DenHond plays Streets of Rage for the Sega Master System - Part 1 of 7

Covering Streets of Rage again so soon? Well...

But this is a different version, though. Instead of the Genesis/Mega Drive version that I've covered before, or the Game Gear version that omits Adam, we have the Sega Master System version, which has all three characters intact!

If you were expecting a close-to-perfect transition from the coin-ops to the Master System, though, you're about to be pushed two steps back.

Round 1

Well, there's a few weird differences here.

In this one, the green Galsias are weaker than the blue ones, which don't show up until Round 3. That just totally defies my knowledge of Streets of Rage in its entirety...and that's not the only thing.

The screen can show only two enemies at the same time...and they have to be the same time of enemy (in other words, both enemies would have to be Galsias or Signals or Dominatrixes or whatever). Also, the hit detection is a little weird. If you get hit in the torso or above in any way, you [b]will[/b] take damage. Apparently, the Sega Master System's programming has no "depth perception" or a "sense of isometrics." Also, the window of invulnerability that you have in this game (it exists here, believe it or not) after you get taken to the ground is way too brief. Once you hit the floor, you can take damage again after two seconds.

Some grab attacks, such as throwing enemies over to the other direction, are a bit glitchy in this version. You could throw an enemy away from you and they'd go further in the direction you're facing. It's a bit strange at times and makes that attack somewhat useless. The German suplex from behind is the strongest grab attack, you have, and when you perform it, it creates an awesome shake effect on the screen that you'll be seeing pretty often.

Your standing combo also acts differently. You could hit an enemy and all of a sudden perform the third or fourth attack of the combo, as if the game is keeping track of where you are in the combo at all times.

There's also the obvious fact that enemies can't scream when they die. This, I can party with...but glitchy parts of the gameplay are harder to overlook.

The Signals are more aggressive in this game. They slide much more often than they did in the Genesis/Mega Drive version. Same can be said about the Dominatrix girls...they can whip you as soon as you're lined up with them.

It should be mentioned that the weakest kung fu guys wear white and red instead of white and blue this time. The guys with blue trim will show up soon enough, though...

The boss here is that guy with the boomerang. Again. Just like last time, go up to him from an angle and grab him when you can, then deal some damage to him from there.

The usual weapons - pepper shakers, bottles and pipes - all show up in this game. DenHond doesn't use them, though, since even the weapons don't want to seem to act right, according to him (something about how inaccurate the weapons can be at times).

In each round, I will mention "stops": parts of the level where you have to beat up all the enemies before you can continue on. These are the enemies that appear on the normal section (not sure about Hard).

Stop 1: 2 Green Galsias
Stop 2: 2 Green Galsias, 3 Yellow Signals
Stop 3: 2 Green Galsias, 2 Red Dominatrixes

Stop 4: 2 Red Dominatrixes

Round 2

The old Player Select music plays over and over again in this stage. It's nice to hear it, but it loops about every fifteen seconds, so it can get slightly annoying.

The jugglers wear blue shoes to go with the red pants this time. Weird. Also, grabbing them is even harder in the Sega Master System because of all the weapons they have in their hands.

The Freddy Krueger clone is back. Grabbing him from diagonally is a better offensive strategy here, since he'll claw at you if you're right in front of him. Once again, don't execute a jump attack towards him, because it'll cause the guy to go haywire and home in on you. He also has the weird habit of hitting you, then running all the way to the other side of the screen, being off-screen briefly, then getting back at his normal behavior again. Weird.

The Special Animation is just...really weird. The screen goes black, goes back to the police car firing the mortar rocket, then goes back to where you are and shows the rocket hitting the ground. The bad guy re-appears and gets knocked back, while you fall from the sky to where you were standing.

Stop 1: 2 Green Galsias

Stop 2: 3 Yellow Signals

Stop 3: 2 Red Jugglers
Stop 4: 2 Red Jugglers, 2 Red Dominatrixes