sonic Gems Collection for the GameCube and PlayStation 2, and for the Wii's Virtual Console service. The game also appeared in Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Prototype screenshots show that a motorcycle stage was planned, with some code still present in the final ROM. It is unknown why this feature was axed.

Localization Changes

Bare Knuckle III suffered severe censorship during its localization in the US and Europe as Streets of Rage 3. Unlike the previous two games, Sega of America saw fit to make the character colour schemes "gender neutral", meaning the in-game colours do not match either the box art designs or previous games.

Among the most notable changes were the removal of the miniboss, Ash, due to his perceived homosexuality. A new story was developed which features several plotholes and missing scenes from the Japanese version and the difficulty level was also increased for unknown reasons. Scantily clad female characters were given more clothes to wear. These and other changes ultimately hurt critical reception in Europe and North America, with some reviewers urging Streets of Rage series fans import Bare Knuckle III or skip this title entirely.

A fan translation from 2009 by Twilight Translations is available for Bare Knuckle III, and also changes the region to US as well. This translation had script used with the permission of the original author, in the ROM hacking Project Bare Knuckle III DX: Director's Cut which added the lost Motorbike Stages and additional areas of Round 6 restored in addition to a few other changes.

Manuals

• JP manual ^(info) ()

Production Credits [Bare Knuckle III]

Producer: Ossiy, Noriyuki
Director: Yui
Planner

• Main Planner: Wanter
  
• Shinkon Planner: Zozo
  

Designer

• Total Design: Seisi Atumiya
• Mechanic Design: Ryuryu
  
• Character Design: ..., Ryuryu, Kaseizin, Juntaro, Ma‑Kun
• Scene Design: Kaz Ewasawa, Noomin, Kanjii

Programer

• Main Program: Momonga Momo
  
• Enemy Program: Takosuke, Chata, Nagisa, Mr・Nobody
  
• Scene Program: Tonsyun
  

Sound

• Sound Producer: Yuzo Koshiro
• Sound Composer: Motohiro Kawashima
• Sound Programer: Akira Koyama

Voice: Saru Man, Elilin, Kami, Hamako, Yossy
Special Thanks: Say A, Tetsu, O Kitaoka, Hassy, Todoroki Taiyo, Miya, Koromi, Four
Produced by: Sega

Production Credits [Streets of Rage 3]

Producers: Ossiy, Noriyuki, Max Taylor
Director: Yui
Product Manager: France Tantiado
Planning

• Main Planner: Wanter
  
• Assistant Planner: Zozo
  

Design

• Concept Designer: Seisi Atumiya
• Animation Designer: Ryuryu
  
• Character Designers: ..., Ryuryu, Kaseizin, Juntaro, Ma‑Kun
• Background Designers: Kaz Ewasawa, Noomin, Kanjii

Programming

• Lead Programmer: Momonga Momo
  
• Character Programmers: Takosuke, Chata, Nagisa, Mr・Nobody
  
• Background Programmer: Tonsyun
  

Music

• Music Producer: Yuzo Koshiro
• Music Composer: Motohiro Kawashima
• Music Programmer: Akira Koyama

Sound Effects: Saru Man, Elilin, Kami, Hamako, Yossy
Special Thanks to: Say A, Tetsu, O Kitaoka, Hassy, Todoroki Taiyo, Miya, Koromi, Four, Steve Burton, James Spahn, Shinobu Yokoyama, Marianne Arotzarena, David Javelosa, Stewart Kosoy, Adam Sevillia
Game Testing: Julio Martinez, Lance Nelson, Jeff Junio, Atom Ellis, Jason Kuo, Ty Johnson, Daniel Dunn, Joe Cain, Tony Lynch, Siegie Stangenberg, Rick Greer, Harry Chavez, Simon Lu, Greg Watkins, David Martin, Maria Tuzzo, Christine Watson, Jeff Todd, Greg Becksted, Vy Nong, Ivan Foong, Kurt Tindle, Terry Thomas, Alex Villagran, Sam Saliba, Michael Williams, Wesley Gittens, Kim Rogers, Greg Fleming, Fernando Valderrama, Ray Alferez, Mark Subotnick
Produced by: Sega

Physical Scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 67 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) 73 Game Players (US) 90 Joypad (FR) 72 Mega Play (US) 90 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 83 Player One (FR) 85 Sega Power (UK) 83 №55

	80
Based on 8 reviews

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 70 Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 67 Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 75 Consoles + (FR) 89 Cool Gamer (RU) 80 Computer & Video Games (UK) 82 Digitiser (UK) PAL 75 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 73 Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU) 70 GameFan (US) NTSC-U 78 Game Players (US) NTSC-U 90 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 83 Gamers (DE) 47 Gamestar (AU) NTSC-J 74 Games World: The Magazine (UK) PAL 44 Game Informer (US) NTSC-U 78 Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J 50 Hyper (AU) 83 Joypad (FR) 72 Joypad (HU) 72 MAN!AC (DE) PAL 76 Mega (UK) NTSC-J 72 Mega Force (FR) 94 Mega Fun (DE) 75 Mega Power (UK) PAL 83 MegaTech (UK) NTSC-J 90 Mean Machines Sega (UK) NTSC-J 83 Player One (FR) 85 Play Time (DE) 84 Sega Magazin (DE) 86 Sega Magazine (UK) PAL 90 Sega Power (UK) NTSC-J 83 Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-U 82 Sega Zone (UK) NTSC-J 86 Sega Force (SE) 90 Sega Mega Drive Review (RU) 80 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 78 Sonic the Comic (UK) PAL 85 Super Juegos (ES) 86 Todo Sega (ES) 89 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 82 Video Games (DE) PAL 77 VideoGames (US) NTSC-U 80 Video Plus (CZ) 90

	79
Based on 44 reviews

Streets of Rage 3

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, BR
Cover

Mega Drive, KR
Cart

External Links

• Sega of Japan Virtual Console page (Japanese)
• Streets of Rage 3 on Apple.com: GB, US, JP
• Streets of Rage 3 on Steam

1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 225

Aktueller Software Markt, "November 1994" (DE; 1994-10-04), page 20

Beep! MegaDrive, "April 1994" (JP; 1994-03-08), page 19

Consoles +, "Mai 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 84

Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 24

Computer & Video Games, "July 1994" (UK; 1994-06-15), page 55

Digitiser (UK) (1994-08-02)

Electronic Gaming Monthly, "July 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 34

Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 362

GameFan, "Volume 2, Issue 7: June 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 26

Game Players, "Vol. 7 No. 7 July 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 84

GamePro, "August 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 44

Gamers, "Juli/August 1994" (DE; 1994-07-01), page 34

Gamestar, "June 1994" (AU; 1994-xx-xx), page 54

Games World: The Magazine, "July 1994" (UK; 1994-05-26), page 17

Game Informer, "July/August 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 16

Hippon Super, "April 1994" (JP; 1994-03-03), page 61

Hyper, "June 1994" (AU; 1994-xx-xx), page 30

Joypad, "Mai 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 66

Joypad, "1/1995" (HU; 1995-xx-xx), page 21

MAN!AC, "05/94" (DE; 1994-04-13), page 40

Mega, "May 1994" (UK; 1994-04-21), page 37

Mega Force, "Mai 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 78

Mega Fun, "06/94" (DE; 1994-05-18), page 92

Mega Power, "May 1994" (UK; 1994-04-21), page 43

MegaTech, "May 1994" (UK; 1994-04-21), page 14

Mean Machines Sega, "June 1994" (UK; 1994-04-30), page 42

Player One, "Mai 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 104

Play Time, "7/94" (DE; 1994-06-08), page 134

Sega Magazin, "Juni 1994" (DE; 1994-05-11), page 10

Sega Magazine, "May 1994" (UK; 1994-04-15), page 78

Sega Power, "June 1994" (UK; 1994-04-28), page 38

Sega Pro, "May 1994" (UK; 1994-04-21), page 64

Sega Zone, "May 1994" (UK; 1994-04-xx), page 38

Sega Force, "6/94" (SE; 1994-09-14), page 10

Sega Mega Drive Review, "2" (RU; 1996-01-03), page 18

Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85

Sonic the Comic, "July 8th 1994" (UK; 1994-06-25), page 10

Super Juegos, "Abril 1994" (ES; 1994-0x-xx), page 46

Todo Sega, "Junio 1994" (ES; 1994-0x-xx), page 56

Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 187

Video Games, "7/94" (DE; 1994-06-29), page 87

VideoGames, "July 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 70

Video Plus, "" (CZ; 199x-xx-xx), page 1