The storyline of the game is fairly basic, which although sets up the game, is a real shame as I reckon it could have done with a better plot. The story is that in a city, gangs and thugs of an organized crime syndicate are running amok, and the police can’t stop them. Three police officers decide to put an end to the madness once and for all and turn in their badges to go and fight against this Syndicate and its boss, Mr.X. They also get another couple of officers to join them as backup. The three officers are Adam Hunter, who’s specialist style is Boxing making him the most powerful but fairly slow, Axel Stone, a martial artist who’s the generic all round character (who incidentally, along with Blaze become an icon of the SoR series), and Blaze Fielding, a judo specialist that is fast but not very powerful.

The differences between the characters is measured in three ways. Power, Jump and Speed. Each of these are given a A to C rating, of which govern how their fighting style is best suited to specific fights. These differences do tempt you to play through the game as all three characters, and you can’t say that you’ve really beaten a difficulty level until you have managed to beat it with all three characters, such are the differences between them.

With this in mind, Sega needed to make the game fast, fun and addictive. It pleases me to say that they managed it perfectly. SoR is THE perfect pick up and play game of its time (and definitely beats a lot of recent games hands down). Its mix of characters, both of the player characters and enemies make this a game that is both fun and memorable. The bosses especially are very varied and are a real threat to you, no matter what your difficulty of play. You feel a real sense of achievement all the way through the game even on the easier difficulties. The stages themselves are also memorable due to their constant hazards, items and enemies, not to mention their variety.

“but surely just hand to hand would be repetitive?” I hear some of you say. SoR has that covered though, with the ability to pick up weapons and use them against your enemies. You can pick up glass bottles, baseball bats, and if you’re lucky enough, the famed Lead Pipe (also another staple of the series). All these weapons last until dropped a certain number of times and each has their own satisfying sound effect, as though you’re really making an impact. This is without your “Special Move” which obliterates pretty much every normal enemy on the screen and wounds bosses quite nicely, although its rare that you’ll get more than one per stage/life.

Onto the topic of sound, each stage has its own distinctive tune and all of them set the mood perfectly, especially the boss fight and final boss fight themes. The game has the standard grunts and screams you’d expect from a scrolling beat ‘em up but the satisfying sounds of a baseball bat hitting someone just makes the games sound great, and that without the whistle of your special move coming in to obliterate everything in sight.

Now, despite all the good things in the game, there is still a few problems with it. The characters look great, but when they move, it looks a bit stiff and not as fluid as I’d have liked to have seen, even for the era it was in. The game is incredibly short, even on the harder difficulties. I’m not kidding that you can solo this game in 1 to 3 hours depending on your difficulty. This doesn’t do very much for the games lifespan, but then again, the game does feature a 2 player option which you will find extends the lifespan 300% as playing with a friend throws in a second boss in each stage to give both of you a challenge.

All in all, although it isn’t perfect, SoR is a classic, any gamer, hardcore or not, would do well to check this piece of gaming history and ingenuity out to remind yourself that graphics are definitely not the be all and end all of games, although it still does look great. This outlines all the things a great game should have and is definitely worthy of a place in any gamers collection.

Graphics: 9

The stages, moves and characters all look good, although a couple of animations do look a bit stiff.

Gameplay: 10

Absolutely perfect for what it is, even better in two player.

Sound: 9

Simply incredible, music sets the mood, and satisfying sound effects really please your ears.

Lifespan: 7 (solo) or 9 (two player co-op) 

Playing the game solo is still addictive in its own right but the game is far too short for many plays. Playing the game with a friend helps tremendously and will definitely extend the lifespan of your game.

Influence +5

SoR is one of the first games I had for my Sega Mega Drive, and it has always been a favourite of mine that I still play today. Scrolling beat ‘em ups, when done correctly, can be incredibly addictive.

Overall verdict: 9