Retro Video Game Curation
As I wait to complete the game 100%, and gather enough screenshots to make an article vibrant in appearance, I find myself unable to contain my excitement: I must give my initial impression of Streets of Rage 4.
Continue reading “Streets of Rage 4: First Impressions”UPDATE: Check out my first impressions of SOR4 post-release here
When my 3-year old self managed to convince my parents to get me a SEGA Genesis just like my older cousin, one of the first games I received was Streets of Rage 2. Even as a barely functional toddler, it quickly became one of my favorite games on the console; spending much of my time bludgeoning hordes of “Galsia” with steel pipes and incorrectly mimicking the inaudible battle cries of the protagonists while they were performing their special moves on-screen (honestly, who the hell understood what they were saying back in the day?).
As mentioned in a previous post, a different cousin of mine, who was the same age as me, also happened to receive a Genesis and SOR2 the same year, and we played it together everyday following our daily 12:00 PM dismissals from pre-school; She the massive, possibly steroid infused, Max Thunder, and I, the scrawny pre-pubescent boy Skate. These character choices were particularly ironic considering I was big for my age, while she was pretty scrawny back then. As a side note, now she is pretty jacked, perhaps inspired by her childhood favorite Max?
Continue reading “What the Streets of Rage 4 Announcement Means to Me… and Thoughts”
Being born in early 1990, I came into this world on the cusp of the 16-bit era’s explosion on to the scene. Following Nintendo’s dominance of the 80’s, other companies sought to compete by simply overpowering the aging, but ubiquitous NES. Rather than futilely compete in the 8-bit marketplace monopolized by Nintendo, other companies moved on. NEC and Hudson released their Turbografx-16, and SEGA their Genesis; both 16-bit machines that outclassed the NES’ technical specs in all categories. This critical point in gaming occurred mere months before my birth, perhaps making me one of the luckiest bastards on the planet.
Continue reading “Gaming Memories # 1: My Introduction to Gaming.”
Easily my favorite beat em’ up series of all time, Streets of Rage/Bare Knuckle is an essential for any retro gamer. The gameplay in this series is timeless, setting standards in the genre that have rarely been surpassed. The music is the best in the genre bar none, and can be included in talks for best video game soundtracks of all time.
In addition to the objective greatness of the series, the games have been central to many of my childhood memories and are so universally appealing that even my wife, who has only a mild interest in video games, adores the games.
Below is a link to a hub pages article I wrote that includes an overview of the entire series as well as fan projects. The article was written before I created this blog, but it contains a tremendous amount of useful information.
https://hubpages.com/games-hobbies/streets-of-rage-series-resource