Round Table: The future of Streets of Rage and our favorite memories

 
As Streets of Rage Week comes to an end, the SEGAbits writer’s round table has us reflecting on our fond memories of the franchise, and where we would like to see the franchise headed in the future. SEGA has always been hit or miss when it comes to reviving and remaking older franchises. For every SEGA 3DS 3D Classics remake, Castle of Illusion and Shinobi 3DS there are a slew of stinkers – Golden Axe: Beast Rider, Altered Beast (PS2), several of the Sega Ages 2500 releases. Point is, a remake or reboot of Streets of Rage could go either way. What direction would be like to see the franchise headed? Follow the flashing “GO!” and read on!

Nuckles

[Image Credit: modusprodukt]

Out of all of SEGA’s 16-bit franchises, Streets of Rage was the one I always thought made the most sense as a 3D game. After all, the game already works from an isometric perspective, and the game itself seems like something that could easily benefit from a third dimension. Yet time and time again, 3D Streets of Rage projects have failed to move past the concept stage, leading to a once popular franchise sinking deeper and deeper into obscurity. I’d love to see this franchise resurrected, either through a remake or a sequel, preferably on a platform with button.

A new Streets of Rage ought to resurrect the old isometric perspective, but utilize 3D graphics and fluid movement of modern games. As much as I love the 80s cheese of Wayforward’s new Double Dragon, the return of the original game’s restrictive movements disappoints me, and makes the game feel just a tad too dated, even if that was the intention. It should have four player offline and online co-operative. Aside from these changes, the game should still look and play like a classic Streets of Rage title.

Barry the Nomad

[Image credit: lost-tyrant]

While I wasn’t one of the lucky kids who grew up of the Streets of Rage franchise, I know the beat ’em up genre all to well. Growing up, my favorite arcade games were Konami’s The Simpsons and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cabinets, as well as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist (a game which I still think is better than its SNES counterpart). Thanks to my Konami training, the first time I played Streets of Rage was a piece of cake. What floored me, however, were easy to execute yet incredibly varied moves, the many weapons and the amazing soundtrack.

Streets of Rage could easily live on in the world of today, with smaller titles being possible via publishing on Steam, PSN, or XBLA. I don’t think the franchise could handle a Golden Axe: Beast Rider type of game, but I could easily see a group of committed fans of the franchise developing and releasing an official sequel – not unlike how SEGA tasked Taxman with creating the Sonic the Hedgehog remasters. The guys at Bomber Games would be my first choice, given they already did just what I described, only to have SEGA force them to pull their game from the internet. My hope is that SEGA saw something there rather than simply going on the legal defensive, and something is in the works. We’ll have to wait and see…

Kori-Maru

[Image credit: kamiomutsu]

My experiences with the Streets of Rage series have always been very memorable. The first Streets of Rage game I’ve ever owned and played on the Sega Genesis was the first game in the series bundled in the SEGA 6-Pack Cartridge. Thanks to its dark atmosphere and co-op game play, I have an will always love the franchise

If SEGA decides to take a look at the Streets of Rage series once again for modern gaming, I would like for the company to reboot the series. Unlike the cancelled remake, I would like to see the series remade similar to how Castle of Illusion was made along with the cancelled Golden Axe Remake, which looked really damn good with 3 or 4-player co-op. Add narration and cutscenes to the game similar to Castle of Illusion to make the game come to life. Yuzo Koshiro should also return to reprise his role as the music composer. If not, at least as a supervisor on how the music should sound. As long as the game pays tribute to the original, I would be pleased as a retro gamer.

George

[Image credit: murici0]

I first played Streets of Rage as a kid was because one of my uncles owned it along with a crispy black SEGA Genesis Model 1, which I used to go over in the weekends to play the hell out of. One of my earliest ‘family memories’ was trying to get through Streets of Rage 2 with my cousins, yelling at each other when we ‘accidentally’ punched each other.

We would sit, playing for hours on end and making up names for the enemies we saw on screen. One of my favorite things about the Streets of Rage franchise has always been the music. This game makes it so easy to just sit and watch someone else play. If you have a big family, you know that you will be doing lots of watching, but thankfully Yuzo Koshiro’s soundtrack alone would keep your attention. I got to say, its not surprising that Streets of Rage franchise is held with such high esteem, it totally deserves it.

Streets of Rage Week content round-up

• Streets of Rage Week begins with a SEGA Retro franchise overview

• We interview “SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works” creator Darren Wall featuring exclusive Streets of Rage design documents from SEGA

• Darren Wall joins us for our Swingin’ Report Show Streets of Rage Special

• My Life with SEGA’s three part Streets of Rage special comes to an end

• SEGA in the Media returns with Saints of Rage – the game within a game

• George details the five most punchable enemies in the franchise

• SEGA Channel Retro plays the SEGA Genesis Classics Collection

Genesis Month isn’t over yet! Stay tuned for more 16-bit memories!

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