Streets of Rage 3/Playable characters

At the beginning of the game, 4 playable characters are available:

• Axel Stone,
• Blaze Fielding,
• Eddie "Skate" Hunter,
• Dr. Gilbert Zan.

Despite appearing during the story, Adam Hunter and Max Thunder both remain unplayable.

Following certains conditions to satisfy during a run and by inputting some cheat codes, 3 enemies can become playable characters:

• Roo, the kangaroo coming along the mini-boss of the second stage, Bruce the clown,
• Shiva, the boss of the first stage,
• Ash, the mini-boss of the first stage in the Japanese version of the game.

Those additional characters are quite rough and are in an unfinished state, particularly Ash as most of his attacks look similar. They hint at the fact that the development team may have tried to render all mid-boss and boss characters playable for a more interesting Battle mode but then stopped this task for obvious budget constraint reasons.

Notes:

• In this page, the introduction of each selectable character is directly taken from the game manual of the American version. However, character's backgrounds are quite different between the Western and Japanese releases, especially for Zan.
• The American manual doesn't name any special moves contrary to the Japanese manual. So, all the special move names in the below sections only come from the Japanese manual.

Character movesets

The control scheme in SoR3 takes after and expands on the one in SoR2. Each character has both a basic and an advanced moveset. The advanced moveset is composed of several types of special moves, which are not classified the same way in the Western and Japanese versions of the game.

In SoR3, the blitz move can be upgraded up to 3 times, the current blitz level being shown with a series of stars under the player's health bar. Moreover, by holding some specific kinds of weapons, characters can perform special moves different from their bare hands versions. However, those 2 mechanisms are not mentioned in the English game manual, only in the Japanese manual.

Advanced moveset

Move (EN)	Move (JP)	Command	Comment
Blitz	Seichō Hissatsu 成長必殺	+	The Japanese term literally means growing deadly (technique). This is called like that to convey the idea of upgradable blitz.
Special Blitz 1	Seichō Hissatsu 1 成長必殺1		In the US manual, the move name only appears in the section dedicated to the Sega Activator.
Special Blitz 2	Seichō Hissatsu 2 成長必殺2		In the US manual, the move name only appears in the section dedicated to the Sega Activator.
	Seichō Hissatsu 3 成長必殺3		As you can't perform this move with the Sega Activator, it is not named in the US manual.
Stationary Special	Hissatsu Waza 必殺技		Usually simply called special by players. The Japanese term literally means deadly technique.
Directed Special		+	Usually called forward special by players.
	Buki Hissatsu 武器必殺	+ or +	Usually called weapon blitz or weapon special by players. The Japanese term literally means weapon deadly (technique).

Special blitz 1 moves are direct upgrades of standard blitz moves, going faster and farther. At a blitz level of 2 stars, special blitz 2 moves initiate completely different move sequences that get completed when reaching the 3-star level.

Axel Stone

After the Syndicate was defeated the second time, Blaze's old partner from the police force moved far from the city and set up a school of martial arts. The letter he receives from Blaze brings him back to the city at top speed.

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 Stone
	Move list Type Name Description 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 timber, pipe or bat Power Strike Special (cheat mode) Quadruple Ground Hurricane + Dragon Wing combo

Blaze Fielding

An ex-cop who had helped overthrow Mr. X twice before, Blaze now works as a private detective. When informed by Dr. Zan that the next victim of the Syndicate's evil scheme will be her old friend, the Chief of Police, she immediately sets up a task force to go to his rescue.

	Blaze Fielding
	Move list Type Name Description 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

Eddie "Skate" Hunter

Since his last encounter with Mr. X and his thugs, Adam's kid brother has grown smarter, stronger and faster. And he's ready and willing to hit the Syndicate where it hurts.

	Eddie "Skate" Hunter (EN) / Sammy Hunter (JP)
	Move list Type Name Description 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 timber, pipe or bat Home Run Upper Directed Special with timber, pipe or bat Spinning Blaster Blitz with knife Ningen Missile 人間ミサイル

Dr. Gilbert Zan

A former RoboCy researcher converted into a cyborg during Dr. Dahm's early experiments. Dr. Zan probes a little too deeply into corporate files and discovers what the secret research is really for. He knows the Syndicate must be stopped once and for all, but because of his criminal record he can't approach the police. So he pays a visit to Blaze's agency and enlists her help.

Dr. Gilbert Zan

Move list Type Name Description 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)

Roo

Roo being a hidden playable character, no official sources from the game disclosed the names of the moves performed by Roo. So, this section uses the move names specified in Streets of Rage 4.

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.

	Roo (EN) / Victy (JP)
	Move list Type Name Description Blitz Handbrake Stationary Special Somersault Tail Whip Directed Special Hurricane Kick

Shiva

Shiva is another hidden playable character. He's quite unfinished and some of his moves feel quite incomplete or out of place, like his blitz.

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.

	Shiva
	Move list Type Name Description Blitz Special Final Crash

Ash

Ash as a playable character could have been a failed attempt or a joke that the developers still included in the game as a bonus. Nearly all his moves use similar animations and are not really well developed.

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.

	Ash
	Move list Type Name Description Blitz Special