Please Subscribe to my friend Ryan's channel (One of the gentlemen from my Beyond The Hat Talk Show) . He performed the first two Streets of Rage cover tracks at the beginning of the video and has more retro gaming cover tracks on his channel! ruclips.net/user/ryanguitar777
Good stuff Sir very good..👏👏 Yes Please Do the Sequels.. I promise things get better.. The whole Generation of Side scoll beat"em ups had good stuff about it. 👍👍👍
@@mechmancannon back then, as a little button mashing rascal, I would have wholeheartedly agreed with you. In hindsight though its pretty terrible. Which is a big shame as it has so many things in it's favour. Neo Geo side scrollers are all rather bad
Yea as a kid i was mad for final fight in the arcades but having played them both recently, streets of rage is def the better game to play and sof2 is imo the best beat em up. Final Fight was great graphically but playing capcom arcade beatemups now it just feels like a coin sponge. I would also go as far as to say golden axe is more enjoyable to play than final fight.
Streets of Rage will always be in my heart. To this day I listen to all of the music produced by that game and man does it bring me back to my childhood. I swear I did not have a care in the world back then. When my cousins came over her and I played SoR 1 and 2 all night. Good times.
This is really making me think both Shinobi and SOR are in the same universe like Final Fight and Street Fighter are respective to Capcom. The disco stages in Revenge of Shinobi and SOR3 both use the same impressive strobe effects. Amazing music and sound effects by masters Yuzo Koshiro & Motohiro Kawashima, and gameplay evolution with each entry. In fact, I'd even go as far to say SOR3's gameplay helped pave the way for Treasure's epic Guardian Heroes!!
I remember the first time I saw Streets of Rage at a local store here in Brazil, and I also remember being blown away by its soundtrack. I couldn't believe that music was coming out of a Mega Drive. It was - and still is - a fantastic technical feat.
@@kwkfortythree39 Exactly, only a few arcade beat em ups can be considered in the same league of SOR, and Final Fight certainly isn't one of them (although I loved it when it came out). On the top of my head I can name just Vendetta by Konami and Golden Axe, surely there are more but I can think of any other title now.
One of my favourite games of all time. The first I saw it was on a VCR tape (yes that's right) on the front of a Sega magazine which had a preview of it. I couldn't believe the increase in sprite size between 1 and 2.
Streets of Rage always held my interest throughout it's entirety. I've played all 3 Final Fights but Final Fight 3 was the only one worth repeating to me. SOR had a type of edge and personality that made each of their games fun to play, with SOR 2 being the undisputed best of the series. The music, character lore and gameplay of the series made SOR a huge system seller for the Genesis. It's a one of a kind series that even to this time has aged fairly well.
cant say i agree ... i will never understand peoples affection for sor 2..... i loved the 1st sor don't really like the 2 and 3 i thought the music the art style and game play for the first sor was the best and maybe that's why i don't like 2 or 3 because there way different from sor 1 ....
@@mrroasty666 , you do not think...1 was honestly primitive in comparison to 2 and 3. Thankfully, Remake pretty much makes them all obsolete, though. Now if only the rocket launching boss from the Master System/Game Gear port of the game, and the Mobile game exclusive boss of Hara-Kiri were in Remake, then things would be complete.
@@paxhumana2015 i like the simplicity of sor 1. sor 2 and 3 felt like the controls were a bit delayed making them feel heavy and clunky. and the sound fx and music just got worse with each release in my opinion...
@@youtubesuresuckscock the Final Fight Lore shines for the motivations of the characters but sins in the repetitiveness since it involves the classic kidnapping of the damsel in distress, It was an argument that already came from Kung-fu Master, as far as the Lore of the first SoR shines because it breaks that argument, it no longer starts from that principle, although it is also somewhat repetitive since it involves the classic argument "a criminal organization takes control of the city and our heroes must save the city"
Taito, Capcom and Sega built the best possible foundation for the Beat Em Up genre but it was Konami who made it an absolute hit in the 90's. Hope you get to cover their many great games in the future.
SoR2 is my favourite game of all time. I can play from start to finish at any given time and it's just as fun as it always was. The soundtrack I hold dear to my heart and will jam to it occasionally. SoR2 should be regarded as one of the best games of all time, one of the best sequels of all time and one of the best soundtracks to any form of media. It really doesn't get the credit it deserves. Can't wait for SoR4!!
Interesting fact. I always liked the way in SOR1 the entire game takes place at night time and only goes to morning during the final stage as you progress through the level. SOR2 is half, becomes day time from Stage 6 and the SOR3 is daylight, then night and then daylight again.
While I like the FF series (especially 3) I've always found myself replaying SOR (particularly SOR2) more as there was an element of fun to it that FF just simply didn't seem to have. It's hard to describe, but it boils down to SOR simply feeling more fun than FF.
Streets of Rage 2 was the best in the series! I still play it to this day, it's definitely a nice game to have on the go in the 2DS, 3DS and the Genesis collection for the Switch.
Greatest beat 'em up series ever. I remember being so disappointed with the SNES port of Final Fight (no Guy, are you f'ing kidding?!) so when this came out it more than made up for it and cemented my opinion that the Megadrive was King.
Objectively, snes outsold genesis by 40%,and had a more extensive library. Those are just facts. However what the genesis did well it done exceptionally well and that was a solid arcade experience at home, streets of rage 2 was the best beat emup of the two consoles.
Well no one seems to know exactly how well the MD/Gen sold, because of varying sales records, but yes it was probably somewhere between 25-40% less. And yeah due to the massive Japanese success and support, it ended up having more games. And you're certainly right about the arcade experience of the MD, thanks to its faster hardware. But there still isn't a landslide superiority that most Snes fanboys like to parade around. They treat the MD/Gen like it's a 3DO or Atari Jaguar tier console, completely ridiculous...
@@fitnessabcvideo Except those "facts" are limited to the USA. On a worldwide scale the SNES/MD war was so close that most people (who aren't biased) just call it a draw as both consoles sold roughly the same, both won overall in two continents and both have amazing game libraries many of which stand up to this day.
I would say that 'Streets Of Rage' 2, and 3 could stand toe to toe to the arcade version of 'Final Fight', but the first 'Streets Of Rages' could mop the floor with the SNES port of 'Final Fight'. I say this because while the first game isn't as strong as the other two, it's more complete than 'Final Fight' on the SNES.
Final Fight, hands down. The large and detailed sprites, stage levels and boses and surprisingly deep fighting system for a 2 button control mechanism. If comparing FF on the SNES to SOR on the Sega Genesis, than yes, SOR does handle better as FF was just an okay translation with many features omitted due to Capcom's programming. Look at SF on the SNES (16 meg cart vs 8 meg in FF). There's no denying what Capcom can accomplish. Now, compare FF CD on the Sega CD to SOR on the Sega CD. FF all the way. FF itself is better than SOR. Just my opinion.
my game of the heart, the second Megadrive game I played, after Sonic 1, on the Christmas I got the console. I love this Game, the gameplay is great and fast (most of the time), beautiful graphics and above all, an incredible soundtrack (which is no small feat on megadrive, which is not generally good with sound).
A wider moveset, memorable bosses, a godlike soundtrack, two different endings, and a much fairer challenge than final fight. Streets of rage is superior.
Another Brilliant Video, keep em comin, I love your Story of series.. and as an old gamer, who saw FF and SOR first time around, Ive never noticed how much they were alike either, I hope you look at the Konami CrimeFighters series soon, Crime Fighters, Vendetta, and Violent Storm.
The first cartridge that my dad bought for the Genesis was a bootleg that came with 2 games built-in, streets of rage and m.e.r.c.s! And I agree with you with regards to the scoring!
Owned a Genesis day 1 of its US release and some how never managed to play this game until I got the Sega Cd on its original release and got a free copy of SOR 1 with it. Fell in love with it instantly. Great series all 3 of them.
I still play Final Fight and Streets of Rage to this day. I miss River City Ransom. They recently made a brawl only version but it’s not the same. Scott Pilgram is a pretty close substitute though.
It might interest you to know that there is an entire very mixed series here and River City Ransom, while pretty special, is only one of DOZENS. Most of the games are Japanese only, and a couple are English only. Look up "Kunio-kun" to find out more. The most recent game is called River City Girls (both English and Japanese) and you can get it on Switch or PC at least.
I don't need to watch this to know the answer. Streets of Rage (especially 2) was a phenomenal game with excellent music, but final fight was just kind of ok.
Lambada was a short lived Brazilian music and dance style that was pretty popular in the late 80's and early 90's. It would be funny, and awesome, if Blaze's hobby were adressed in Streets of Rage 4
The problem I have with Final Fight, is that it gets boring rather quickly. I don't know why I favored SOR so much...possibly the number of enemies on the screen simultaneously. I think I favored the music in Streets much more. Think about it. You are essentially, mindlessly, mashing buttons. Kind of cool if you can bob your head to some decent chip tunes. The gameplay does get better by final fight 3. But don't expect the same experience
@@youtubesuresuckscock We were definitely comparing home ports. Besides. FF 2/3 weren't arcade releases and were plagued with slowdown during co-op. Don't get me wrong. I still enjoyed these games immensely, and Final Fight 3 had an extensive upgrade in the combat system. The sprites were also more detailed and hold up better. I simply favor the technically less impressive, SOR series for it's fast fluid gameplay and soundtrack. Though... SOR 3 had some janky tracks on it.
@@jamesburchill7522 SOR3 is apparently based on Detroit techno rather than Chicago (or is it the other way around). So the music is pretty much cutting edge at the time. SOR3 is a downright dutty soundtrack.
I understand your argument, and can't disagree with the fact that Streets of Rage is impressive for a Genesis... But I always had a problem with that series... I see the quality of the games. I am not crazy. I love beat'em all and play one very often, just because it's fun. It's so relaxing. That said, I found myself playing all of them (especially the arcade ones) but Street of Rage... Am I the only one?
@@iwanttocomplain , all three titles were mediocre. As I said before, if we are talking early beat-em-ups/side scrolling brawlers, i.e., from 1986 to 1996, then the ones that had it the most complete were Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, Aliens Vs. Predator, and the two Dungeons and Dragons games, with the Denjei Makai Ghost Hunter games being close behind. However, past that point would be the Sengoku Trilogy (even though the first game came out in 1991), the Knights of Valor games, Fist Puncher, and Gaia Crusaders, with honorable mentions to the Streets of Rage Remake and Marvel First Alliance fan games, as well as almost any LEGO game past 2008.
Pax Humana I agree with you... In my opinion, nothing else beats the "Final Fight" arcade version, but at home... "Streets of Rage 2" was king. But going years later to 1993/94, Capcom hit the nail in the coffin with "Cadillacs & Dinosaurs" and "Alien vs. Predator" …I'm glad I have both games on emulators and the 1995 "Denjin Makai 2" from Banpresto, I have it on my Pandora 's box arcade bartop 😊
Final Fight & Streets of Rage were both incredible titles. But SoR's soundtrack? Sublime 😎🎼 Animation is amazing, but wild how both were on different platforms, but showcased what they were capable of. Tough to pick just one
Loved the video and you sharing your thoughts. I respect your views and your thorough explanation and insight, I however would not personally compare the two games since as you summarized in your final thoughts one would not exist without the other. Regardless of my opinion this was an excellent video and comparison.
Holy Cow I had idea there was a Master System version. It figures as, didn't Sega pull software support for it out of stores in the U.S.? Graphically it couldn't compete - buuuut this was when graphic was only part of it. The fact the SNES didn't have 2 player co-opt reeeeeally pushed SOR over the line. That music had alot of memorable tracks today.
This was a great video. I’m a fan of both FF & SoR but my must fondest members out of the pair is Final Fight. I remember playing in the arcades so much. When I got it on the SNES it was still enjoyable despite the removal of two player mode and guy and only having three enemies on the screen at once compared to 25+ of the arcade (if you moved slowly enough so the program would note delete the first lot of loaded characters). Plus being able to see the enemies names and power level add more personality and likeability to the enemies. But the music of SoR was not only better of the two but any game even to this day!
Ohh that's a tough one man both are great o give them a tie. I have all of them too on the original consoles. Final fight 2 is my favorite however street of rage 2 and 3 man of they did a final fight streets of rage series. I honestly wish next gen systems would bring back the beat em up games.
I've watched exactly 0.55 seconds of this video so far and to answer that question of is Streets of Rage better than Final Fight? Of course it is in every way why and how is there any room for debate? Just the soundtrack alone from Yuzo Koshiro was good enough and once Streets of Rage 2 came out a year later there wasn't even a competition anymore.
I personally love both series, but lately Capcom hasn't thought of making another recent FF game, but I still enjoy the 4 games that were made. That being said, I have to say SOR2 and FF3 were my favs, Streetwise as well. Took me forever to actually find the game early 2000's. lol The only thing I noticed and don't like about both series is that the main protoganist Cody Travers is pretty much the Adam Hunter in Final Fight; Both characters are absent in part 2 and 3 of their respectful series , but became playable in SOR4 and Streetwise.
I always thought that the artists who painted the characters for final fight did not understand human anatomy at all. Characters in streets of rage just looks more natural, their movements are more real. Overall final fight feels clunky compared to streets of rage. I just can't stand the way Haggar walks))
Other games worth mentioning: D.D. Crew (SEGA) has a gun-wielding boss who looks like Mr. X. Riot City (SEGA) has characters like Axel and Adam. The Combatribes has red, yellow and blue characters. Mug Smashers has a character called Axel, also a character who looks like Adam, and the gun-wielding final boss laughs like Mr. X.
SOR has always been better than Final Fight imo. Better music, more diverse characters, bigger moveset, etc. Final Fight always felt “limited” in comparison honestly. FF 3 was the only one that was truly fun to me. The SOR series was just more fun to play. I absolutely love those games man, and SOR 2 is my favorite beat em up of all time (unless you want to count the absolutely amazing unofficial game SOR Remake)
Great vid, you forgot to add one fighting game into the mix that would mix it all up between the arcade and console, which would be none other than (captain commando), which was released September 28th 1991, two months pretty much after streets of rage 1 which was released on 2nd of August 1991. Captain commando would change things up for capcom in a massive way and I suspect was there answer to streets of rage. Captain commando had four characters, tons of new weapons, explosive. CC had more content, was co op but one thing that stood out is the new addition of using mechs. Streets of rage 2 would be released just over a year after on 20th September 1992, which again greatly changed the side scrolling beat em up genre, where it's crazy tunes are still solid today. I'd still say final fight was my fav over streets of rage 1, but streets of rage 2 won it for me, absoloute defining history to this day it's still a game to play.
15:01 Ehhhhhhh... except for the granddaddy of the genre, Double Dragon, which ended with 1P and 2P fighting each other to see which player was truly the best. All SoR really added was making this battle optional.
I have a tough time watching this not on a CRT or at least scanlines. Streets of Rage 2 was awesome. I loved that soundtrack, it had great bass for a gens cart.
You've got to be kidding!!! I guess you had to have been there at the time when these games came out. Final Fight was an absolute MONSTER... a game changer when it came out in the arcade in 1989 not just the way it looked but the game engine played as smooth as butter compared to other games of the time & Capcom basically kept re-skinning it for years to come (Aliens vs Preditor etc) like they later did with Street Fighter 2 (Marvel, X-men etc). When I got Streets of Rage for Christmas 2 years later I loved it but like anyone back then would have swaped it for an arcade perfect version of Final Fight in a heart beat . That even goes for Streets of rage 2. I remember the Mega CD version of Final Fight being even more dazzling than Streets of rage 2 at the time as it seemed more like an arcade game in your home. It's funny how people regard things now lol
@Nighthawk No, FF didn't really copy DD. DD's gameplay and control are terrible. FF essentially completely threw it out the window and came up with a formula that became the standard.
@@youtubesuresuckscock ff did copy double dragon. It was just more polished. That doesn't mean you're wrong about ff being better than sor, because imo it is much better. Maybe not the snes version, but 10000% the arcade version. Anyone who says otherwise is delluded and never played both at release during that time.
Oh the Sega master system I have so much great memories with this console and the streets of rage port for the MS is a well done port the 8bit hard ware
Please Subscribe to my friend Ryan's channel (One of the gentlemen from my Beyond The Hat Talk Show) . He performed the first two Streets of Rage cover tracks at the beginning of the video and has more retro gaming cover tracks on his channel! ruclips.net/user/ryanguitar777
Sure ill check him out! He has some great jams and if he's anything like you, I'm sure he Definately has respect for the craft of classic gaming!
Con gusto
Good stuff Sir very good..👏👏 Yes Please Do the Sequels.. I promise things get better.. The whole Generation of Side scoll beat"em ups had good stuff about it. 👍👍👍
The 1991 Neo Geo "Final Fight" game: Burning Fight cannot be ignored.
@@mechmancannon back then, as a little button mashing rascal, I would have wholeheartedly agreed with you. In hindsight though its pretty terrible. Which is a big shame as it has so many things in it's favour. Neo Geo side scrollers are all rather bad
As a kid I preferred Final Fight, but looking back, I think Streets of Rage was superior.
You are not wrong, Justin.
Yea as a kid i was mad for final fight in the arcades but having played them both recently, streets of rage is def the better game to play and sof2 is imo the best beat em up. Final Fight was great graphically but playing capcom arcade beatemups now it just feels like a coin sponge. I would also go as far as to say golden axe is more enjoyable to play than final fight.
The thing was Sega finally got Final Fight for Genesis on Sega CD and it was better than the arcade and SNES versions.
When I first played Streets of Rage it felt like a generic Final Fight but it grew on me.
Only thing that I wished would have happened is if Sega had 32x versions of SOR and Final Fight.
Man, poor Adam keeps getting the shaft! But at least he'll be getting the respect he deserves in the upcoming Streets Of Rage 4.
Max is way better 💪👹
True. He's excellent on the Remake tho even if it's not canon
Never mentioned Yuzu Koshiro who made the Streets of Rage music. An enjoyable brawler on the Genesis.
I couldn't say whether it's better, but I've always liked Streets of Rage more, & I am hyped up for Streets of Rage 4
They need to come on with it already!
Streets of Rage is better, far better. Most people love SOR more than FF.
Streets of rage 4 will fail us all. Mark my words
@@MIGGYME1 For some reason, I feel that STREETS OF RAGE 4 will do the complete opposite. I think it's going to be an awesome game.
@@antiseize11 Yeah, I lost my patience and currently making my own beat'em'up game)
No contest, SoR 2 is the pinnacle of 16-bit beat-em-ups. Still play it to this day AND the soundtrack. Can't wait for SoR4!
Streets of Rage will always be in my heart. To this day I listen to all of the music produced by that game and man does it bring me back to my childhood. I swear I did not have a care in the world back then. When my cousins came over her and I played SoR 1 and 2 all night. Good times.
Amazing how this music has made an impact on so many of us!
We need another Final Fight as well. Surprised none of the SoR characters ever made it in any fighting games.
Axel made it to the project x crossover games.
@@Invidente7 Really? Didn't know that. Gotta check it out.
@@Invidente7 But that's an RPG.
A Final Fight crossover with SoR could be fun.
That happened already...it was called Final Fight: Streetwise...it was not well received.
This is really making me think both Shinobi and SOR are in the same universe like Final Fight and Street Fighter are respective to Capcom.
The disco stages in Revenge of Shinobi and SOR3 both use the same impressive strobe effects. Amazing music and sound effects by masters Yuzo Koshiro & Motohiro Kawashima, and gameplay evolution with each entry.
In fact, I'd even go as far to say SOR3's gameplay helped pave the way for Treasure's epic Guardian Heroes!!
did you see the vid we did on the cover? it almost makes it seem like its on the same street
I would say Capcom has Strider who would rival Sega Shinobi and Capcom Final Fight would rival Sega Streets of Rage!
I remember the first time I saw Streets of Rage at a local store here in Brazil, and I also remember being blown away by its soundtrack. I couldn't believe that music was coming out of a Mega Drive. It was - and still is - a fantastic technical feat.
Streets of Rage 2 was epic... simply the best
It trounces any other home beat'em up and perhaps even arcade ones, or the majority of them easily
Yeah, right after Sor 1, 3, and Remake.
It's actually the worst Sor game imo. But still better than Final Fight or any other beat em ups.
Streets of rage 2 was the best
@@kwkfortythree39 Exactly, only a few arcade beat em ups can be considered in the same league of SOR, and Final Fight certainly isn't one of them (although I loved it when it came out).
On the top of my head I can name just Vendetta by Konami and Golden Axe, surely there are more but I can think of any other title now.
One of my favourite games of all time. The first I saw it was on a VCR tape (yes that's right) on the front of a Sega magazine which had a preview of it. I couldn't believe the increase in sprite size between 1 and 2.
SNKs Burning Fight is another Final Fight influenced game.
with great games comes with great music. Yuzo Koshiro 🔥🔥🔥
I always liked being able to throw your partner at the enemies.
I do that IRL with the cat
The Great Hadoken 😂😂
Streets of Rage always held my interest throughout it's entirety. I've played all 3 Final Fights but Final Fight 3 was the only one worth repeating to me. SOR had a type of edge and personality that made each of their games fun to play, with SOR 2 being the undisputed best of the series. The music, character lore and gameplay of the series made SOR a huge system seller for the Genesis. It's a one of a kind series that even to this time has aged fairly well.
Lore? Give me a break. The characters and theme are way more solid in Final Fight.
cant say i agree ... i will never understand peoples affection for sor 2..... i loved the 1st sor don't really like the 2 and 3 i thought the music the art style and game play for the first sor was the best and maybe that's why i don't like 2 or 3 because there way different from sor 1 ....
@@mrroasty666 , you do not think...1 was honestly primitive in comparison to 2 and 3. Thankfully, Remake pretty much makes them all obsolete, though. Now if only the rocket launching boss from the Master System/Game Gear port of the game, and the Mobile game exclusive boss of Hara-Kiri were in Remake, then things would be complete.
@@paxhumana2015 i like the simplicity of sor 1. sor 2 and 3 felt like the controls were a bit delayed making them feel heavy and clunky. and the sound fx and music just got worse with each release in my opinion...
@@youtubesuresuckscock the Final Fight Lore shines for the motivations of the characters but sins in the repetitiveness since it involves the classic kidnapping of the damsel in distress, It was an argument that already came from Kung-fu Master, as far as the Lore of the first SoR shines because it breaks that argument, it no longer starts from that principle, although it is also somewhat repetitive since it involves the classic argument "a criminal organization takes control of the city and our heroes must save the city"
Taito, Capcom and Sega built the best possible foundation for the Beat Em Up genre but it was Konami who made it an absolute hit in the 90's. Hope you get to cover their many great games in the future.
SoR2 is my favourite game of all time. I can play from start to finish at any given time and it's just as fun as it always was. The soundtrack I hold dear to my heart and will jam to it occasionally. SoR2 should be regarded as one of the best games of all time, one of the best sequels of all time and one of the best soundtracks to any form of media. It really doesn't get the credit it deserves. Can't wait for SoR4!!
My all time beat em up have all 3 still remember the Shiva code in 3 9 lives and stage select and roo
That was a great review. SoR for sure. The sound track was the icing on the cake also. Just awesome
Interesting fact. I always liked the way in SOR1 the entire game takes place at night time and only goes to morning during the final stage as you progress through the level.
SOR2 is half, becomes day time from Stage 6 and the SOR3 is daylight, then night and then daylight again.
Not True, The SOR1 3rd Level Beach Stage takes place during the day time.
The music in all the Streets of Rage games are so good
While I like the FF series (especially 3) I've always found myself replaying SOR (particularly SOR2) more as there was an element of fun to it that FF just simply didn't seem to have. It's hard to describe, but it boils down to SOR simply feeling more fun than FF.
Streets of Rage 2 was the best in the series! I still play it to this day, it's definitely a nice game to have on the go in the 2DS, 3DS and the Genesis collection for the Switch.
I'm surprised you didn't talk more about the music
rich has got this weird inability to listen to music or understand it..... true story
Greatest beat 'em up series ever. I remember being so disappointed with the SNES port of Final Fight (no Guy, are you f'ing kidding?!) so when this came out it more than made up for it and cemented my opinion that the Megadrive was King.
@Your Mom's Creepy Uncle have fun being a fanboy. Both consoles are awesome and have timelessly great libraries.
Objectively, snes outsold genesis by 40%,and had a more extensive library. Those are just facts. However what the genesis did well it done exceptionally well and that was a solid arcade experience at home, streets of rage 2 was the best beat emup of the two consoles.
Well no one seems to know exactly how well the MD/Gen sold, because of varying sales records, but yes it was probably somewhere between 25-40% less. And yeah due to the massive Japanese success and support, it ended up having more games. And you're certainly right about the arcade experience of the MD, thanks to its faster hardware.
But there still isn't a landslide superiority that most Snes fanboys like to parade around. They treat the MD/Gen like it's a 3DO or Atari Jaguar tier console, completely ridiculous...
@@fitnessabcvideo Except those "facts" are limited to the USA. On a worldwide scale the SNES/MD war was so close that most people (who aren't biased) just call it a draw as both consoles sold roughly the same, both won overall in two continents and both have amazing game libraries many of which stand up to this day.
Streets of Rage has the best soundtrack of the entire 16 bit era, no contest
Streetfighter 2 Turbo and any Sonic up until Sonic & Knuckles do contest that title...
Well you have to listen to the Final Fight's Bay area track and Rolento track (but arcade version of course) too. ☺
I would say that 'Streets Of Rage' 2, and 3 could stand toe to toe to the arcade version of 'Final Fight', but the first 'Streets Of Rages' could mop the floor with the SNES port of 'Final Fight'. I say this because while the first game isn't as strong as the other two, it's more complete than 'Final Fight' on the SNES.
2 yes. 3? Nah. It felt like a choppy fan mod of the second game.
I think you underestimate the first Streets of Rage a lot
Final Fight, hands down. The large and detailed sprites, stage levels and boses and surprisingly deep fighting system for a 2 button control mechanism.
If comparing FF on the SNES to SOR on the Sega Genesis, than yes, SOR does handle better as FF was just an okay translation with many features omitted due to Capcom's programming. Look at SF on the SNES (16 meg cart vs 8 meg in FF). There's no denying what Capcom can accomplish.
Now, compare FF CD on the Sega CD to SOR on the Sega CD. FF all the way. FF itself is better than SOR. Just my opinion.
my game of the heart, the second Megadrive game I played, after Sonic 1, on the Christmas I got the console.
I love this Game, the gameplay is great and fast (most of the time), beautiful graphics and above all, an incredible soundtrack (which is no small feat on megadrive, which is not generally good with sound).
One of the biggest appeals of Final Fight were the giant sprites. It makes Streets of Rage sprites look like puny 8-bit sprites.
Then final fight lost its appeal when SoR2 was released
Streets of Rage 2 fixed that problem.
A wider moveset, memorable bosses, a godlike soundtrack, two different endings, and a much fairer challenge than final fight. Streets of rage is superior.
Another Brilliant Video, keep em comin, I love your Story of series.. and as an old gamer, who saw FF and SOR first time around, Ive never noticed how much they were alike either, I hope you look at the Konami CrimeFighters series soon, Crime Fighters, Vendetta, and Violent Storm.
Definitely not better than FINAL FIGHT. Just as good but not BETTER!! Final Fight is one of my all time favourite game.
More videos on Streets of Rage! You gotta do the whole series now!
What if we got a final fight & streets of rage crossover team up game in the future
.. Ooh the possibilities!
Visuals: FF
Music: SOR
Fighting variety: SOR
Gameplay: SOR
Story: SOR
SOR > FF
I've played it well over a hundred times and I still couldn't tell you the story lol
Thought I had nothing to watch this evening, seems I was mistaken! Thanks again for another MAD episode Top Hat Gaming Man
The first cartridge that my dad bought for the Genesis was a bootleg that came with 2 games built-in, streets of rage and m.e.r.c.s! And I agree with you with regards to the scoring!
For some reason, what "THG Man" said at 18:17 made me laugh like CRAZY!! All in all, though, he did a very good job on the whole video in general.
Being from Brazil, I've played a lot on the Sega Master System. Streets of Rage was always a favorite of mine.
Owned a Genesis day 1 of its US release and some how never managed to play this game until I got the Sega Cd on its original release and got a free copy of SOR 1 with it. Fell in love with it instantly. Great series all 3 of them.
The boy loves his jump kicks.
The Master System port looks so good it even beats the early Genesis titles like Altered Beast.
The answer really is streets of rage 2! 😉👍
I still play Final Fight and Streets of Rage to this day. I miss River City Ransom. They recently made a brawl only version but it’s not the same. Scott Pilgram is a pretty close substitute though.
It might interest you to know that there is an entire very mixed series here and River City Ransom, while pretty special, is only one of DOZENS. Most of the games are Japanese only, and a couple are English only. Look up "Kunio-kun" to find out more. The most recent game is called River City Girls (both English and Japanese) and you can get it on Switch or PC at least.
I don't need to watch this to know the answer. Streets of Rage (especially 2) was a phenomenal game with excellent music, but final fight was just kind of ok.
Final Fight invented a lot of what Streets of Rage 2 basically copied. The SNES port is lacking, but the arcade version beats everything.
The best beat em up game ever and my favorite Sega genesis game ever!!!!!
Lambada was a short lived Brazilian music and dance style that was pretty popular in the late 80's and early 90's. It would be funny, and awesome, if Blaze's hobby were adressed in Streets of Rage 4
Awesome video! Did you know that Big Ben, the fire-breathing boss, was originally in E-SWAT, as "Rolling Man"? ⚡🎮🔥😁👍
Aside from the music, FF1>SoR1
but SoR2>FF2 and SoR3>FF3
I need to play Final Fight. My rankings for Streets of Rage series would be
1. Streets of Rage 2
2. Streets of Rage
3. Streets of Rage 3
The problem I have with Final Fight, is that it gets boring rather quickly. I don't know why I favored SOR so much...possibly the number of enemies on the screen simultaneously. I think I favored the music in Streets much more. Think about it. You are essentially, mindlessly, mashing buttons. Kind of cool if you can bob your head to some decent chip tunes. The gameplay does get better by final fight 3. But don't expect the same experience
@@jamesburchill7522 There are more enemies on the screen in the arcade FF than SOR (10).
@@youtubesuresuckscock We were definitely comparing home ports. Besides. FF 2/3 weren't arcade releases and were plagued with slowdown during co-op. Don't get me wrong. I still enjoyed these games immensely, and Final Fight 3 had an extensive upgrade in the combat system. The sprites were also more detailed and hold up better. I simply favor the technically less impressive, SOR series for it's fast fluid gameplay and soundtrack. Though... SOR 3 had some janky tracks on it.
@@jamesburchill7522 Imagine if someone made a rom hack of FF where it uses music from the sor series.
@@jamesburchill7522 SOR3 is apparently based on Detroit techno rather than Chicago (or is it the other way around). So the music is pretty much cutting edge at the time. SOR3 is a downright dutty soundtrack.
Played the hell out of Streets of Rage 2 with my brother back in the day.
SoR an FF are indeed similar, never noticed it.
Love it. We will of course be expecting videos on SoR2 and 3.
The Game Gear version does have co-op.
I understand your argument, and can't disagree with the fact that Streets of Rage is impressive for a Genesis... But I always had a problem with that series... I see the quality of the games. I am not crazy. I love beat'em all and play one very often, just because it's fun. It's so relaxing. That said, I found myself playing all of them (especially the arcade ones) but Street of Rage... Am I the only one?
Miguel Dias i agree with you. 😊
The two best beat 'em ups of all times. But I prefer Streets of Rage.
Some rate Golden Axe as the superior beat em up. I think that's a toughie.
@@iwanttocomplain , all three titles were mediocre. As I said before, if we are talking early beat-em-ups/side scrolling brawlers, i.e., from 1986 to 1996, then the ones that had it the most complete were Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, Aliens Vs. Predator, and the two Dungeons and Dragons games, with the Denjei Makai Ghost Hunter games being close behind. However, past that point would be the Sengoku Trilogy (even though the first game came out in 1991), the Knights of Valor games, Fist Puncher, and Gaia Crusaders, with honorable mentions to the Streets of Rage Remake and Marvel First Alliance fan games, as well as almost any LEGO game past 2008.
Pax Humana I agree with you... In my opinion, nothing else beats the "Final Fight" arcade version, but at home... "Streets of Rage 2" was king. But going years later to 1993/94, Capcom hit the nail in the coffin with "Cadillacs & Dinosaurs" and "Alien vs. Predator" …I'm glad I have both games on emulators and the 1995 "Denjin Makai 2" from Banpresto, I have it on my Pandora 's box arcade bartop 😊
My favorite beat em up.....Yessss sega 4E
You never mentioned the combo throwing attack you can do with 2 players.
Final Fight & Streets of Rage were both incredible titles. But SoR's soundtrack? Sublime 😎🎼
Animation is amazing, but wild how both were on different platforms, but showcased what they were capable of.
Tough to pick just one
Loved the video and you sharing your thoughts. I respect your views and your thorough explanation and insight, I however would not personally compare the two games since as you summarized in your final thoughts one would not exist without the other. Regardless of my opinion this was an excellent video and comparison.
I’m hoping streets of Rage 4 holds up.
Final Fight HUGE, bright and colorful characters vs. small, dark and grainy characters. Hmmm.. Which one shall I choose?
Holy Cow I had idea there was a Master System version. It figures as, didn't Sega pull software support for it out of stores in the U.S.? Graphically it couldn't compete - buuuut this was when graphic was only part of it. The fact the SNES didn't have 2 player co-opt reeeeeally pushed SOR over the line. That music had alot of memorable tracks today.
Still own the Game Gear version from childhood. Ton of fun.
This was a great video. I’m a fan of both FF & SoR but my must fondest members out of the pair is Final Fight. I remember playing in the arcades so much. When I got it on the SNES it was still enjoyable despite the removal of two player mode and guy and only having three enemies on the screen at once compared to 25+ of the arcade (if you moved slowly enough so the program would note delete the first lot of loaded characters). Plus being able to see the enemies names and power level add more personality and likeability to the enemies. But the music of SoR was not only better of the two but any game even to this day!
Chris Winslow final Fight cd on the mega cd for me was the best side scrolling beat em up of the 16 big generation.
Sargon’s Black Grandfather Ha yes the Mega-CD version did redeem itself on the 16bit platform.
Is Streets of Rage better than Final Fight?
Short answer: Yes.
Long answer:YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Especially Streets of Rage 2! 2 was best in the series!
I really love Streets of Rage
Ohh that's a tough one man both are great o give them a tie. I have all of them too on the original consoles. Final fight 2 is my favorite however street of rage 2 and 3 man of they did a final fight streets of rage series. I honestly wish next gen systems would bring back the beat em up games.
So many memories playing this with my dad still play it today on PS4 😅
Double Dragon is the oldest, Final Fight got a better graphics, but Streets of Rage got a better control and moves.
I've watched exactly 0.55 seconds of this video so far and to answer that question of is Streets of Rage better than Final Fight? Of course it is in every way why and how is there any room for debate? Just the soundtrack alone from Yuzo Koshiro was good enough and once Streets of Rage 2 came out a year later there wasn't even a competition anymore.
FF on the arcade >>>>>> SoR. no FF = no SoR
@@flowingqi8735 No Double Dragon=No Final Fight
Does this automatically make DD better than FF according to your logic?
FF is way better than SOR. Double Dragon's music is probably better than SOR's.
I personally love both series, but lately Capcom hasn't thought of making another recent FF game, but I still enjoy the 4 games that were made.
That being said, I have to say SOR2 and FF3 were my favs, Streetwise as well. Took me forever to actually find the game early 2000's. lol
The only thing I noticed and don't like about both series is that the main protoganist Cody Travers is pretty much the Adam Hunter in Final Fight; Both characters are absent in part 2 and 3 of their respectful series , but became playable in SOR4 and Streetwise.
Smaller sprites allowed for more characters on screen simultaneously. The maximum was around 12 enemy sprites at a time if I remember correctly.
I always thought that the artists who painted the characters for final fight did not understand human anatomy at all. Characters in streets of rage just looks more natural, their movements are more real. Overall final fight feels clunky compared to streets of rage. I just can't stand the way Haggar walks))
He walks like he's got 5 lb hemorrhoids
I've downloaded the ost multiple times to listen to it because it's just that good.
Other games worth mentioning: D.D. Crew (SEGA) has a gun-wielding boss who looks like Mr. X. Riot City (SEGA) has characters like Axel and Adam. The Combatribes has red, yellow and blue characters. Mug Smashers has a character called Axel, also a character who looks like Adam, and the gun-wielding final boss laughs like Mr. X.
Hands down one of the greatest video game soundtracks = Streets of Rage
How many wonderful games were created in the 16-bit age!!!
A lot more great games back then unlike today.
I wish more thought and love would have been given to the brilliant music in this title. Otherwise, great analysis.
Sor all the way! Although *spoilers* I did like the final boss crashing through the window of the skyscraper building in final fight.
SOR has always been better than Final Fight imo. Better music, more diverse characters, bigger moveset, etc. Final Fight always felt “limited” in comparison honestly. FF 3 was the only one that was truly fun to me. The SOR series was just more fun to play. I absolutely love those games man, and SOR 2 is my favorite beat em up of all time (unless you want to count the absolutely amazing unofficial game SOR Remake)
Great vid, you forgot to add one fighting game into the mix that would mix it all up between the arcade and console, which would be none other than (captain commando), which was released September 28th 1991, two months pretty much after streets of rage 1 which was released on 2nd of August 1991. Captain commando would change things up for capcom in a massive way and I suspect was there answer to streets of rage. Captain commando had four characters, tons of new weapons, explosive. CC had more content, was co op but one thing that stood out is the new addition of using mechs. Streets of rage 2 would be released just over a year after on 20th September 1992, which again greatly changed the side scrolling beat em up genre, where it's crazy tunes are still solid today. I'd still say final fight was my fav over streets of rage 1, but streets of rage 2 won it for me, absoloute defining history to this day it's still a game to play.
Can you cover all of Final Fight and Streets of Rage games?
Great video. I like the Final Fight games but always preferred the Streets of Rage games in comparison.
No 2 player and no Guy, instant deal-breaker for Final Fight on SNES
Similar games but my heart goes with SoR 2. By far the best of it's genre I ever played.
15:01 Ehhhhhhh... except for the granddaddy of the genre, Double Dragon, which ended with 1P and 2P fighting each other to see which player was truly the best. All SoR really added was making this battle optional.
I have a tough time watching this not on a CRT or at least scanlines. Streets of Rage 2 was awesome. I loved that soundtrack, it had great bass for a gens cart.
I hope after you go through the series you do something on the hd remake version.
It's a shame that your Mega Drive footage appears to have a filter. :(
Ahhh the good old days of not being able to save game, so you just put it on pause for hours when your mum made you go out somewhere with her 🤣😂
You've got to be kidding!!! I guess you had to have been there at the time when these games came out. Final Fight was an absolute MONSTER... a game changer when it came out in the arcade in 1989 not just the way it looked but the game engine played as smooth as butter compared to other games of the time & Capcom basically kept re-skinning it for years to come (Aliens vs Preditor etc) like they later did with Street Fighter 2 (Marvel, X-men etc). When I got Streets of Rage for Christmas 2 years later I loved it but like anyone back then would have swaped it for an arcade perfect version of Final Fight in a heart beat . That even goes for Streets of rage 2. I remember the Mega CD version of Final Fight being even more dazzling than Streets of rage 2 at the time as it seemed more like an arcade game in your home. It's funny how people regard things now lol
Were the 8 & 16-Bit versions similarly priced?
i always thought axel was modeled after johny from the karatee kid
🎩: is it better than Final Fight?
The comments: yes
No, actually, it's far worse than Final Fight.
SOR is a copycat. It's a pretender.
Final Fight is a real breakthrough seminal game.
@@youtubesuresuckscock salt
@Nighthawk No, FF didn't really copy DD. DD's gameplay and control are terrible. FF essentially completely threw it out the window and came up with a formula that became the standard.
@@youtubesuresuckscock ff did copy double dragon. It was just more polished. That doesn't mean you're wrong about ff being better than sor, because imo it is much better. Maybe not the snes version, but 10000% the arcade version. Anyone who says otherwise is delluded and never played both at release during that time.
@@n11ono59 It really didn't. The style and gameplay are fundamentally different. Capcom beat 'em ups play nothing like Technos beat 'em ups.
I love SOR series. there's also a fanmade one: Street of Rage Remake, AWESOME. hey, would you do a review of Cadillacs and Dinosaurs beat'em up?
Yes, bare knuckle is better than any beat em up games our there.
Oh the Sega master system I have so much great memories with this console and the streets of rage port for the MS is a well done port the 8bit hard ware
SoR is like an early 90s time capsule in the form of a beat 'em up.
What about dungeons and dragons shadow over mystara? That was arguably the greatest sidescrolling arcade beat em up ever.
PitFiend2001 can't forget about "Alien Vs Predator" by CAPCOM too... Unfortunately that beat'em up never had a home port 😢😢!!