Streets of Rage 3

From Sega Retro

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Streets of rage 3 title.png

Streets of Rage 3
SoR3 iOS icon.png
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Virtual Console, iOS, Steam
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Sound driver:
Sega Mega Drive
Ancient Music Driver MD
Peripherals supported: Six button pad
Genre: Action

















Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
JP
¥7,8007,800 G-4116
Sega Mega Drive
US
1539
Sega Mega Drive
EU
1539
Sega Mega Drive
AU
$129.95129.95[3] FSTR02SMC
Sega Mega Drive
BR
047060
Sega Mega Drive
KR
GM94005JG
Sega Mega Drive
AS
G-4116
Wii Virtual Console
JP
600pts600
Wii Virtual Console
US
800pts800
Wii Virtual Console
EU
800pts800
iOS
JP
¥350350[6]
iOS
US
$2.992.99[5]
iOS
EU
€2.392.39[4]
CERO
Missing Parameter!

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

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 allows 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). Death causes a downgrade, however holding the X 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.

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 randomised.

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

Versions

Streets of Rage 3 is a controversial game among many thanks to Sega of America's heavy-handed localisation 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).

Of particular note is the use of "gender neutral colours" 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 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 import Bare Knuckle III or skip this title entirely.

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.[7]

Version history

System Version Size Date Comment Ref Icon
iOS
0000020000000000000000000000002.0 9.5MB 201211292012-11-29 [8]
iOS
0000010000000000000000000000001.0.0 8.3MB 201104282011-04-28 [5]

Trivia

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

Production credits

Bare Knuckle III

Planner
Designer
Programer
Sound


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

Streets of Rage 3

Planning
Design
Programming
Music


Digital manuals

Magazine articles

Main article: Streets of Rage 3/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in VideoGames (US) #66: "July 1994" (1994-0x-xx)
also published in:
  • EGM² (US) #1: "July 1994" (1994-07-19)[9]
Logo-pdf.svg
Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Computer & Video Games (UK) #153: "August 1994" (1994-07-15)
Logo-pdf.svg

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
67 №11/94, p20[10]
89 №32, p84-86
82 №152, p55[11]
73
90
83 №61, p42/43[12]
59 №17, p56/57
72 №31, p66/99-101[13]
72 №20, p36/37
75 №6/94, p100/101[14]
90
83 №10, p43
90 №29, p64-67
83 №20, p42-45[15]
85 №42, p104/105[16]
84 №7/94, p134/135[17]
83 №55, p38/39
82 №32, p64/65
85 №29, p10
90
77 №7/94, p87[18]
Sega Mega Drive
81
Based on
21 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
70
[19]
Aktueller Software Markt (DE)
67
[10]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
75
[20]
Consoles + (FR)
89
[21]
Cool Gamer (RU)
80
[22]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
82
[11]
Digitiser (UK) PAL
75
[23]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
73
[24]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU)
70
[25]
GameFan (US) NTSC-U
78
[26]
Game Players (US) NTSC-U
90
[27]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
83
[12]
Gamers (DE)
47
[28]
Gamestar (AU) NTSC-J
74
[29]
Games World: The Magazine (UK) PAL
44
[30]
Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J
50
[31]
Hyper (AU)
83
[32]
Joypad (FR)
72
[13]
Joypad (HU)
72
[33]
MAN!AC (DE) PAL
76
[34]
Mega (UK) NTSC-J
72
[35]
Mega Force (FR)
94
[36]
Mega Fun (DE)
75
[14]
Mega Power (UK) PAL
83
[37]
MegaTech (UK) NTSC-J
90
[38]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) NTSC-J
83
[15]
Player One (FR)
85
[16]
Play Time (DE)
84
[39]
Sega Magazin (DE)
86
[40]
Sega Magazine (UK) PAL
90
[41]
Sega Power (UK) NTSC-J
83
[42]
Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-U
82
[43]
Sega Zone (UK) NTSC-J
86
[44]
Sega Force (SE)
90
[45]
Sega Mega Drive Review (RU)
80
[46]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
78
[47]
Sonic the Comic (UK) PAL
85
[48]
Super Juegos (ES)
86
[49]
Todo Sega (ES)
89
[50]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
82
[51]
Video Games (DE) PAL
77
[52]
VideoGames (US) NTSC-U
80
[53]
Video Plus (CZ)
90
[54]
Sega Mega Drive
79
Based on
43 reviews

Streets of Rage 3

Mega Drive, US
Sor3 md us cover.jpg
Cover
Sor3 md us cart.jpg
Cart
Sor3 md us manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, EU
Sor3 md eu cover.jpg
Cover
Sor3 md eu cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, JP
Sor3 md jp cover.jpg
Cover
StreetsofRage3 MD JP CartTop.jpg
SoR3 MD JP Cart Back.jpgSOR3 MD JP Cart.jpg
Cart
Sor3 md jp manual.pdf
Manual
StreetsofRage3 MD JP Poster.pdf
Command List
Mega Drive, AU
SoR3 MD AU cover.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, BR
SoR3 MD BR Box.jpg
Cover
Sor3 md br manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, KR
SoR MD KR Box.jpg
Cover
SoR3 MD KR cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, Asia
Sor3 md as cover.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, SE (rental)

External links

References

  1. File:CVG UK 150.pdf, page 34
  2. File:CVG UK 153.pdf, page 50
  3. File:Gamestar AU 01.pdf, page 55
  4. 4.0 4.1 http://itunes.apple.com/es/app/streets-of-rage-3/id429820095?mt=8 (Wayback Machine: 2011-05-01 14:30)
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/streets-of-rage-3/id429820095?mt=8 (Wayback Machine: 2011-05-07 08:53)
  6. 6.0 6.1 http://www.4gamer.net/games/049/G004989/20110428123/
  7. http://www.polygon.com/2015/5/18/8622645/sega-pulls-games-from-itunes-app-store-google-play
  8. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/streets-of-rage-3/id429820095?mt=8 (Wayback Machine: 2014-08-03 18:04)
  9. EGM², "July 1994" (US; 1994-07-19), page 19
  10. 10.0 10.1 File:ASM DE 1994-11.pdf, page 20 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:ASM DE 1994-11.pdf_p20" defined multiple times with different content
  11. 11.0 11.1 File:CVG UK 152.pdf, page 55 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:CVG UK 152.pdf_p55" defined multiple times with different content
  12. 12.0 12.1 File:GamePro US 061.pdf, page 44 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:GamePro US 061.pdf_p44" defined multiple times with different content
  13. 13.0 13.1 File:Joypad FR 031.pdf, page 66 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Joypad FR 031.pdf_p66" defined multiple times with different content
  14. 14.0 14.1 File:MegaFun DE 1994-06.pdf, page 92 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MegaFun DE 1994-06.pdf_p92" defined multiple times with different content
  15. 15.0 15.1 File:MeanMachinesSega20UK.pdf, page 42 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachinesSega20UK.pdf_p42" defined multiple times with different content
  16. 16.0 16.1 File:PlayerOne FR 042.pdf, page 104 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:PlayerOne FR 042.pdf_p104" defined multiple times with different content
  17. File:PlayTime DE 1994-07.pdf, page 128
  18. File:VideoGames DE 1994-07.pdf, page 83
  19. 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 225
  20. Beep! MegaDrive, "April 1994" (JP; 1994-03-08), page 19
  21. Consoles +, "Mai 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 84
  22. Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 24
  23. Digitiser (UK) (1994-08-02)
  24. Electronic Gaming Monthly, "July 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 34
  25. Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 362
  26. GameFan, "Volume 2, Issue 7: June 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 26
  27. Game Players, "Vol. 7 No. 7 July 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 84
  28. Gamers, "Juli/August 1994" (DE; 1994-07-01), page 34
  29. Gamestar, "June 1994" (AU; 1994-xx-xx), page 54
  30. Games World: The Magazine, "July 1994" (UK; 1994-05-26), page 17
  31. Hippon Super, "April 1994" (JP; 1994-03-03), page 61
  32. Hyper, "June 1994" (AU; 1994-xx-xx), page 30
  33. Joypad, "1/1995" (HU; 1995-xx-xx), page 21
  34. MAN!AC, "05/94" (DE; 1994-04-13), page 40
  35. Mega, "May 1994" (UK; 1994-04-21), page 37
  36. Mega Force, "Mai 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 78
  37. Mega Power, "May 1994" (UK; 1994-04-21), page 43
  38. MegaTech, "May 1994" (UK; 1994-04-21), page 14
  39. Play Time, "7/94" (DE; 1994-06-08), page 134
  40. Sega Magazin, "Juni 1994" (DE; 1994-05-11), page 10
  41. Sega Magazine, "May 1994" (UK; 1994-04-15), page 78
  42. Sega Power, "June 1994" (UK; 1994-04-28), page 38
  43. Sega Pro, "May 1994" (UK; 1994-04-21), page 64
  44. Sega Zone, "May 1994" (UK; 1994-04-xx), page 38
  45. Sega Force, "6/94" (SE; 1994-09-14), page 10
  46. Sega Mega Drive Review, "2" (RU; 1996-01-03), page 18
  47. Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85
  48. Sonic the Comic, "July 8th 1994" (UK; 1994-06-25), page 10
  49. Super Juegos, "Abril 1994" (ES; 1994-0x-xx), page 46
  50. Todo Sega, "Junio 1994" (ES; 1994-0x-xx), page 56
  51. Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 187
  52. Video Games, "7/94" (DE; 1994-06-29), page 87
  53. VideoGames, "July 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 70
  54. Video Plus, "" (CZ; 199x-xx-xx), page 1



SoR 1UP sprite 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
Music
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)
Book
Streets of Rage: Bad City Fighters (1994) | Warpzone Clássicos: Streets of Rage (2016)
Other List of Streets of Rage merchandise