Line #69 YMMV/StreetsOfRage


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2	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Shiva's motivations for fighting the heroes in ''4''. [[spoiler:He detests the Y Twins' methods, which led to him resigning from the Syndicate for good, and showing the heroes where to find them. While this can be seen as a double standard since Mr. X also committed dubious actions, he ''did'' [[FridgeBrilliance presumably win many followers]] [[VillainWithGoodPublicity through sheer influence and charisma alone]], while the Twins want to force as many people to serve them against their will and are more reckless overall.]]
3	* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: The 2D visuals for ''4'' are done beautifully, with even the generic mooks looking very well done while remaining faithful to their 16-bit incarnations.
4	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
5	** The soundtracks of the games are quite enjoyable. There's a good reason AwesomeMusic/YuzoKoshiro's name appears on the title screens of all three games directly under Creator/{{Sega}}'s copyright. The soundtracks are so popular, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dOnOKsaQz0 Koshiro makes money on the side by remixing his own tracks and playing them at clubs.]] ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siC1gKWOzmA Full set here.]])
6	** Now has [[AwesomeMusic/StreetsOfRage its own page]].
7	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment:
8	** Several sub-areas seem rather out-of-place, specifically the creepy ''Film/{{Alien}}''-themed area in the middle of a fairground, complete with entertaining lethal exploding alien eggs and a giant lethal monstrous swingy thingy.
9	** In the third game, there's the oddly placed Japanese-styled building that comes after a tunnel level, complete with a boss that looks like a samurai and can split into two other copies. Luckily, you only fight one of them at a time.
10	** In the fourth game, you can find arcade machines that actually ''warps you inside them'' to fight bosses from the second game, [[{{Retraux}} with graphics to match]]. [[EasterEgg Obviously, this has no bearing on the plot.]]
11	* BreatherBoss:
12	** The robots in the second game's penultimate stage are easier than the insane elevator sequence beforehand, though they're still pretty challenging. On higher difficulties, though, there are more of them, so this applies less.
13	** Danch/Bruce in the third game. He's a horrible fighter, having only a few weak attacks. The presence of Roo is the only thing that makes the fight challenging.
14	** Beyo and Reya in the fourth game. Their simple, easy-to-anticipate attack patterns and lack of ability to [[FlunkyBoss call reinforcements]] the way other bosses do mean that they're much easier than the bosses that come before and after them (Shiva and [[spoiler:Max]], respectively)
15	* BreatherLevel: Round 7 of ''Streets of Rage'', which is a brief and simple ElevatorActionSequence before [[ThatOneLevel the final stage]], which consists of a BossRush. Besides having [[FanNickname the Elevator of Death]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ciOHwf5E84 as the great equalizer against high-level baddies,]] this is also the last level in which the player can call upon their squad buddies for backup. [[labelnote:*]]Admittedly, it'd be hard for them to a drive a car into the very top floor of a several story-high skyscraper that you accessed via elevator, but that doesn't stop them from firing napalm that is somehow able to reach a rapidly ascending elevator platform.[[/labelnote]]
16	* BrokenBase:
17	** There's a neverending argument about ''[=SoR3=]'''s soundtrack. Unlike the first two games, which were generally electronic house music, this one utilized randomized sequences to create very distinct hard techno. The reception was extremely polarizing; some thought that it was innovative and served as a clever change to the series' previous sound, while others claimed it was rather unmemorable and ill-fitting. The general public [[VindicatedByHistory eventually warmed up to it long after release]] as trance became more popular, basically making ''[=SoR3=]'' a sort of pioneer, but there are still some gripes about whether this change in style was needed in the first place.
18	** The lack of running and rolling in ''[=SoR4=]'' divided fans on various forums [[TaintedByThePreview pre-release]], and ended up being a sticking point after the game hit shelves. For the many faults found with the third installment (see ContestedSequel and ItsHardSoItSucks below), the new mobility options and how they affected gameplay were actually well-received by most players, to the point that the much-lauded ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRageRemake'' made it so that the ''[=SoR1=]'' and ''[=SoR2=]'' casts had access to the same updated mechanics. As such, the fact that the fourth game game [[SnapBack reverted]] to a more ''[=SoR2=]''-esque formula, with only Cherry, Adam, and Shiva having alternate forms of movement (running and dashing respectively), invites frequent debate as to whether this choice was a step back. Not helping matters is that Lizardcube did consider having the ability to run implemented as a universal feature, only to remove it during playtesting for balance purposes. To make up for it, most characters have a Forward Offensive Air Special that acts as a sort of dash or evasion maneuver with invulnerability windows [[note]]Axel has a rolling attack that can hit enemies while on the ground, Blaze has a jump kick that elevates her and moves her forward, and Floyd has a double jump[[/note]], though the downside is these moves [[CastFromHitPoints do cost health]]. In addition with the ''Mr. X Nightmare'' DLC, every character has an unlockable alternative Blitz attack, Special attack, and their forward variations. Most of them act either as a dash or a gap-closer to make up for it.
19	* CaptainObviousReveal: Just about everyone called Max's forthcoming return as a playable character in his modern incarnation via ''Mr. X Nightmare'' as soon as they saw his silhouette in the DLC character lineup.
20	* CheeseStrategy:
21	** R.Bear is an incredibly hard boss... when you are unarmed, as he has incredible range and priority. But if you get your hands on a pipe or especially a sword, the situation is completely reversed, so you can stay in the same line as him, time your attacks right and interrupt all of his, beating this difficult adversary untouched with little effort.
22	** As noted in GameBreaker, Shiva's ''4'' incarnation [[MechanicallyUnusualFighter has the unique ability to perform air combos]], allowing for easy juggles that can rack up big damage very quickly. Normally, there's a caveat in that more advanced air combos require his alternate Offensive and Air Specials (Spirit Palm and Spirit Kick) to get around the regular groundbounce and wallbounce limits, but this is a different story with the FinalBoss. So long as they're standing still, it's possible to stay airborne almost indefinitely (and only with the use of Spirit Kick) due to the boss being ImmuneToFlinching, letting Shiva shave off massive chunks of their health bar while also staying out of harm's way. (There is the risk losing the provisional health from rapid [[CastFromHitPoints Special]] spam, however.)
23	* CommonKnowledge: This game is often held up as an example of media sending the message that PoliceAreUseless at best and [[CorruptCop corrupt]] at worst, and a recurring meme features what appears to be a screencap of the second game with the text "ONLY TRUST YOUR FISTS - POLICE WILL NEVER HELP YOU." While it is true that the game consists of ex-cops who quit their jobs after realizing that the police of Wood Oak City as a whole were in Mr X.'s pocketbook, this text never appears in any of the games. The screenshot in question (minus the text) isn't from any of the official games, but from ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRageRemake'', as the cop car appears as part of a special attack in that game, something that was phased out from canon after the first game.
24	* ComplacentGamingSyndrome:
25	** Expect to see Axel and/or Max in [=LPs=] of ''2'', due to their strengths mentioned in GameBreaker and GoodBadBugs.
26	** In ''4'', co-op sessions tended to originally default to which player managed to pick Adam first, as his ability to dash allows him to quickly cover ground and even slip behind enemies. Come the ''Mr. X Nightmare'' DLC, Adam quickly fell out of favor as players learned [[GameBreaker how ridiculous]] Shiva can be even at casual levels of play, especially with his alternate moves unlocked.
27	* CompleteMonster: [[DiabolicalMastermind Mr. X]], [[BigBad leader]] of TheSyndicate who has taken control over all of Wood Oak City's criminal enterprises, is fairly generic in the first two games, but later shows how low he can sink in two alternate timelines:
28	** ''3'' (Japanese Version) & ''4'': Mr. X, now a BrainInAJar, hatches a plan to steal the explosive substance Rakushin, which he'll use to [[WarForFunAndProfit trigger a war]] between the Lima Nation and the United States, all to achieve [[TakeOverTheWorld world domination]]. Kidnapping General Ivan Petrov once the latter disapproves of his plan, Mr. X can potentially [[KillAndReplace kill him and have Shiva pose as him]] to launch his war. Framing Axel Stone for Petrov's kidnapping, upon his encounter with Axel and friends, Mr. X tries to have the entire Lima Nation destroyed using Rakushin bombs, gleefully anticipating his full-scale war. Despite his death, Mr. X's [[VillainousLegacy legacy]] carries on in the fourth game with his children, the Y Twins, who use their father's resources to launch their own evil schemes.
29	** ''3'' (Western Version): Mr. X, after his defeat, kidnaps the Chief of Police to have him and the city's politicians replaced with robot replicas in order to strengthen his control over Wood Oak City. Having Axel [[FrameUp framed]] for the Chief's kidnapping, Mr. X sends his men out to commit crimes and plant bombs throughout the city as a distraction. Upon his encounter with Axel and friends, Mr. X tries to have all of Wood Oak blown up, looking forward to ruling over the city’s remains no matter how many people die. If the bombs are not stopped in time, countless people and buildings are destroyed in the explosions, leaving psychological scars on the surviving citizens.
30	* ContestedSequel: ''Streets of Rage 3'' had a number of changes to the base gameplay that were hit or miss for many players (such as the way special attacks work and the Blitz attack upgrades), [[DifficultyByRegion regional differences in difficulty]] that are stacked against NA-version players, and a different style of soundtrack that clicked with some players and rubbed others the wrong way. As a result, both the fandom and even official follow-ups like ''Streets of Rage 4'' tend to treat it poorly. It's the only game from the original trilogy not to have its soundtrack represented in ''4'' (not helped by how this ''was'' attempted, only to be ScrewedByTheLawyers due to licensing issues), and it overall sees much less attention for remixes and re-releases compared to the soundtracks of the first two games. However, ''3'' isn't entirely ignored, as all of ''3''[='=]s playable cast (minus Ash) can still be unlocked in their original pixelated forms in ''4'', including their universal dash and roll mechanics, which actually gives them access to more actions and controls that the regular ''4'' cast mostly lacks. ''4'' also follows the original Japanese storyline of ''3'', rather than its {{Bowdlerise}}d American counterpart (helped by the Japanese version having received a FanTranslation into English).
31	* DemonicSpiders:
32	** Those Raven kickboxers have a lot of health, can block attacks and deliver powerful kicks. Toned down a bit in ''4'', where their blocking leaves them open to being grabbed.
33	** Those jetpack mooks are not much weaker than their boss version (which is by all means ThatOneBoss for some people). Very hard to hit, hit very hard with their flying kick, superman punch, and can grab you and drop you from the sky.
34	** Ninjas in ''2'' and ''3''. They jump around, can hit you when you are jumping, toss shurikens at you, and they can throw you like bosses could. Even worse if they have swords or kunais.
35	** ''Streets of Rage 4''
36	*** One room in the sixth stage features Galsias, already GoddamnedBats as is, with ''naginatas''. Have fun trying to come within melee range of them.
37	*** Barneys. Unlike their fellow police palette swaps, they have twice as much health and always come armed with a taser. The moment you see one show up on screen, expect to be tased at least once because they'll rush you, throw you down and zap you before you can blink. This can even happen in a split-second before you're about to start attacking them, the instant they line up with you, making it nigh unavoidable. They're even worse when backed up by a large group of enemies or, worse, other Barneys.
38	*** On higher difficulties, Koobo. Dear God, '''Koobo.''' A cyborg mini-boss with almost as many attacks as your average level boss, including a tracking telekinesis move and a huge leaping attack... and he usually doesn't need them to be as obnoxious as he is. He almost always carries a melee weapon and with the intent to throw it at you. This attack is so fast it's unreactable, it hits like a train, and it makes approaching with a slower character like Axel or Floyd completely aggravating. Finally, if you do get your hands on him, good luck being able to kill him quickly, what with his three health bars and, in Stage 1's case, ''another Koobo''. And if you're playing ''Mr. X Nightmare'', nothing stops the simulation from putting you up against [[OhCrap THREE OR MORE]].
39	*** Goro and his palette swaps. Aggressive offense and [[CounterAttack defense]], [[NoSell able to deflect thrown objects]], and a nightmare to deal with in areas like the elevator in stage 9.
40	** ''Streets of Rage 4: Mr. X Nightmare''
41	*** Fighting another player character in Survival Mode can be a nightmare since not only they can combo you like crazy if you get caught, they'll also spam their special moves and Star Moves freely without restrictions. This is made a lot worse if they have another boss or mooks with them and made ''much'' worse if there's two of the player characters or two different ones fighting you at the same time.
42	*** The Retro Stages feature Kusanagis. Imagine everything you hate about [[GoddamnedBats Donovans]]. [[ExaggeratedTrope On steroids.]] Kusanagis have the same devious A.I. that loves to flank you, use items to stuff your approach, and jab you at your most inopportune time. Now give him a projectile and ''two bars of health''.
43	*** Mr. & Ms. What/Whatever are clones of the Y Twins, which means [[GetBackHereBoss trying to chase them across the stage while they each shoot projectiles and prod you with their rapiers respectively]]. The difference from the Y Twins original fights lie in the fact that you’re usually dealing with ''2 or 3 at a time''.
44	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
45	** [[TheDragon Shiva]] from ''2''. Many loved his boss fight and design. So much so that the developers not only brought him back for ''3'' but made him a playable character in it as well. No surprise he showed up again in ''4'' too (though just as a boss character at first[[labelnote:*]]his ''3'' self can be unlocked as a retro character and the later ''Mr. X Nightmare'' DLC made his ''4'' self playable as well[[/labelnote]]), [[spoiler:in which he actually parts on respectable terms with the heroes]].
46	** Nora and Electra to a degree. Aside from their appealing designs, they managed to net [[AscendedExtra ascended roles]] games after the Genesis trilogy possibly because of their popularity, the former getting a MookPromotion as a boss in ''4''.
47	** Estel in ''4'' was pretty well-received by fans too, not only for being yet another female boss fight (and an AmazonianBeauty), but actually trying to do her job in keeping order, just [[HeroAntagonist getting in the heroes' way]] for seeing them as another one of the gangs plaguing her city. Thankfully, she wises up after Mr. Y blows up a subway the group are fighting on and helps from then on. Fans clamored for her to be playable via DLC... and eventually got their wish, with Estel being the first announced new character in ''Mr. X Nightmare''.
48	* EvenBetterSequel:
49	** ''Streets of Rage 2'', with better graphics, better gameplay, more characters, more enemies, more stages, more weapons...
50	** In addition to serving as a SurprisinglyImprovedSequel, ''Streets of Rage 4'' competes high in this regard. Not only do you have a new art style, graphics, and characters, but a revamped combat system that encourages juggling and wall-bouncing enemies along with a combo mechanic and ranking system that incentivize the player(s) to do better while adding replay value. ''4'' also has the most bonus content out of any game, ports included. You have the Story Mode with accessibility options, Arcade Mode (1-continue run), Boss Rush Mode, unlockable characters from each iteration of the series, online co-op multiplayer (2-player only) [[note]]through Steam Remote Play or Parsec, it is possible to do 4-player co-op online, however[[/note]], and a first for the series: local 4-player co-op.
51	* FanficFuel: Adam's actions during the third game present a number of possibilities and some game mods show guesses as to what happened (with Max along for the ride).
52	* {{Fanon}}: The game itself never went into details on how Mr. X managed to kidnap Adam in ''2'', so fans tend to think that it happened because around this time, Mr. X hired Shiva as [[TheDragon his Dragon]], and he proceeded to ambush and trounce Adam. Considering that Shiva is the game's penultimate boss, it would make sense that Adam, after months of peace and not fighting, would be outclassed (whereas in-game, Axel and friends needed to plow through Mr. X's men by fighting, so when they reach Shiva, they've already honed their fighting experience to defeat him). The fan game ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRageRemake'' runs with this as one version has Adam warning the gang about him.
53	* FanPreferredCouple: Though much more prevalent in the [[Platform/SegaGenesis Genesis]] days, a lot of players assumed Axel and Blaze were an item, likely owing to their partnership both before and after resigning from the force. ''Fanfic/StreetsOfRageSaga'' making them an OfficialCouple may have also contributed to this perception. ''[=SOR4=]'' seems to have put a bit of a damper on the ship, what with Axel living out in the wilderness between games and Adam being the only character among the PowerTrio to have started a family, but it still has Blaze being the one to contact Axel as well as [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/streetsofrage/images/9/91/SOR4_Ending_08.png sling her arm around his shoulder in one of the ending stills.]] This even appears to have bled into a few ''SOR''-inspired [[BeatEmUp beat 'em ups]], most notably 2016's ''The [=TakeOver=]'' -- the game's Axel and Blaze equivalents, Ethan Rivers and Megan Brooks, are [[BattleCouple dating]] and have an adopted daughter [[IHaveYourWife whose kidnapping sets off the plot]].
54	* GameBreaker:
55	** In ''Streets of Rage 2'' and ''Streets of Rage 3'', certain characters have an infinite combo that involves rhythmically using the first hit of their regular combo. [[BoringButPractical It's slow and not too flashy, but it can take down most enemies easily.]]
56	** Axel's iconic blitz move, Ground Upper/Grand Upper, in ''2''. Toned down in power in ''3''. To explain a little, all characters had three specials: a standing special (A), a forward special (forward-A), and a blitz move (forward-forward-B). The first [[CastFromHitPoints took off some of your energy]] if it hit, the second regardless of whether you hit or not, and the latter was a power attack but didn't use energy. ''Axel's blitz was more powerful than anyone's forward special, his own included''. Axel is invincible for the entire animation (it could be used to slide straight ''through'' projectiles), it scored a hit on every single frame, hit anyone who touched Axel's sprite from any direction at any time, and slid forward until Axel hit something if he did it away from someone. About the only enemies who could deal with it were those with long counter-moves that could wait it out (so that'd be Abadede, R. Bear, and ''absolutely nobody else''), Shiva (who had roughly the same attack with the slide run out to most of the screen) and Mr. X.
57	** ''Streets of Rage 3'', however, has Super Axel, who can be unlocked with a cheat code at the beginning of the game in all regions. It replaces both Axel's standing special and foward special with what is single-handedly ''the strongest move in the series'', a hybrid of his three-star special blitz and his dragon wing (standing special). Axel spins around in place with massively powerful strikes five times before concluding the move with his dragon wing. While it doesn't make Axel completely invincible like his blitz move in ''2'', this move can not only take out multiple hordes of enemies at once, but it can potentially take out bosses ''in one hit'' when landed close enough. To put it simply, unlocking this version of Axel essentially renders the game as a faux-very easy mode, regardless of what difficulty your playing on.
58	** Shiva as a playable character in ''3''. His normal moves have a lot of range and are very fast, not to mention that his special attack takes half of one health bar and is completely invincible. It's not like he makes the game a cakewalk, [[MasterOfAll but he outclasses the base versions of the other characters at everything]]. Unlike normal characters, he doesn't have the full range of attacks, so instead of a back attack he does a short swinging elbow to the face. This move is fast enough that you can infinitely combo it, with only the edge of the screen (or other enemies) stopping you from comboing almost any enemy to death.
59	** Basically all of the Retro Characters in ''Streets of Rage 4'' that originate from ''2'' and ''3''. They not only have faster attack delays allowing them to chain attacks and deal out damage more efficiently thanks to retaining their old mechanics, but the ''3'' members in particular keep their run and roll alongside their Blitz attacks, which lets them utterly tear the game up given only Cherry can run and Adam has his dashes otherwise.
60	** ''Streets of Rage 4''[='s=] incarnation of Shiva has an alternate moveset that, in short, blows not just his ''3'' version but ''damn near every other character in the game completely out of the water''. Flying Kick, his alternate Blitz attack, has so many invincibility frames that they're even on the move's startup. Spirit Palm is an Offensive Special with such a low cooldown that it can be machinegunned, used in infinites, and in Survival, it's bugged so that it restores health under the Blood Thirst buff. Shiva is also [[MechanicallyUnusualFighter the only character able to air combo via repeated jump attacks]], which--if the player is [[SomeDexterityRequired skilled]] [[DifficultButAwesome enough]]--can be combined with Spirit Kick (his alternate Air Special) and the aforementioned Spirit Palm for potentially ''infinite'' air loops. He doesn't hold onto weapons (instead launching them at enemies), but given everything else, does he ''really'' need to?
61	** Alongside Shiva comes the return of Max in ''Mr. X Nightmare''. Already considered the best character in ''2'', this rendition of Max comes with an all-purpose alternate Defensive Special in [[TornadoMove Spinning Knuckle Vortex]]. Its low cooldown and crowd control properties make taking out droves of enemies look like a complete joke, and the move has [[WeaponsThatSuck a vacuum effect that sucks in foes]]. With proper usage and good timing (such as when an enemy is in hitstun from a late Power Slide), enemies can even be positioned in front of Max but with their backs to him, easily setting up his devastating back throw. Oh, and his jab combo gives him a ''one-button infinite'' on bosses that can't tech on landing.
62	** Along with the DLC characters, several alternate moves for the base roster are quite broken since they haven't had any patches (whereas the other moves had three whole updates). Among them:
63	*** Blaze's alternate Blitz, Rekkaken, gives her ''yet another infinite''.
64	*** Floyd's alternate Blitz, [[RapidFireFisticuffs Gatling Punches]], is completely invincible if you whiff and the move's cooldown gives Floyd nonstop invincibility frames. This makes spamming the move a legitimate strategy. (However, you ''are'' vulnerable afterwards if you actually use it to hit an enemy.)
65	*** Floyd's alternate Defensive Special, Thunder Trap, guarantees a grab on enemies in their recovery/get-up animation, giving him a new infinite on bosses.
66	** The toxic elemental boosters for heavy attacks, blitz attacks, specials, and weapons in ''Mr. X Nightmare'' induce poison status on enemies upon contact. This makes Max and Shiva even more dangerous and a godsend against enemies with huge lifebars and/or ImmuneToFlinching.
67	* GoddamnedBats:
68	** For starters, there's those Signal mooks who are able to slide and throw you, and the [[NotSoHarmlessVillain Galsia]] mooks who point their knives at you in any game.
69	** From the first game, the black-wearing Nora mooks. After getting hit by a punch, they'll sometimes [[ISurrenderSuckers kneel on the floor]], becoming invincible and making it much harder to combo them. There's a remedy to this by just grabbing them, kneeing them twice, and finish with a headbutt/kick flip (Blaze), suplex or throw them. The suplex usually does them in quick and does the most damage.
70	** In the first game, there are the [[ArrogantKungFuGuy Hakuyo mooks]] who will repeatedly kick you, jump back to avoid a counter attack, waltz up and repeat.
71	** The second and third games have the [[HighlyVisibleNinja blue/yellow/orange/green Hanzo ninjas]] that will always jump around and sidestep to avoid your attacks, then they will either jump and punch you to knock you down or do a kick to knock you off your ass and throw shuriken at you. And then they become DemonicSpiders when they start to carry swords and kunai.
72	** Those motorcycle-riding Fog mooks in some stages in ''2'' and ''3''. They have a habit of showing up in unexpected moments while you are running to the edge of the screen and run you over. The ones that aren't on the bikes also count, as they often punch you from a fair distance or grab you from behind. Other ones only appear in the background (and thus can't be hit) and throw grenades into the stage.
73	*** The biker women in ''4'' aren't much better. At close range, their kicks have high hitstun to open you up to other attacks, and they love to come flying in with a headbutt from long range to blast you away if you go after other mooks.
74	** The Vices. Them holding you down for others to hit you is very annoying.
75	** Electras are usually easy. But this changes if there are other mooks backing them up, they can easily knock you out multiple times with their electric whip and jump kick attacks while the other mooks prevent you from getting close. In ''3'', like with Noras in the first game, they also will [[ISurrenderSuckers not get back up immediately]] if knocked out.
76	** The various fat enemies. They laugh tauntingly, usually after doing a full run at you that usually knocks you down. And they come in twos or have someone backing them up, and tend to run off to the sides of the screen. Later on, they bellyflop at you repeatedly. And in the original game and ''3'', attempting to throw them over or suplex them results in failure and heavy damage.
77	** Victoria and similar enemies of the same class in the fourth game. They'll always try to keep their distance and will keep hopping backwards if you try to get close. They always use throwable weapons like grenades and beakers. The grenades aren't too tough to deal with, but the bottles create their own problems; fire bottles are effectively molotov cocktails that create a puddle of fire on the ground, green bottles create toxic puddles that slow you down and sap your health, and blue bottles make a pool of electricity that stuns you. By creating so many denial areas to block you off while other enemies close in on you, Victorias are extremely annoying to fight. If you manage to grab one while they have a bottle out, they'll drop it at your feet when you slam/toss them, giving you almost no time to get away. The only saving grace is the bottle effects can affect enemies too. If you combo one, they also drop their bottle, which means that it can interrupt your combo. Unless you catch it.
78	** The Murphy cops in ''4'', due to them carrying energy shields that take a lot of damage to whittle down. Perhaps the most effective way to take down said shields is by using a baton, but the catch with that is the fact that to obtain a baton, you have to take it from a Murphy.
79	* GoddamnedBoss:
80	** Barbon in ''2'' tends to block often, has a habit of using his kicks to knock you out of the air, and may grab you first and throw you if you try to do the same to him.
81	** DJ K-Washi in ''4'' has a shield on at all times, which you always need to break before doing any damage on him. He also has long-ranged ki attacks (including a huge fireball that can reach you at the other side of the arena), [[GetBackHereBoss quickly turning this into a battle of attrition]].
82	** '''Mr. Y.''' Specifically, the Version 05 Patch gave him the ability to do an armored dodge roll. Basically, he'll stop doing it and you'll be able to hit him once [[GetBackHereBoss he feels your blood pressure's spiked high enough trying to nail the little bastard down]]. It's not like his sister's any better, either. [[spoiler:Naturally, Y Island ends with Ms. Y, followed by [[DualBoss the Y Twins fighting together]], and then the [[HumongousMecha Y Mecha]] -- which is [[BackgroundBoss commandeered]] by one of the siblings as the other is ''still'' assailing you in the foreground.]]
83	* GoodBadBugs:
84	** Max is full of them in ''2'', which is probably why they switched him out for Zan in ''3''. He slides faster than he walks, so expect expert Max players to [[RunDontWalk slide, not walk]]. His Thunder Tackle will DEMOLISH blocking opponents since they will take a huge amount of chip damage during his dash attack. Finally, Max's grapples work on any enemy who walks into range. This is true for all characters, but Max covers a lot of area and can jump while holding his opponent. Expect good Max players to backbreak about four enemies at once.
85	** In ''4'', [[BottomlessPits falling off the screen]] will not break your combo meter, [[ObviousRulePatch at least until it was patched]].
86	* GrowingTheBeard: The first ''Streets of Rage'' was a dead simple game with basic beat-em-up mechanics and levels that were straightforward tracks besides Stage 7, but it stood out as Sega's answer to ''VideoGame/FinalFight'' with a music style all its own and CoOpMultiplayer whereas ''Final Fight'' had faltered on the SNES release. ''Streets of Rage 2'' would make the sprites larger and more detailed, feature a number of screen transitions like its competitor, amp up the challenge without being as cheap as well as expand the player movesets and their variety, and overall became one of premiere games of the entire genre in its heyday as [[KillerApp a must-have for system owners]].
87	* HilariousInHindsight:
88	** Axel and Blaze in ''1'''s cover wear yellow and white, as opposed to their actual color schemes in the game. What colors did they end up having in overseas versions of ''3''? That's right; yellow and white.
89	** The first ninja, Hanzou, from ''Streets of Rage 2'' [[PiratesVersusNinjas first appears on a pirate ship]] in the amusement park. Keep in mind this is from a 1992 game.
90	** Roo can't pick up weapons with his boxing gloves in ''3''. In the 2000s, [[WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail an internet-popular luchador with boxing gloves]] was always being asked how he could type while wearing them.
91	** [[VideoGame/GenshinImpact This isn't the only game with similar characters named Mona and Lisa anymore.]]
92	* ItsHardSoItSucks: While it's far from a bad game, ''Streets of Rage 3'' gets a bad rep [[ContestedSequel compared to its predecessor]] for its notorious and constant spikes in difficulty, whereas ''Bare Knuckle 3'' [[DifficultyByRegion was a challenging but fair game much like the second]].
93	* LowTierLetdown: The retro ''Streets of Rage 1'' incarnations of Axel, Blaze, and Adam manage to hit this extreme ''and'' [[HighTierScrappy its opposite trope]] in ''4''. One the low end, they have ''not'' aged well compared to all of their sequel counterparts, including ''4''[='=]s cast itself. By way of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, the ''1'' cast retains their lack of offensive innovations, such as Blitz attacks and personal special attacks. Their original police special is now treated as a Star Move, meaning that it still has very limited use compared to the ''2'' and ''3'' casts having improvised takes on their additional attacks as Star Moves while also retaining their personal specials as a separate action, as well as utilizing ''4''[='=]s health-based special move system. This all causes the ''1'' cast to feel very bare-bones to use compared to anyone else in the game. In addition, their Police Call ability [[{{Nerf}} took a significant blow]] from its ''[=SOR1=]'' glory days; instead of [[SmartBomb affecting the entire screen]], the flames created by cover fire only extend in an direct line from the player's position. The Star Move also lacks any invincibility, whereas all enemies on screen would previously be frozen while the napalm dropped. On the high end, the only compensation they have to make up for their shortcomings is their much higher damage output compared to the ''4'' characters -- and when playing ''Mr. X Nightmare'', since they don't have Blitz or special commands, the perks that give those particular attacks elemental properties are instead applied to their common (and much quicker/safer) back attacks and jump attacks.
94	* MemeticMutation:
95	** YOU BECAME THE BOSS! YOU ARE GREAT! [[labelnote:Explanation (Spoilers!)]]The original game's infamous, co-op play-exclusive bad ending where, after one player [[FaceHeelTurn decides to join Mr. X]], [[DuelingPlayerCharacters defeats their partner]] (if that player refused the offer to work for Mr. X), and then [[TheStarscream goes on to beat Mr. X as well]], the now FallenHero [[SlouchOfVillainy takes their place]] as the new head of TheSyndicate.[[/labelnote]]
96	** "GRAND UPPA!" [[labelnote:Explanation]][[CallingYourAttacks Spoken when Axel uses his Grand Upper attack.]][[/labelnote]]
97	*** "RENT-A-CAR!" "SANTA CLAUS!" "GRANDPA!" and so on. [[labelnote:Explanation]]Due to the low sound quality for voice clips, "GRAND UPPA!" is very easily misheard.[[/labelnote]]
98	** "It's like BOO!" [[labelnote:Explanation]]An [[GratuitousEnglish Engrishy]] sign found in Round 4 of ''Streets of Rage 2'' (the Stadium) that no one quite knows the meaning behind. One theory posits that it's an acknowledgement of Big Ben's resemblance to Fat Buu from ''Anime/DragonBallZ''.[[/labelnote]]
99	*** "Do! BASE BALL!" [[labelnote:Explanation]] Another Engrish example from the same stage. It makes slightly more sense in Japanese, where "doing baseball" is the equivalent of the English "playing baseball" -- but then why would it be necessary to post handbills right outside the park encouraging people to play baseball?[[/labelnote]]
100	** ''Streets of Rage 2 Except It Makes That Weird Creator/TimAllen Noise When People Die'' [[labelnote:Explanation]]When Creator/{{Sega}} published Steam Workshop tools for creating mods of Platform/{{Steam}} ports of Platform/SegaGenesis games (i.e. Sega-sanctioned {{ROM Hack}}s), one of the most infamous mods to come out was [[https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=674634532 one]] for ''Streets of Rage 2'' in which the death grunts are replaced with Tim Allen's memetic groan from ''Series/HomeImprovement''.[[/labelnote]]
101	** ONLY TRUST YOUR FISTS! POLICE WILL NEVER HELP YOU [[labelnote:Explanation]]A popular image macro using a screencap from ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRageRemake'' of Axel jumping out of a cop car. Used by fans (among other parties) to point out how Axel and gang do a far better job stopping crime by punching criminals than the cops do.[[/labelnote]]
102	* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound:
103	** "GRAND UPPA!"
104	** When playing as Max, ramming your knee into the enemy's spine produces that oh so wonderful cracking sound.
105	** The 1-Up jingle at the end of the stage for Every10000Points; especially if you hear it mid-stage.
106	** The 1-Up jingle in the Game Gear version of ''2''.
107	** The S Rank jingle in ''4''. It's even better when clearing a stage on a harder difficulty or strict score requirement. Adding to that is if you get the Perfect jingle and then beat the level without taking a hit.
108	** The chime that plays every time you pick up a star in ''[=SOR4=]''.
109	* NintendoHard: The harder difficulties are pretty damn hard in ''Bare Knuckle III'', but ''Streets of Rage 3'' is outright cruel. The international release removed the Japanese version's Easy and Very Hard difficulties and bumped up the others by one level each, meaning that its Easy mode is the Japanese version's Normal, and its Hard mode is Japanese's Very Hard. That's not where it ends though, as it turns out that many item placements have been altered from the original release, giving you fewer opportunities to heal up and earn extra lives. In addition, the barrels in the first part of stage 3 move faster than ever, the bulldozer in the next part only stops after a single punch instead of getting pushed back, enemies have increased attack power as the difficulty rises, and they along with bosses have inflated amounts of lifebars (anywhere from four to ''seven or eight'').The Japanese version's enemies do much less damage and is the same on all difficulties, meaning that ''Bare Knuckle III's'' Very Hard difficulty is not only easier than ''Streets of Rage 3's'' Hard, but the latter is the closest both games have to a '''''Mania''''' difficulty.
110	* OlderThanTheyThink: Some see the Star Moves in ''4'' as new for the series. The Game Gear port of ''2'' was the first to use this gameplay mechanic. ''3'' had them as well, but not as pickups hidden by breakable items. You gained Star Moves (up to a total of 3) as long as you did not die and collect extra lives via scoring points. It's fine in the Japanese version, but easier said than done in the Western versions due to [[DifficultyByRegion the change in difficulty]].
111	* PlayerPunch: Fail to defeat Neo. X/Robot Y in time in ''3'' and [[spoiler:he ends up blowing up an entire city. With ''nukes'', if it's the Japanese version. While the Japanese version tries to make you feel somewhat better by saying that at least war with Lima was prevented and that the tragedy will be forgotten in time, the US version outright states that the citizens' trust in Axel and company has been greatly damaged]]. All because of your incompetence.
112	* PolishedPort:
113	** The ''Sega Vintage Collection'' (developed by M2, not Backbone Entertainment) on Platform/{{X\|boxLiveArcade}}BLA not only compiles the entire Genesis trilogy, but also allows players access to each game from different regions, giving players the ability to play the original Japanese version of ''Bare Knuckle III''. It also offers a slew of customization options, from video adjustments with full 1080p support to fully re-mappable control scheme. You can also save your progress at anytime, save replays, play trial modes, play online multi-player, and listen to games' soundtrack at your leisure (including the unused tracks).
114	** The Game Gear port of ''2'' is considered superior to the Master System version, despite being on weaker hardware. The controls are fluid and responsive, even though it's down to two buttons, there are unique levels (with their own exclusive bosses), the soundtrack is translated well to the portable console, and most importantly, co-op. Co-op is missing in the Master System version.
115	* PortingDisaster: The Master System version of ''2''. Bad hit detection, colors are bad and too dark on the visuals, and no co-op.
116	* ScrappyMechanic:
117	** ''[=SOR2=]'' for some reason lacks the ability to remap the controls, a strange omission given the fact that it's present in both ''1'' and ''3''. This is fixed in most compilation ports released on modern consoles that allow control customization.
118	** ''[=SOR3=]''[='=]s overseas versions [[EasyModeMockery deprive you of the last two stages and any sort of good ending if you play on Easy]]. Not only does [[DifficultyByRegion no such mockery exist in the Japanese version]], the non-Japanese versions have their difficulties inflated by one level each, which can make one feel like the developers intentionally screwed over their Western playerbase. It's quite likely this was due to the American game rental industry of the 90s and Sega wanted to encourage players to rent the game multiple times, but in hindsight, punishing the player for playing on what the Japanese version calls default difficulty is still a low blow.
119	** Arcade Mode in ''[=SOR4=]'' does not let you save, not even perform a SuspendSave. For console players in particular, completing the roughly 1 1/2-hour game without being able to change games in the meantime is a tall order.
120	** In ''[=SOR4=]'', 4-Player sessions can only be done locally while online play is limited to 2 players, unless you rely on third-party software.
121	** For some reason in the Switch version of ''4'', the game does not allow the player to customize their controls with the trigger buttons. All other consoles and the PC version allow this. Playing the Switch version will be somewhat awkward if you are too used to your custom control layout on different consoles or PC. The Switch does have system-side button-remapping so you can circumvent this, but only for wireless controllers; you cannot remap buttons for wired controllers (including third-party wireless controllers that connect with a USB-connected receiver and therefore are treated by the Switch as wired controllers).
122	** Enemies or bosses with ranged attacks can shoot/hit you from off-screen in ''4''. This is rarely a problem when playing the campaign, but becomes a nightmare in Survival Mode. As the level gets higher, more mooks will spawn and you never know who you're going to fight. If it's all ranged enemies or they spawn in later, prepared to get hit or locked in to a stun loop.
123	** ''4'' introduces a combo system wherein the more damage you deal in one combo, the higher points bonus you will receive when the combo ends. If you stop doing damage, the combo display starts to flash, and eventually the combo will terminate and you get your combo bonus. Now, getting hit will end your combo as well, but you will only cash in the combo bonus if you are hit when the combo counter is flashing. If you get hit with a combo in progress but before the counter starts flashing, a "Break!" message will appear and ''you will lose your entire combo bonus''. This isn't really explained in-game and it can turn S-rank and other high score runs into exercises of frustration because you dealt thousands of HP of damage in one combo... only to lose it all because you got jabbed for ScratchDamage too soon after your last hit. This is meant to be a risk vs. reward type of gimmick but having to idle in safety for a few seconds to cash in your combo bonus if you don't want to risk breaking it disrupts the flow of the game.
124	** Any points earned in the ''Mr. X Nightmare'' expansion's Survival Mode do not count towards the main set of unlockables (including character unlocks).
125	** Explosive hazards can spawn on players due to randomization in ''Mr. X Nightmare''. This can lead to cheap hits or unfortunate deaths, if the player has low health. This does not happen often, but can due to bad spawning.
126	** If someone quits an online game in ''4'', the entire session ends and you're kicked back to the main menu. This can be absolutely devastating in Survival since prematurely ending the game doesn't let you keep anything you might've unlocked for passing certain milestones.
127	* SequelDifficultySpike: Not only is ''3'' much harder, [[EasyModeMockery the game won't let you continue to Stage 6 and beyond on the easiest difficulty]]. Again, this was due to Sega's American branch switching the difficulties around -- what was meant as "Easy" was supposed to be "Normal."
128	* SpecialEffectFailure: Whereas the alternate attacks for the main cast unlocked in ''4''[='s=] Survival Mode utilize new hand-drawn animation in addition to repurposing existing ones, the Retro characters are limited to pre-existing spritework. While most tweaks make good use of what's available and even restore [[DummiedOut unused animations]] ([[https://tcrf.net/Proto:Streets_of_Rage_2_(Genesis)#Characters see]] [[https://tcrf.net/Streets_of_Rage_3#Unused_Graphics here]]), certain other moves, like ''[=SOR1=]'' Blaze's [[ThisIsADrill Drill]] [[DivingKick Kick]] (which primarily features her mid-vault animation), can look wonky in action.
129	* SuspiciouslySimilarSong:
130	** ''[=SOR1=]'''s "Fighting in the Street" has a few elements from Technotronic's "Pump Up the Jam."
131	** ''[=SOR2=]'''s "Under Logic" bears more than a passing resemblance to The Shamen's "Move Any Mountain." Also, it is [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic sweet as hell]]. Likewise, the main theme ("S.O.R. Super Mix") sounds very much like Music/{{Enigma}}'s "Sadeness."
132	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYUuCN3A0K0 Here]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp68mGKtDDw are]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv6cc5cuiX0 several]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x8xnkxUNkM videos]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNllOFIjif8 that]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hhx3K-Wugc note]] the above examples and lot of others. Apparently, Black Box was a major influence on the soundtracks of the first and second games.
133	** Also, ''Streets of Rage 3'''s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z14sdl7jnFU "Percussion"]] sounds kinda similar to Music/HenryMancini's "Peter Gunn Theme."
134	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATM5EptuGxA "Dub Slash"]] from ''3'' lifts its main riff from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M_jh4CA8a8 "DMV"]] by Music/{{Primus}}.
135	** The first two or so minutes of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kjd5QHUKwnc "Rising Up"]] from the fourth game can best be described as a techno remix of, of all things, "I Like Your Hat" from ''Webcomic/CyanideAndHappiness''.
136	* ThatOneBoss:
137	** The twin Southers in the original, Mona & Lisa, Abadede, R.Bear, and Shiva. Most players are guaranteed to lose at least one life against these bastards.
138	*** The [[DualBoss double Souther]] fight in Stage 6 of the original, particularly in single-player mode. Fighting one of them's no big deal for an experienced player: just approach him from the top or bottom of the stage, grab him and use a grapple combo or suplex. Try doing that when there's another one to deal with — he'll simply come to his brother's defense and claw you off, which hits like a truck and breaks your combo. Essentially, you'll end up having to shift your attention back and forth between the two bosses constantly throughout the fight, and their fast movement speed leaves you little to no margin for error, especially if the stage timer is low. They're not as hard in two-player mode since each player can focus on one boss, but they have much more health and summon Galsias as backup to make up for this.
139	*** Mona and Lisa in both games they appear in. They have very high evasive skills, can throw you (with a VERY fast reaction time if they grab you), have jump kicks that can be quite tricky to dodge, and each of their attacks does a crapton of damage. [[DualBoss Oh, and there's two of them.]] Worse yet, they're the last of the BossRush you need to get through in the final level to confront Mr. X in the first game. Dick move, developers! If you try to beat them without losing a life, there's a high chance of the time running out and you'll lose a life anyway due to their high evasive skills.
140	*** Abadede in the original isn't too hard, as he only has his running uppercut attack, which can be countered by either moving to the side and grabbing him, or by jump-kicking him as he charges towards you. In ''2'', however, he gets several new attacks including a damaging back throw and a bellyflop attack, he can randomly break out of your combos and grapples, and his running uppercut is a lot less predictable because of all his new moves.
141	*** Shiva is the penultimate boss in the second game, and he has all the moves of a player character, as well as twice as much health on Normal. His Final Crash and fiery dropkick are the devastating equivalents to your specials.
142	** In ''2'' on Mania, Mr. X is practically impossible due to moving roughly as fast as Skate and every attack slashing away a significant part of your entire health bar.
143	** R.Bear in Stage 5 of ''Streets of Rage 2''. JUST R.Bear. The bugger beats out pretty much ALL your attacks with his ridiculous range from his punches and his ability to counter. He also can hit you without having to be in the same line as you with his jump attack, and has good priority over most of your unarmed attacks. And you fight him ''AGAIN'' in Stage 8 (as a palette swap named [[YouKilledMyFather Bear Jr.]]). Granted, using a katana or a pipe makes him far easier, but still.
144	** Jet and the Rocket Mooks at the end of Stage 6 in ''Streets of Rage 3''. In ''[=SOR2=]'' Jet was a FragileSpeedster. Now Jet's [[{{Cyborg}} a lot more robotic than before]] and is [[BaldOfEvil bald]]. He gained a [[PlayingWithFire flamethrower]], a TON of health (four bars on Normal!), and can summon up to 10 Rocket Mooks to distract and overwhelm you — one Jet is already a pain to fight, but with three on the screen, it's almost impossible to keep track of everything coming at you. Never mind that you just got through ThatOneLevel. After you beat him, twice as many Rockets flood the screen... Luckily [[BigDamnHeroes Adam arrives in a helicopter and provides]] MoreDakka to gun them down.
145	** Robo-X in ''3'' is pretty fast on the move, and on the draw. He not only has a machine gun attack (don't be on the same lane he is), but he also has a homing rocket attack (which leaves him open while the missile's on screen). Take too long to throw or slam him upon grabbing him and he will electrocute you a la Zan. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And he laughs at you every time you get knocked down.]]
146	** Neo. X/Robot Y in ''3'' isn't that much better. Already under the struggle of a three-minute time limit, he's very fast and will actively avoid the player by swiftly spinning to the edges of the room. He's tough to combo without being pushed back, has powerful throws, and can shoot out long-range missiles. His collision detection is also awful, meaning that it's very easy to miss a hit which also leaves your character open for him to strike. If all of that wasn't crazy enough, he has ''seven lifebars'' (or ''eight when playing with two people'') in the international release's hard mode, and even using [[GameBreaker Super Axel]] isn't always a guaranteed win, especially if you're going for the good ending.
147	** The Commissioner in ''4'' starts out difficult but fair, with the ability to lunge across the entire screen and start slamming you around the room if the attack connects. Once he starts calling in more cops however the fight can become unbearable if one with a taser comes in, as they similarly lunge at you before pinning you down to shock you, though with less range. Both of them can grab you out of each other's attacks and keep piling on the damage while you're completely helpless.
148	** Barbon returns with a vengeance in ''4''. He has the highest health of any boss in the game and moves around the stage absurdly fast, often running circles around the player and delivering fast attacks with long reach and tough patterns. [[TurnsRed When he reaches low health]], there's barely a moment where he isn't super armored. Also, each time any of the motorcycles break in the area, a heavyweight biker girl will appear to gang up on you while you're facing Barbon.
149	** [[spoiler:Max]] in ''4''. He hits like a freight train and he can't be interrupted or knocked down by anything other than a Star Move. The timing needed to get in and chip away some of his health, then escape while he's setting up an attack can be quite frustrating.
150	** Ms. Y's fight in ''4'' after the balance update made her a lot more annoying to deal with. Before the patch, she would simply walk around, making her laughably easy to combo. Post-patch, she now hops around all the time, turning her into a GetBackHereBoss as you try to hit her. The update also added Shadow enemies inside the statues so if you need to break the statues to heal up with food items, you now have more enemies to deal with.
151	** ''Mr. X Nightmare'' brings over [[FatBastard Bongo]] from ''1''. He rushes in your direction breathing fire just like your average Big Ben. The difference being he does it ''3 times in a row'', has super armor throughout the whole attack, and is very difficult to punish because the gaps in said armor aren't particularly forgiving. Even if you do, you won't get much damage off of it because his heavy weight doesn't allow for long combos.
152	* ThatOneLevel:
153	** Stage 8 in ''1'' is insane. You have to go through a BossRush of Rounds 1-5, on top of many enemies. If you were relying so much on Police Assists, forget it because this is the only level that disables it.
154	** Stage 7 in ''2'' in harder difficulties. You are stuck in the elevator filled with enemies with only 1 or 2 chickens for full health. In harder difficulties, a lot more enemies are here, including up to 3 Jet clones. At the end, you will fight up to 3 robots as bosses and you have to defeat them all.
155	** Stage 9 in ''4'' is brutal. You start off in a sauna with a slippery floor, while block-happy Ravens and Dylans harass you from both sides. Then you get to the locker room, where Goro and his {{Palette Swap}}s can punch you to death with counters in case you didn't get the memo in his first appearance in Stage 6. After facing off with some relatively easy gun mooks, you now have to ride an elevator, which for series veterans generally means bad news because you know have to fight wave after wave of Mooks, including ''two'' Goros at one point and several Big Bens; and yes, the glass walls ''can'' shatter if they are hit with thrown enemies or yourself too many times, creating falling hazards on both sides of the screen. Finally, if you are somehow still clinging on to life, there's the boss, [[spoiler:a BrainwashedAndCrazy Max]], who's ImmuneToFlinching, [[LightningBruiser surprisingly fast for their size]], and can slam away large chunks of your lifebar if you don't mash buttons fast enough to escape their grip... [[TurnsRed which you can no longer do during the second half of the fight]]!
156	** The final stage in the fourth game has two sections that are major pains in the ass, even on the easier difficulties. The first section of the castle interior has a huge wave of the stronger versions of the Galsias, Donovans, and Signals swarming you and the Donovans can throw weapons at you. They also appear when the stronger palette swap of Koobo appears, making it more of a mess. The section before Ms. Y has every version of Big Ben appearing at once and they all have ImmuneToFlinching when they are launching an attack. The red one breathes fire as he runs, the purple one flings himself at you, and the green and blue ones will constantly roll around. Making this section worse is the large swinging spiked ball that will never stop swinging due to the enemies constantly hitting it. While the enemies will get damaged by the ball, their armored state will prevent them from flinching. A patch changed the area where the spiked ball is removed and there's even ''more'' of the fat bastards rolling around.
157	** The fighting arena in ''4''[='s''=] Survival Mode is a huge pain in the ass in later levels. Not only do you have to deal with the the {{Bottomless Pit\|s}} on both sides of the area, there's also one in the middle of the floor and the arena itself isn't big enough to give you room to move around. There's also flamethrowers on both sides of the arena, which can send you flying backwards and very likely knock you into the pit. The walls are electrified, so getting hit into them will damage you and send you reeling. Said walls can also randomly turn on and off, so you either get to deal with being electrocuted or being thrown into the pit. To top everything off, there can also be huge swinging balls hanging from above that can knock you around whenever anything hits them. So if you're really unlucky, you can get juggled a ''lot'' from all the environmental hazards and take more damage from them than the mooks themselves. Mooks that can attack from a distance like Ruby, Bronze Raven, Big Ben, and the PaletteSwap versions of [[DegradedBoss Mr. Y]] will make this level a complete nightmare.
158	* TheyChangedItNowItSucks:
159	** The North American version of ''Streets of Rage 3'' was hit ''hard'' by this. It [[ScrappyMechanic not only inflates the difficulty levels]] [[ItsHardSoItSucks by one level each]], but also [[EasyModeMockery locks you out of the last two stages]] if you are playing on Easy, [[DifficultyByRegion which is Normal in the Japanese version]]. The Japanese version has no such mockery, not even on its own Easy difficulty, which would be EasierThanEasy in the North American version [[BadExportForYou if it existed]]. The storyline also heavily [[{{Bowdlerise}} bowdlerised]] to remove the fear of a war storyline in favor of more general lawlessness and disorder in the city, with many dialogue changes resulting in some dialogue making little to no sense. In addition, the female enemies were given jackets to look less revealing, Axel, Blaze, and Skate swapped their usual colors for gender neutrality, and [[MachoCamp Ash]] was DummiedOut (he still existed in the game's code, but you had to use a game enhancer to use him). This may be among the reasons why most rereleases since, including the ''Sega Vintage Collection'' for the ''Streets of Rage'' trilogy, feature all regional versions of the game.
160	** Outside of the regional changes, there are other reasons why the third game's overall reception is usually contested compared to ''2''. The blitz moves have been nerfed and require stars earned through points (and not dying) to regain their full potential. The soundtrack went in a different direction from the first two, turning off some fans with its intense, experimental "dubstep-esque" tunes in contrast to the chill and funky tracks of the previous games. Not helping was the fact that in contrast to its predecessors which mostly had songs exclusive to each stage, the themes for this game's earlier stages are frequently reused during the later half of the game, with the very first stage anticlimactically sharing the same music as the sixth stage and ''the final boss''. Lastly, some enemies can even take food on the ground and heal up, which can be detrimental in the later stages.
161	** ''Streets of Rage 4'' has a brand-new, hand-drawn presentation that's similar to the ''VideoGame/WonderBoyIIITheDragonsTrap'' remake, yet a vocal minority felt that it looked a little too stylish for the gritty setting, preferring the pixel visuals of the previous games.
162	** After two games of Skate being a prominent playable character (and a GameBreaker in his own right), he's completely absent in ''4''. Cherry, his niece, comes closest to the character design and playstyle Skate had in his glory days, but for certain fans of the Genesis installments, it's not the same.
163	** As noted in BrokenBase above, the reduced character mobility in ''4'' by default (making the game play more like ''2'' on the whole) is largely seen as a regression from one of the few additions in ''3'' many players actually approved of. Depending on who you ask, the inclusion of the ''[=SoR3=]'' characters (with their ability to run and roll left intact) only made this worse as opposed to alleviating the problem, with detractors citing how ''Streets of Rage Remake'' updated all previous versions of the cast with ''3''[='s=] mechanics yet managed to make everyone play differently enough so as to not invalidate one another.
164	** In an inversion of the third game's color palette switcheroo mentioned above, the ''Mr. X Nightmare'' DLC in ''4'' adding in alternate color palettes for the main cast but ''not'' restoring the outfit colors from the international version of ''[=SOR3=]'' for the corresponding Retro characters (or adding in new colors for ''any'' of the Retro characters, like Mona & Lisa for ''[=SOR1=]'' Blaze) was bemoaned by some players.
165	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
166	** Shiva and Max are playable in ''4''... but only in their retro, pixelated appearances compared to [[spoiler:their boss incarnations]] (with [[spoiler:Shiva in particular having [[FightingSpirit a few]] [[DoppelgangerAttack new tricks]] since the Genesis days]]), thereby preventing them from contributing to the larger plot after their brief appearances in the story. Arguably justified in that [[spoiler:Shiva is a mostly neutral third party]] and [[spoiler:a brainwashed Max is the boss of the penultimate stage]]. This is no longer an issue as of the ''Mr. X Nightmare'' DLC, however.
167	** Skate isn't even ''mentioned'' in ''4'' outside of his retro versions. Sure, Dr. Zan is also only playable as his retro iteration, but at least he has a hand in the backstory (namely, designing Floyd's cyborg arms) and whose Mr. X Nightmare simulation serves as the FramingDevice for the DLC's Survival Mode. Even ''Roo'' gets more love, making a brief appearance in Stage 5 as the bartender and eventually also becoming unlockable in the DLC.
168	** The lack of fan-favorite DualBoss Onihime & Yasha ([[DubNameChange Mona & Lisa]]) in ''4''. The dev team did not include them in the game like they originally wanted to due to time constraints, with all that remains being concept art of what they would have looked liked had they been brought in. In their place are simple color swaps of the first boss, Diva (Beyo & Riah), with the only other difference between them being elemental attacks. How cool would it have been to take on the evil twins again in glorious, hand-drawn, 2D animation?
169	* ToughActToFollow: ''Streets of Rage 2'' is held as a downright legendary BeatEmUp in the genre, which means both ''3'' and ''4'' have to live in its shadow and consequently get challenged over any deviation from ''2'''s formula, ''4'' in particular given the entirely different developers [[SequelGap after so long]].
170	* UnexpectedCharacter:
171	** After spending two games in a supporting role at best, and after having his daughter Cherry revealed first, Adam Hunter became a confirmed playable character for ''4''.
172	** Max, Skate and Dr. Zan's appearance in ''Streets of Rage 4'' is a weird case; while all three were anticipated by fans, no one expected them to only be playable in their [[{{Retraux}} original pixel form]]. Or [[spoiler:Max being a ''boss''.]]
173	** Out of every enemy character to return as a boss, [[{{Dominatrix}} Nora]], of all people, is found at the end of Stage 3 in ''4'', after being left out of the series from the second game onward.
174	* VindicatedByHistory: The soundtrack for ''Streets of Rage 3'' received a mixed reception at the time of release, due to its more experimental approach. It's been better received since and is nowadays considered ahead of its time. The ''Mean Machines'' magazine went on to say that "ironically it pre-dated the 'trance' era that came a short while after release."
175	* WinBackTheCrowd: Those who didn't like the changes or designs to the main cast of ''Streets of Rage 4'', particularly regarding how everyone but Cherry lacks the ability to run, were covered with the multitude of Retro Characters from all three previous games. Consequently, this means that every character with a ''3'' variant has their full roll and run mechanics, giving players plenty of options on replays.
176	----
177	!!Other media
178	* CompleteMonster: In the [[ComicBook/SonicTheComic comic]]'s "Skate's Story" & "The Only Game in Town!" arcs, [[DiabolicalMastermind Mr. X]] is a power-hungry crime lord who's taken control over a majority of the city, responsible for all the crime and corruption within the city and its police force. To further extend his control, Mr. X attempts to have an entire cruise ship of hundreds attending a charity ball blown up in order to kill a few politicians onboard, hoping to replace them with his men. After his activities are leaked to the public, Mr. X later creates a massive betting pool where people can bet on the possibility of Axel and his crew making it through to the other side of the city, sending an army of gangsters to try and kill them.

Context YMMV / StreetsOfRage