Streets of Rage (Master System)

 Having recently reviewed the Sega Game Gear version of the first "Streets of Rage" game it only made sense to review Sega Master System version (and the Sega Mega Drive version). Like the other versions of the game this is a side scrolling beat 'em up where the player controls a character and attempts to battle through the game to defeat "Mr X" the leader of a crime syndicate which has been take over the city.

The first thing you may notice (especially if you have played the game gear version of the game) is that Adam is back (he was featured in the Mega Drive version but absent from the significantly shortened Game Gear cartridge). Though the characters do lack a stats screen it is nice to see Adam. Though this may seem like a little thing it is the first (of many) signs that the game is more complete port of the Mega Drive game.

As well as a returning Adam you also get the whole 8 levels of the Mega Drive game (rather than just 5) as well as the regular Cop back up special (that was completely altered for the Game Gear) and more importantly the "knee" animation has returned (thank god).

Despite being a much more accurate port the game does however have enough difference to make it a fun game for the Streets of Rage enthusiast, especially on level 6 where new traps are used as well as a totally new boss (see the bottom picture). In fact the game has a number of changes from original game due to the power of the Master System when compared to the Mega Drive. These include the way the player uses the Special cop back up (now needing to pause the game) which was changed to accommodate the fact the Master System controls only featured 2 buttons. Though the most noticeable "change" are the graphics which has been scaled back due to the processing power of the Master System. The game also seems to have been made somewhat easier due to the fact their was only ever 2 enemies on screen at any one time (at least on "normal") meaning the player can tactically defeat them before the next enemies appear.

Whilst the game is a pretty true port of the original game it does strike me as being not only the "ugly sister" of the family but also the easiest (as mentioned above, the 2 enemies on screen issue really does make the game "easy"). In fact the always troublesome "Mona and Lisa" enemies were actually really simple in the game. Thankfully however the return of Adam, the Cops, the extra levels and the knee animation really do help complete this game and bring back a lot of the Streets of Rage love we all have inside us.

If you're a Streets of Rage fan this is certainly worth adding to your collection just for a chance to play through the game again, if you're a beat em up fan it's worth a play and in fact if you're just a video game fan it's worth a go despite looking garish in places.

78%

Details:
Console-Sega Master System
Release-1993
Developer-Sega
Genre-Beat Em Up
Players-1 (as far as I'm aware)

Trivia:
The games title screen will say "Press start" oddly pressing start will do nothing and you actually need to press "2"