Streets of Rage

Streets of Rage, Sega Genesis, Sega, 1991

Now this one is special. My Sega cousins blew my mind with the first Sonic the Hedgehog in the summer of 1991. However, nothing prepared me for Streets of Rage later that fall. I had played beat-em-up games in the arcades, like Final Fight and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game, but they were nothing like this.
Streets of Rage was gritty, visceral, with a blood-pumping soundtrack and dark urban setting that felt wholly original. And no arcade was necessary! We could play it in my cousin's den!

Streets of Rage, I will press any button you tell me to.

The crazy thing is that Streets of Rage still holds up, even outside the lens of nostalgia, without which, admittedly, I will never be capable of viewing it, hence this sentence may be a lie, but I doubt it. Streets of Rage uses a simple setup, "A" for a special movie, "B" to attack, and "C" to jump. You only get one special move per life, unless you earn an additional one. By tapping "B" rapidly as you pummel foes, you can do combos. By tapping B while you are in the air, you can do a flying kick. Hold B and C together and you can hit behind you. Get close to an enemy and press B, and you can grab them and throw them. That's it. About as simple as it gets.

As simple as kneeing this dude in the nuts.

The player essentially moves up, down, left, and right through the corridor of each level, attempting to get the angle on soon-to-be-beaten-senseless thugs. There are three characters to choose from: burly Adam, head-banded Axel, and the nimble Blaze. All three are ex-cops, determined to clean up the crime-infested city streets. The trio can pick up weapons like baseball bats, pipes, and knifes throughout each level, though using these changes the timing of attacks. Most importantly, two players can play at once cooperatively, taking on Streets of Rage together.

I've never felt closer to you than I do right now, though I do feel just a bit closer to this guy, who I have in a headlock

Streets of Rage is one of the best buddy team-up games ever, though the fact that you can damage your friend's character can also completely destroy you friendship in the heat of battle. Someone will most definitely pull out "You did that on purpose!" no matter how evil the other player's intentions actually are. It's awesome. Not quite as awesome: it's really easy to accidentally hit "A" in the thick of battle and waste the special move, which in this game involves a squad car pulling up and raining instant death fire upon all of the bad guys onscreen. Better to save it for the bosses, who aren't insta-killed, but are still extremely damaged by your backup's fiery justice.

"We'll just identify their bodies by their dental records."

The game looks great, with detailed, sometimes scrolling backgrounds, a wide array of color, both neon and gritty, well-designed, distinct characters, and cool environmental touches within each level, like wind-blown trash and rain. However, in the production department, it's Yuzo Koshiro's surprisingly atmospheric, early 90's club music-influenced soundtrack that's the star of the show. I can't stress enough how effective Koshiro's score for this game is, fully transporting the player into Streets of Rage's unique world--it's an all-time great. The sound effects are also delightful, punches popping satisfyingly. The best is the death gasp every enemy lets out when you've defeated them, letting you know it's time to move on to another baddie.

Blaze, holding it down.

Thankfully, Sega's dreaded, "the game is only 15 minutes long so we have to make it impossible" bug was starting to wear off during Streets of Rage's development, as the game is suitably challenging, but not impossible, while still taking a good 45 minutes to complete.
The insane thing about the first Sonic the Hedgehog and Streets of Rage games is that in just a year, Sega would both completely top and perfect them with their sequels. Early 90's Sega was on fire!

Graphics: 8.5/10.0
Sound: 10.0/10.0
Gameplay: 9.5/10.0
Lasting Value 9.5/10.0
Overall (Not an Average): 9.5/10.0