Streets of Rage 3

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Streets of Rage 3
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Virtual Console, iOS, Steam
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega CS3 Sega CS1 (art) M2
Distributor: Ecofilmes (PT) SF Interactive Media (SE rental) Sega-Ozisoft (AU) Tec Toy (BR)
Sound driver: Ancient Music Driver MD
Peripherals supported: Six Button Control Pad, Activator
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code JP 1994-03-18 ¥7,8007,800 G-4116 US 1994-07-01 $59.9959.99 1539 EU 1994-07-22 1539 DE 1994 DM 150150 1539 PT 1994 MDJ1539 UK 1994-07-22 £59.9959.99 1539 SE (Rental) 199x AU 1994 $129.95129.95 FSTR02SMC BR 1994-09 047060 KR 199x GM94005JG AS 199x G-4116 JP ▼ 2007-10-02 600pts600 US ▼ 2007-09-24 800pts800 EU ▼ 2007-10-05 800pts800 AU ▼ 2007-10 800pts800 JP ▼ 2011-04-28 ¥333 (350)350i US ▼ 2011-04-28 $2.992.99 9+ EU ▼ 2011-04-28 €2.392.39 9+ UK ▼ 2011-04-28 £1.991.99 US ▼ 2012-05-02 $2.992.99 211206 EU ▼ 2012-05-02 €2.492.49 211206 DE ▼ 2012-05-02 €2.492.49 211206 UK ▼ 2012-05-02 £1.991.99 211206 AU ▼ 2012-05-02 $3.493.49 211206 US ▼ 2019-02-01 $0.990.99 211206 EU ▼ 2019-02-01 €0.990.99 211206 DE ▼ 2019-02-01 €0.990.99 211206 UK ▼ 2019-02-01 £0.790.79 211206 AU ▼ 2019-02-01 $1.351.35 211206 US ▼ 2019-02-01 $0.990.99 211206 EU ▼ 2019-02-01 €0.990.99 211206 DE ▼ 2019-02-01 €0.990.99 211206 UK ▼ 2019-02-01 £0.790.79 211206 AU ▼ 2019-02-01 $1.351.35 211206

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 third and final part of the Streets of Rage trilogy, and a direct sequel to Streets of Rage 2.

Story

The city of Wood Oak recently experienced a cataclysmic event. An experimental weapon called "Raxine" detonated in the city's suburbs, causing the deaths of 30000 people and wounded 80000 more. Alarmed with this terrifying event, Police Department assigns two of their top detectives, Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding, two of the heroes who saved the city in the past, to investigate the incident and bring those responsible to justice.

Meanwhile, tension rises in the Lima Region, inhabited by a number of nations looking for an excuse to start a war. One of the representatives of the Lima countries, General Ivan Petrov has been invited to the White House for peace talks but now he is reported missing.

Soon after these events, Axel and Blaze were contacted by a mysterious man named Gilbert Zan, who claims to be the man who invented Raxine. Zan claims that his research is being used by the powers who intend to use it for destructive purposes. But can he be trusted?

Is the horrible attack that took place in Wood Oak City somehow connected to the conflict brewing in Lima? Why General Petrov is missing? The timing is very suspicious. Is someone using the Wood Oak City as a testing ground for their new weapons? Are Lima countries potential buyers?

Too many questions, too little time. Every second wasted brings the city one step closer to disaster. The lives of the citizens under your protection, and possibly, millions of others are hanging in balance.

Bring the situation under control.

The element Raxine is written in katakana in Japanese and was originally assumed to be "Rakushin" per the fan translation ROM hack. The word is not written in a Latin alphabet language anywhere in game or in the instruction manual. Despite this, the term "Raxine" is used in the English translation of Project X Zone 2, but left as "Rakushin" in the setting of Streets of Rage 4.

Gameplay

Streets of Rage 3 aimed to build on the success of its predecessor, so while the style of gameplay and control scheme is largely identical to its predecessors, significant changes were made to the overall structure of the game. Streets of Rage 3 is a faster-paced release with longer levels, a more complex plot (which in turn leads to more in-depth scenarios complete with interactive levels and multiple endings), and the return of traps such as pits. Dash and dodge moves were added to each character's arsenal of moves, and weapons can now only be used for a few times before breaking.

Changes to the fighting mechanics allow for the integration of weapons with certain movesets. Team attacks, absent from Streets of Rage 2 but available in the original Streets of Rage, make a return, and are occasionally used by enemies too. Blitz moves, performed while running, have also been altered and are now upgradable over the course of the game (predicated on how many points are earned per level). The current grade of the blitz move is given by the number of stars appearing below the user's health bar, from none to three. Death causes a downgrade, however holding the button before a series of button combinations can give players access to the upgraded moveset at any point in the game, at the expense of the time taken to perform attacks.

Enemies are also smarter with weapons, and some can even steal health upgrades, and there are also several secret playable characters, unlockable after overcoming certain conditions during the game. Special moves also no longer drain the user's health - a separate, automatically regenerating bar is introduced for this purpose.

Either by design choice or oversight, back attacks ( button or + button) give a very high amount of score in relation to the damage they do. Score-focused gameplay, therefore, focuses on (ideally only consists of) back attacks. This is different from the prequel, where throws gave the highest amount of score.

Playable characters

Main article: Streets of Rage 3/Playable characters.

The attack names given in the below table are those listed on the back side of the poster coming with the Japanese release. The Western edition simply lists generic names.

Yuzo Koshiro revealed at the 30th anniversary of the 1st SoR that, although the American manual of SoR2 names Axel's blitz move as Grand Uppercut, he really wanted to render Ground Upper in the Japanese manual.

	Axel Stone
	Occupation: Police Detective - Special Investigations Division, Martial Artist Blitz: Ground Upper Special Blitz 1: Extra Ground Upper Special Blitz 2: Ground Hook Special Blitz 3: Ground Hurricane Stationary Special: Dragon Wing Directed Special: Dragon Smash Blitz with katana: Rising Slash Directed Special with katana: Sword Blast Blitz with plank, pipe or bat: Power Strike Special (cheat mode): Quadruple Ground Hurricane + Dragon Wing combo A cheat code allows Axel to do an alternative special attack, replacing both the regular special and forward special moves. On the select screen, select Axel with and when the message Round 1 Start/Stage 1 Start appears, do a clockwise motion on the D-pad quickly (about two completed circles per second) until the first stage begins and Axel appears on-screen. Press to execute this new special attack. Axel can get two other alternative regular attacks: Score more than 10,000 points with Axel and lose all your life. On the name entry screen, enter "SUP". A sound should chime confirming that the cheat code worked. After selecting Axel again, he will be able to do a lighning-fast combo by pressing , composed of 2 jabs, several hooks and 2 kicks. Score more than 10,000 points and lose all your life. On the name entry screen, enter "H M" with a blank in the middle. A sound should chime confirming that the cheat code worked. After selecting Axel again, he will be able to do lighning-fast kicks by pressing . If you already have Axel with the cheat mode special attack, you can also activate one of the two above cheat code to cumulate two alternative moves.
	Blaze Fielding
	Occupation: Police Detective - Special Investigations Division, Judoka Blitz: Hishou Souzan 飛翔双斬 Special Blitz 1: Chou Hishou Souzan 超飛翔双斬 Special Blitz 2: Shouka Souzan 昇華双斬 Special Blitz 3: Shouka Souzan Ha 昇華双斬破 Stationary Special: Embukyaku 円舞脚 Directed Special: Kikou Shou 気功掌 Blitz with knife: Suisei Shouzan 慧星昇斬 Directed Special with knife: Hyakka Retsuzan 百華烈斬 Blitz with katana: Kikou Ken 気功剣 Blaze is the only playable character without any cheat codes to get alternative moves.
	Eddie "Skate" Hunter (EN) / Sammy Hunter (JP)
	Occupation: High School Student Blitz: Dynamite Head Butt Special Blitz 1: Super Dynamite Head Butt Special Blitz 2: Rolling Head Butt Special Blitz 3: Rolling Head Butt Thunder Stationary Special: Double Spin Kick Directed Special: Nakijyakuri Punch 泣きじゃくりパンチ Blitz with plank, pipe or bat: Home Run Upper Directed Special with plank, pipe or bat: Spinning Blaster Blitz with knife: Ningen Missile 人間ミサイル A cheat code allows Skate to get a more powerful punch. When the first stage starts, lose a life with Skate without scoring any points. Press to execute this new lightning-fast punch.
	Dr. Gilbert Zan
	Occupation: Former Military Scientist, Syndicate Defector, Cyborg Blitz: Vernier Tackle Special Blitz 1: Mach Tackle Special Blitz 2: Mach Booster Special Blitz 3: Hyper Booster Stationary Special: Power Spark Directed Special: Thunder Bolt Blitz with any weapons: Energy Shot (faster and weaker version, some weapons provide enough energy to toss several balls) Directed Special with any weapons: Energy Shot (slower and stronger version, some weapons provide enough energy to toss several balls) A cheat code allows Zan to get a more powerful punch. On the select screen, select Zan with and when the message Round 1 Start/Stage 1 Start appears, hold on both controllers until the first stage begins and Zan appears on-screen. Press to execute this new lightning-fast punch.
	Roo (EN) / Victy (JP)
	Occupation: Pet Kangaroo There are two ways to select Roo / Victy: When fighting the mid-boss of stage 2, defeat the clown Bruce (EN) / Danch (JP) without killing Roo / Victy. He will run away and become selectable by the players after losing all their life. Joining players will be able to select him directly. On the title screen, hold + then press  START . Roo / Victy should appear on the character select screen.
	Shiva (Cheat only, Non-Canon)
	Occupation: Syndicate Member, Close Associate of Mr X Right after beating Shiva at the end of stage 1, hold until the next level begins. He will become selectable by the players after losing all their life. Joining players will be able to select him directly.
	Ash (Cheat only, Non-Canon)
	Occupation: Syndicate Member and overall fabulous person Right after beating Ash as the mid-boss of stage 1 on the Japanese version of the game, hold until the next section of the first level begins. He will become selectable by the players after losing all their life. Joining players will be able to select him directly.

Items

Players can pick some items up to help them going through the enemies:

	Apple
	Refills a 1/3 of your life gauge
	Roast Chicken
	Completely fills your life gauge
	1 Up
	Adds an extra life
	Cash Bag
	Adds 1,000 score points
	Gold Bars
	Adds 5,000 score points

Those items can be found directly on the ground or inside containers that must be broken.

Category	Container Type
Furniture	Japanese style lantern Stack of lockboxes Golden pedestal (Mr.X bust) Statue of a delicate maiden Table in a nightclub
Crates and boxes	Small crate Big crate Sturdy crate Oil drum
Miscellaneous	Stack of life preservers Litter bin Roadblock

Weapons

	Knife
	Some playable characters in SoR3 always use knives as projectile weapons but not for Blaze as it is her weapon of choice.
	Kunai
	The kunai is a ninja weapon that works similarly to a knife.
	Katana
	The katana (Japanese sword) is quite potent at slicing enemies from close to mid-range. Axel can perform his more impressive blitz moves with one.
	Lead Pipe
	The lead pipe is a staple weapon in the series and one of the more efficient when striking enemies thanks to its long range. Skate had troubles to use it effectively in SoR2 but this changed dramatically in SoR3.
	Plank
	Classical products made of timber, planks can easily replace lead pipes whenever available. It is however less sturdy than pipes.
	Baseball Bat
	Baseball bats should be viewed as lead pipes with style. You will find them more readily available than pipes throughout the game.
	Grenade
	Grenades can be thrown at enemies from afar. When exploding, its range allows it to hit several enemies at once.

Enemies

	Goldie (EN) / Slum (JP)
	Slum is the new basic thug, kind of replacing Galsia at the lowest level of the Syndicate's hierarchy. Without any special attacks, he excels at coming at you in numbers. Variations: JP: Slum, Casino, Harlem EN: Goldie, Stud, Dick
	Zack (EN) / Vice (JP)
	Vice is a close combat expert. He especially likes using grab moves, immobilising opponents from behind or pummeling them when holding them from the front. He likes them so much that he'd rather circle around you until finding an opportunity to grab you than simply punching you. Variations: JP: Vice, Nasty, Sway EN: Zack, Jack, Mac
	Garcia (EN) / Galsia (JP)
	Galsia is this common street punk from Streets of Rage but he improved a bit since the beginning of the series. He is still quite weak but he gained some special attacks, appearing sometimes wielding a knife, some other times executing a powerful jumping elbow drop. Variations: JP: Galsia, Julio, Carlos EN: Garcia, Julio, Carlos
	Donovan
	Donovan is this skinhead thug with sunglasses, back from Streets of Rage 2. Uppercuts against jump kicks and lead pipes are still his tools of choice when it comes to street fighting. Variations: JP: Donovan, Fernand, Z EN: Donovan, Bono, Muscles
	Scarab (EN) / Signal (JP)
	Another enemy known from Streets of Rage, characterised by the mohawk. He is quite adept at throwing opponents in the air and at using sliding attacks. Variations: JP: Signal, Ice, Angle EN: Scarab, Ice, Jools
	Storm
	Storm and the other members of the Biker Gang are back from Streets of Rage 2. This time, they don't even bother going by foot to finish you, it's riding you over with their motorcycle or nothing. Variations: JP: Storm, Typhoon, Cyclone EN: Storm, Wheels, Wings
	Mifune
	The Ninja Gang from Streets of Rage 2 is back. Mifune and his pairs still come at you wielding either a katana or a kunai. Their sidestep technique to dodge your attacks is quite efficient, and they can throw at through at you a barrier of shurikens while jumping. Variations: Mifune, Kosugi, Chiba
	Tiger
	Tiger is a martial artist focused on giving kicks. His fighting style is reminiscent of Haku-Oh from Streets of Rage and Hakuyo from Streets of Rage 2: he performs powerful flying kicks, effective upward and low kicks to counter most opponents' moves. Variations: JP: Tiger, Dragon, Phenix EN: Tiger, Leopard, Fabio
	Electra
	Electra and her electric whip is back again from Streets of Rage and Streets of Rage 2. By alterning whip attacks and flying kicks, she is good at keeping you away from close combat. In the international version of the game, she wears a red jacket to cover more skin. Electra in BK3 Electra in SoR3 Variations: JP: Electra, Thundra, Gloria EN: Electra, Lorena, Gloria
	Soozie (EN) / Garnet (JP)
	Garnet is a female punk on high heels. However, those high heels won't prevent her from slapping you or even from performing her high jump drop kicks. In the international version of the game, she wears tights to cover more skin. Garnet in BK3 Soozie in SoR3 Variations: JP: Garnet, Rubby, Diamond EN: Soozie, Grace, Emma
	Big Ben
	Big Ben is that not-so-funny fat guy based on Bongo from Streets of Rage. Back from Streets of Rage 2, he can breath fire, slap opponents' faces and perform roll attacks. He gained some weight since the last iteration of the series and players won't be able to throw him away without getting smashed by his weight. Finally, he can help Galsia doing his deadly elbow drop attack by first launching him in the air. Variations: JP: Bongo, Heart, Big Ben EN: Dwight, Ike, Big Ben
	Agents
	The agents are assassins named after precious metals in Japanese and with Scottish names in the international version. They shoot you at a distance with their pistols and throw you away when too close to each other. This is the only kind of enemies that doesn't only use colour swaps to differentiate each others. Variations: JP: Gold, Silver, Bronz EN: MacLeod, MacLean, McBride
	Robots
	P-1 is a robot that only moves around by small or big jumps. It has a jet boost to slide past you and a laser gun coming out from his "mouth". In critical situations, it can activate its autodestruction to take you down. Variations: JP: P-1, P-2, P-3 EN: Xp-1, Mark2, M-5
	Rocket
	Rocket is probably a cousin of Jet from Streets of Rage 2. He's flying around thanks to his jetpack and will come at you with flying punches or drop kicks.
	Ash
	Ash is the mid-boss of the 1st stage. Despite behaving as the female lead of the Syndicate, he is astonishly fast and strong. In the international version, Ash is replaced by Shiva.
	Bruce and Roo (EN) / Danch and Victy (JP)
	Danch is the mid-boss of the 2nd stage. He is a clown unleashing his whip on you while you're still distracted by Victy, his pet kangaroo. Despite being an animal, Victy masters boxing techniques and he's very deft at using his fighting gloves. In the international version, they are called Bruce and Roo.

Bosses

	Shiva
	Shiva is the boss of Round 1. If you let the Chief of Police (EN) or the General Petrov (JP) die in Round 6, you will meet him again as the last boss in Round 7B.
	Mona and Lisa (EN) / Yasha and Onihime (JP)
	Yasha and Onihime are the bosses of Round 2. They are back from Streets of Rage with more powerful moves.
	Axel (EN) / Break (JP)
	Break is the boss of Round 3. This robot strangely looks exactly like Axel. It can reproduce all of his attacks and can move at astounding speed. Break in BK3 The Axel robot in SoR3
	Yamato
	Yamato is the boss of Round 4. After arriving on stage, he performs a ninja technique to clone himself into 3 entities: The first clone can teleport by saying the below incantation: "Magic" (EN), "Ninpō" 忍法 (literally Ninja Technique) (JP). The second clone can temporarily clone himself further for a multi-directional attack before merging back as one: "Magic Decoy" (EN), "Ninpō Kagami no Mai" 忍法・鏡の舞 (literally Ninja Technique - Mirror Dance) (JP). The third clone can become invisible: "Magic Invisible" (EN), "Ninpō Yami ga Kue" 忍法・闇が喰え (literally Ninja Technique - Eating Darkness) (JP). When Yamato has been defeated, he disappears using the famous self-exploding ninja technique from Return of Shinobi by yelling "Ninpō Mijin" 忍法・微塵 (literally Ninja Technique - Fine Dust) in Bare Knuckle III and "Magic Mijin" in Streets of Rage 3.
	Robot X (EN) / Robo X (JP)
	Robo X is the boss of Round 5. Much like Break, Robo X is yet another robot, this time mimicking Mr. X. Upon meeting you, it will directly go at full power by shedding its skin to be able to use its embedded firearms and missile launchers. Variation: Robot (EN) / Mr. A-Z (JP)
	Jet
	Jet is the boss of Round 6. Jet is back from Streets of Rage 2, completely changed this time as he's now bold and wears a mask linked to a portable air tank. He is accompanied by a swarm of Rockets.
	Dr. Dahm (EN) / Dr. Zero (JP)
	Dr. Zero is the penultimate boss of Round 7A, right before the final boss. You meet him only if you saved the Chief of Police (EN) / General Petrov (JP) in Round 6. Behind an enhanced bullet-proof window, he controls a mechanical arm that can output laser beams at you.
	Mr. X and Robot Y (EN) / Mr. X and Neo. X (JP)
	Neo. X is the last boss of Round 7A, accessible only if you saved the Chief of Police (EN) / General Petrov (JP) in Round 6. This is actually a robot remotely controlled by Mr. X himself, or rather what remains of his corpse: his brain inside a medical pod.

Levels

	Stage 1: South Pier Warehouse
	You barely stopped the second bomb from exploding but there is still a lot of work to do. Fight through the warehouse, waterfront and fight back a "fabulous" new enemy. Your nemesis Shiva is waiting for you at the end of the level. In the Japanese version, the mid-boss Ash unleashes goons transported using his boat before fighting you. In the international version, the enemy driving the boat is Shiva but he doesn't fight you as a mid-boss. He simply gets away after unleashing all the goons before acting as the final boss of the stage.
	Stage 2: Downtown
	Go through the most dangerous parts of the city during the night time and reach the Atlas Disco. Your old "friends", Onihime and Yasha are back for a rematch, this time wearing their own original attire.
	Stage 3: District K Construction Site
	Axel is framed for the kidnapping of General Petrov, but at least you have a lead. Reach the top of the building under construction. At the end, you will find out that Syndicate's robotic technologies are much more advanced than you imagined. Be careful as Donovan wants to drive a bulldozer and run it over you. You can punch it to temporarily push it away but your escape is hampered by several concrete walls. Knock them down to go forward.
	Stage 4: Underground Entrance
	Only way to find General Petrov is to go through the secret underground path Syndicate uses as a supply route. Watch out for small automated wagons that will pass through the area. At the end of the level, a trio of ninja mercenaries will try to stop you from reaching your target.
	Stage 5: Mr. X's Skyscraper
	You are only a few steps away from rescuing General Petrov. Fight back waves of enemies and face off Mr.X. Be careful of last-minute surprises from the criminal mastermind. At the end of the first section, the game doesn't send you to the second section right after having killed the last thug. This is because, from this moment forward, the game gives you about 10 seconds to find one of the 3 alternative secret passageways. Punch the door, the wall or the floor as shown in the below screenshots to get access to them: End of the first section on the ground floor Normal exit Exit to the first floor Exit to the secret room Exit to the basement Here is a map of all the possible paths throughout the first part of stage 5, green arrows showing the normal path, red arrows showing the alternative paths:
	Stage 6: Prison
	Time is running out. You must locate and destroy two switchboards that power up the barriers denying access to General Petrov's cell. The first switchboard is located in cell 3 in the middle floor, while another one is located in cell 2 on the lowest floor. Quickly reach Petrov who is located on the middle floor. Hurry up! Poisonous Gas will be released soon. This stage works a bit as a labyrinth where you must find your way through 3 floors of the prison building. Players start at the left section of the top floor. Yet, the developer team made a hidden 4th floor, below the lowest floor, that is not accessible as the left lift cannot go below its position given in the below map. This hidden floor connects to the right lift, which can lead you to the hidden parts of the accessible floors, including the right section of the top floor, marked as the exit of the building. Those hidden parts are only accessible by using cheating devices like the Game Genie or the Pro Action Replay: when you are in one of the cells of the stage 6, activate the PAR code FF88E3:08 to exit just before the door marked "05" after clearing the cell of any thugs, then disable it to avoid some weird collision bugs. If you go up with the right lift, the playable character may disappear. In this case, use the PAR code FF88E0:0404 to make it reappear.
	Stage 7A: Syndicate Hideout
	You are almost at the end. Enter the abandoned factory in the Green Leaf district and "retire" Mr.X's robot army. Mr.X is waiting for you at the end with his state-of-the-art prototype combat robot. Before the beginning of the stage, there should have been a section with the player riding a motorcycle going through the wasteland. Storm would have dropped some Molotov cocktails at you. Probably because of inadequate budget, this section has been dropped before its completion although it is still accessible through cheating devices like the Game Genie or the Pro Action Replay. Use the PAR code FFFB01:10 to get to the hidden level select screen and select scene 1 of round 7A.
	Stage 7B: White House/City Hall
	If you fail to save Petrov, this is where you will end up. Mr.X may have gotten away but at least you can still prevent Syndicate from starting a war that will claim the lives of millions. Find and arrest Petrov's impostor. Before the beginning of the stage, there should have been a section with the player on a motorcycle going through a bridge. Donovan would have been on a pickup truck trying to stop you by sending some drums and knives at you. Probably because of inadequate budget, this section has been dropped before its completion although it is still accessible through cheating devices like the Game Genie or the Pro Action Replay. Use the PAR code FFFB01:10 to get to the hidden level select screen and select scene 1 of round 7B.

History

Development

Prototype screenshots show that at one point, a motorcycle stage was planned for Streets of Rage 3, with some leftover code being present in the final game ROM. It is unknown why this feature was axed.

In comparison to its predecessors, Streets of Rage 3 takes a radically different approach to its soundtrack. Though still composed by Yuzo Koshiro, it is heavily influenced by Detroit's hard techno scene, popular in Tokyo dance clubs of the time. The soundtrack gathered a mixed reception in 1994, though is retrospectively considered by many to have been ahead of its time, containing elements similar to the "trance" era of dance music which would grow in popularity in the coming months and years.

Koshiro developed a composition system for this game, called the "Automated Composing System". Using features such as a random note generator (programmed in C++) , the soundtrack has a much more experimental tone, particularly noticeable in tracks such as "Bulldozer", whose composition is almost entirely randomized.

Like its predecessor, Motohiro Kawashima also contributed to the game's soundtrack.

There are several inside jokes in the game. In the overseas versions, Axel screams "Bare Knuckle" instead of "Ground Upper" (Like in the Japanese version and Streets of Rage 2) during his blitz (running attack). Bare Knuckle is the original Japanese name of the Street of Rage.

Boss of the 4th level, Yamato yells "Mijin" when defeated and blows himself to pieces. This is a reference to a ninja magic in Revenge of the Shinobi and Shinobi III, which has the same animation and name. Unlike its Shinobi version, Yamato's Mijin does not help him to defeat the heroes.

Versions

Streets of Rage 3 is a controversial game among many thanks to Sega of America's heavy-handed localization policies of the era. Unlike previous releases, the differences between Bare Knuckle III and Streets of Rage 3 are extremely obvious, involving the removal of features, a vastly different story (riddled in plotholes and missing scenes), and a higher level of difficulty (made worse by the fact that on the "easy" setting, the overseas release will stop after stage 5). Reasons for this massive spike in difficulty for overseas versions are unknown. During the mid 90s and early 2000s, this trend of increasing difficulty was quite common among American publishers who, for some reason, believed that Japanese games were too easy for "hardcore" western gamers. Many other overseas ports, such as Devil May Cry for the PlayStation 2, also received a similar treatment.

Of particular note is the use of "gender-neutral colors" amongst the character sprites, which leads to inconsistencies with both Streets of Rage's cover art (in all regions) and the designs in previous games. Scantily clad female characters were covered up, and an entire miniboss (Ash) was removed due to his perceived homosexuality. These and other changes ultimately hurt critical reception in Europe and North America, with some reviewers urging Streets of Rage series fans to import Bare Knuckle III or skip this title entirely.

An interesting thing to note is the cover of the EU version, which was actually first used by an issue of Mean Machines Sega which featured the game. Sega of Europe loved the cover art so much, they purchased the rights to use it for the EU version's packaging.

For years, the Japanese ROM remained unaltered until its re-release on the international versions of Mega Drive Mini 2, where the second segment of Stage 1 with Ash as a mid-boss is skipped with no further reason given, also rendering said character being unplayable through cheat codes.

Today, an unofficial fan translation is available for the Bare Knuckle III ROM, whose script was used with the permission of the original author. Other hacks bring back the lost motorbike stages and additional areas of round 6 which were originally removed in the western releases of the game.

Re-releases

Compared to its prequels, Streets of Rage 3 is a less common and more expensive game to find 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. The game also appeared in Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game has also been released on the Wii Virtual Console, iOS and Steam. The iOS version was removed from sale on iTunes in 2015.

Version history

Main article: Streets of Rage 3/Changelog.

System	Version	Size	Date	Comment	Ref	Icon
	0000020000000000000000000000002.0	9.5MB	201211292012-11-29
	0000010000000000000000000000001.0.0	8.3MB	201104282011-04-28

Localised names

Also known as

Language	Localised Name	English Translation
English	Streets of Rage 3	Streets of Rage 3
English (US)	Streets of Rage 3	Streets of Rage 3
Japanese	ベアナックルIII	Bare Knuckle III

Production credits

Main article: Streets of Rage 3/Production credits.

Digital manuals

• 

  Steam manual

• 

  Mega Drive Mini 2 US manual

• 

  Mega Drive Mini 2 EU manual

Magazine articles

Main article: Streets of Rage 3/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

FI advert (1994)

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1994-03: "March 1994" (1994-02-08)

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1994-04: "April 1994" (1994-03-08)

Print advert in VideoGames (US) #66: "July 1994" (1994-0x-xx)
also published in:

• EGM² (US) #1: "July 1994" (1994-07-19)

Print advert in Computer & Video Games (UK) #153: "August 1994" (1994-07-15)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source GamesMaster (UK) 59 №17, p56-57

	59
Based on 1 review

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, JP
Cover
Cart Manual Command List

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, PT
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, PT (alt)
Cover

Mega Drive, SE rental (HENT orange)
Cover

Mega Drive, SE rental (SF)
Cover

Mega Drive, AU
Cover

Mega Drive, BR
Cover
Manual

Mega Drive, KR
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, AS† (NTSC)
Cover

Technical information

Main article: Streets of Rage 3/Technical information.

External links

• Sega of Japan Virtual Console pages: Mega Drive
• Nintendo catalogue pages: US, UK, AU
• Streets of Rage 3 on iTunes: JP, US, UK (offline)
• Streets of Rage 3 on Steam

References

Games in the Streets of Rage Series
Streets of Rage (3D) (1991) | Streets of Rage 2 (3D) (1992) | Streets of Rage 3 (1994) | Streets of Rage 4 (2020)
Streets of Rage (LCD) (1993) | Bare Knuckle Mobile (2010) | Sega Vintage Collection: Streets of Rage (2012)
Related Games
Streets Of Kamurocho (2020) | Fighting Force (unreleased) | Streets of Rage 4 (Dreamcast) (unreleased) | Streets of Rage Online (unreleased)
Related Media
	Bare Knuckle (1991) | Streets of Rage 2 Original Soundtrack (1993) | Bare Knuckle III (1994) | Bare Knuckle Original Soundtrack (2012) | Streets of Rage (2015) | Streets of Rage 2 (2016) | Streets of Rage 3 (2017) | Streets of Rage 4 Limited Run Games Exclusive Track Selection (2020) | Streets of Rage Perfect Soundtrack (2017) | Streets of Rage 4 Original Soundtrack (2020) | Streets of Rage 4: Mr. X Nightmare The Definitive Soundtrack (2022)
	Streets of Rage: Bad City Fighters (1994) | Warpzone Clássicos: Streets of Rage (2016)
Other	List of Streets of Rage merchandise