Streets of Rage 3

Streets of Rage 3 is a side-scrolling beat 'em up developed and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis. It is the third installment of the Streets of Rage series. It was later released for the Wii Virtual Console in 2007.

The game features several enhancements over Streets of Rage and Streets of Rage 2 such as a more complex plot, inclusion of character dialog, multiple endings, longer levels, increased difficulty, more in-depth scenarios and faster gameplay. Weapons could now only be used for a few times before breaking and could be integrated with unique moves with certain characters, hidden characters were added and a few cutscenes were included to give the story greater depth.

Gameplay
The game is faster-paced than its predecessors. Running and vertical-dodge moves were added (only Skate could run in Streets of Rage 2), and most player attacks deal less damage than in the predecessors. The level timer has been replaced with a "power meter" that, when full, allows players to perform special moves without draining the player's life bar.

Unlike the first and second game, weapons in Streets of Rage 3 can only be used a fixed number of times. However, additional weapon special attacks could be performed. The game also features return of Streets of Rage team attacks in which two characters work together to perform a powerful attack as in the first game. Blitz moves, performed while players run, were altered so that they can be upgraded in strength over the course of the game. The player would have to earn a set amount of points on one life to upgrade it. Losing a life would put the blitz move down a level, but the upgraded moves could still be performed by pressing X on a 6 button controller, followed by a button sequence.

Traps in stages were brought back from the original game. For example, enemies can once again be thrown into pits or off the side of an elevator. Enemy AI was expanded so more enemies can pick up weapons, block attacks, employ co-operative attacks (usually, a Big Ben-like enemy will throw one of the Garcia enemies at the character to smack them down), and even steal exposed food items to regain health.

Plot
After being defeated twice, Syndicate crime boss Mr. X has started a research company called RoboCy Corporation to act as a cover for his illegal activities. The world's best roboticist, Dr. Dahm, has been brought in to help him create an army of realistic robots to replace important officials from the city. With the replacements in place, Mr. X plans to run the city using a remote control device. His criminal organization, The Syndicate, has strategically placed bombs around the city to distract the police while the city officials are dealt with.

Dr. Zan discovers what the research is really for and knows the Syndicate must be stopped. He contacts Blaze Fielding with the details of The Syndicate's plan. Blaze quickly contacts her old comrades Axel Stone and Adam Hunter for a task force to bring down The Syndicate once and for all. Axel quickly joins the task force, but Adam cannot make it (due to his own assignments from within the police) and sends his young brother, Eddie "Skate" Hunter instead. The game has four endings depending on the difficulty level and if the player defeats certain levels in an allotted amount of time.