Art From The Streets of Rage Reboot That Never Was

[The Wooster]

Art From The Streets of Rage Reboot That Never Was

Here's some concept art from Backbone Entertainment's rejected Streets of Rage reboot.

Reboots are in. The promise of the nostalgia dollar has most big developers digging through their couch cushions for discarded IPs. One exception is former 16-bit titan, Sega. The house that Sonic built has left its back catalog relatively unmolested, save for the occasional straight-port re-release and, oh god, that Golden Axe reboot. Now, it turns out that Backbone Entertainment, an outfit known mainly for its HD ports of Capcom's fighting games, pitched a reboot of 16-bit, brawler classic Streets of Rage (or Bare Knuckle if you prefer). Despite the fact a new Streets of Rage game is almost guaranteed bank at this point, 2008's Castle Crashers having sparked a kind of brawler renaissance, Sega rejected the idea.

Artist, Arvin Bautista, has released a handful of concept art pics included in the pitch, as well as a mock-up of what appears to be an updated version of E-Swat. The art itself is charmingly goofy, penned with the same hand-drawn-and-coloured style found in Sonic the Comic back in the day.

Personally, while I'm not sure Backbone are the right team for the job (two words; "Way" and "Forward"), I'd love to see a modern take on Streets of Rage, albeit one more in the vein of Bionic Commando Rearmed or Double Dragon Neon than, say, Golden Axe.

Source: Free Super Heroes [http://freesuperheroes.blogspot.co.uk/p/video-game-art.html] via Destructoid [http://www.destructoid.com/streets-of-rage-eswat-art-for-reboots-that-never-were-253251.phtml]

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[Covarr]

Backbone really aren't the right team for any job. It's a safe bet that if they'd gone through with this, it would be rife with technical problems.

P.S. Thanks

 

[Fappy]

Fuck reboots. Give me Streets of Rage 4!

God, those games were so fun.

 

[PBMcNair]

Awful lot of guns in that picture, for a Streets of Rage game.
Streets of Rage is my earliest non-Sonic gaming memory, I'd have paid good money for more.
At the moment, its literally what I do when waiting for a video to load.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

Fuck reboots. Give me Streets of Rage 4!

God, those games were so fun.

Damn straight! I've been on about that for over a decade. Streets Of Rage 2 is my favorite fighting game of all time.

Why does that artwork look more like an E-Swat reboot rather than Streets Of Rage?

 

[Fappy]

Fuck reboots. Give me Streets of Rage 4!

God, those games were so fun.

Damn straight! I've been on about that for over a decade. Streets Of Rage 2 is my favorite fighting game of all time.

Why does that artwork look more like an E-Swat reboot rather than Streets Of Rage?

According to the source they ARE pics from E-Swat. There's only concept at of Streets of Rage on there.

 

[DuelLadyS]

Despite the fact a new Streets of Rage game is almost guaranteed bank at this point, 2008's Castle Crashers having sparked a kind of brawler renaissance, Sega rejected the idea.

So you're saying that brawlers are... all the rage these days?

http://mirrors.rit.edu/instantCSI/

Seriously though, I'd love new (good) Streets of Rage. I played the CRAP out of the original. To this extent- I learned of the 'bad endings' and how you got them, but my siblings didn't want to play through to get them. I learned to play the game with my feet so I could do 2-player mode alone and get those endings- and I did. All 3 of them.

Unfortnately, my adult toes are too big and it's much harder to play that way anymore.

 

[Mr C]

Fuck reboots. Give me Streets of Rage 4!

God, those games were so fun.

Damn straight! I've been on about that for over a decade. Streets Of Rage 2 is my favorite fighting game of all time.

Why does that artwork look more like an E-Swat reboot rather than Streets Of Rage?

Fuck reboots. Give me Streets of Rage 4!

God, those games were so fun.

Damn straight! I've been on about that for over a decade. Streets Of Rage 2 is my favorite fighting game of all time.

Why does that artwork look more like an E-Swat reboot rather than Streets Of Rage?

According to the source they ARE pics from E-Swat. There's only concept at of Streets of Rage on there.

Thanks for clearing that up. E-SWAT was pretty good for the Megadrive. Though a nice conversion of the arcade would also be a good thing to see.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

Fuck reboots. Give me Streets of Rage 4!

God, those games were so fun.

Damn straight! I've been on about that for over a decade. Streets Of Rage 2 is my favorite fighting game of all time.

Why does that artwork look more like an E-Swat reboot rather than Streets Of Rage?

According to the source they ARE pics from E-Swat. There's only concept at of Streets of Rage on there.

Damn selective reading.

Anyone ever play Spikeout? That was meant to be the "spiritual successor" to Streets Of Rage. Wasn't too bad either; just needed a few more combos.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

SoR2 was my favorite. Once I killed the first boss in one hit with the wrestler's supermove, a feat I've been unable to accomplish since then. Also no remake IMO can ever recapture the perfect blend of isometric sidescrolling brawls and BAD-FUCKING-ASS soundtrack.

To people who played the series, what was your favorite character to play with? I opted for Blaze, Axel or Skate usually. Axel was my boy, but Blaze was second tied with Skate.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

Fuck reboots. Give me Streets of Rage 4!

God, those games were so fun.

Au contraire, kind Fappy von Fappenstein: They still are so fun.

It's curious how those NES, SNES and Genesis/Megadrive games, and a choice few C=64, Sinclair, Amiga and Atari games just don't seem to get boring much, if at all.

Just past weekend, we soldered one of those darn cables to be able to play networked 1vs1 Amiga games. We platinum'ed Bioshock Infinite, we talked about it over two bottles of wine and some Appleton rum, we did some Mortal Kombat Injustice, and we got darn bored with all our shiny shiny new toys, so we went to dig out the ones that mostly live in banana boxes.

Streets of Rage, Golden Axe and Shinobi sound... different on a 7.1 setup. Love the bass, it will invade every nook and cranny of your fleshy and bony meatsuit. Awesome stuff. Too bad you have to loop them to get proper visuals on our current generation flat displays. Their perfection just doesn't do the art of old games proper justice.

I'd totally buy Streets of Rage 4. I'd most certainly be quite disappointed by it, though.

 

[vid87]

I've had the Wii for a few years. I've only bought 4 games off Wii Shop - 2 of them are SOR 2 and 3.

I'm a little wary that a new game might not be as good as the others (3 made the engine better, but the aesthetics and overall tone were off for me) but, on both a fanboy and economic level, what, for the love of God, is stopping Sega from making another one? Hell, FANS ALREADY MADE ONE FOR THEM (I know it was axed, which I consider just so much worse for Sega PR-wise).

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

SoR2 was my favorite. Once I killed the first boss in one hit with the wrestler's supermove, a feat I've been unable to accomplish since then. Also no remake IMO can ever recapture the perfect blend of isometric sidescrolling brawls and BAD-FUCKING-ASS soundtrack.

To people who played the series, what was your favorite character to play with? I opted for Blaze, Axel or Skate usually. Axel was my boy, but Blaze was second tied with Skate.

Axel was the bomb. Grand Upper! He was a bit more gimped in the 3rd one.
I also prefer Max over Zan; Max's atomic drop attack was devastating. You could "collect" enemies in mid air with it by jumping diagonally when you had hold of one and you could atomic drop about three of them. Certain bosses who like to block can also be easily defeated when he does his Thunder charge, as it does obscene block damage.

 

[JoshuaMadoc]

I think I'll settle for a Denjin Makai 3 or a Battle Circuit 2.

 

[Big_Boss_Mantis]

Streets of Rage is one of my favorite gaming series PERIOD!

As pointed out early, it just doesn't get old.
I would love for some new one, 2D or 3D, but WE NEED YUZO KOSHIRO on the job!

I always liked to think of SEGA's Yakuza as an Streets Of Rage spiritual successor, with all the hand-to-hand combat glory, brawling on the streets, breaking bottles on enemies heads, cool soundtrack and so on... But I was probably just lying to myself to fill the void of lacking a new entry in the series.

I've had the Wii for a few years. I've only bought 4 games off Wii Shop - 2 of them are SOR 2 and 3.

I'm a little wary that a new game might not be as good as the others (3 made the engine better, but the aesthetics and overall tone were off for me) but, on both a fanboy and economic level, what, for the love of God, is stopping Sega from making another one? Hell, FANS ALREADY MADE ONE FOR THEM (I know it was axed, which I consider just so much worse for Sega PR-wise).

3 was the weakest of the bunch, but there is still plenty of enjoyment to be had with that one!

About the fan-made Streets Of Rage: IT IS ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC. Really, I have no words for how much love and dedication have been put in that thing.
They remade sprites, expanded levels and actually recovered abandoned material (level concepts, music tracks) to put into the game.
You have several routes to take which makes for a ton of replay value.

SEGA shouldn't have stopped it. SEGA SHOULD HAVE FIRED EVERYONE ON ITS STAFF (specially the Sonic '06 team) and then HIRED EVERYONE involved in the fan remake of Streets Of Rage to port it to PSN, Live, PC, Mac, WiiU, Vita, 3DS, iOS, Android, Windows phone, Symbian, Java, Ouya, Smart TVs, ATM Machines, Electric toasters, digital wrist watches, pacemakers and etch-a-sketches.
Then, SEGA would be legally forbidden to release ANYTHING without the seal of approval of the SOR Remake team, wich, after porting the game to every electronical applience known to man, would promptly go to develop a big budget Alex Kidd remake in the same style as Super Mario 3D Land.

That's how good the SOR fan remake is!

 

[vid87]

Streets of Rage is one of my favorite gaming series PERIOD!

As pointed out early, it just doesn't get old.
I would love for some new one, 2D or 3D, but WE NEED YUZO KOSHIRO on the job!

I always liked to think of SEGA's Yakuza as an Streets Of Rage spiritual successor, with all the hand-to-hand combat glory, brawling on the streets, breaking bottles on enemies heads, cool soundtrack and so on... But I was probably just lying to myself to fill the void of lacking a new entry in the series.

I've had the Wii for a few years. I've only bought 4 games off Wii Shop - 2 of them are SOR 2 and 3.

I'm a little wary that a new game might not be as good as the others (3 made the engine better, but the aesthetics and overall tone were off for me) but, on both a fanboy and economic level, what, for the love of God, is stopping Sega from making another one? Hell, FANS ALREADY MADE ONE FOR THEM (I know it was axed, which I consider just so much worse for Sega PR-wise).

3 was the weakest of the bunch, but there is still plenty of enjoyment to be had with that one!

I'm curious by what you mean by "weakest" (only curious - not necessarily disagreeing, just interested in your opinion) Like I said, the engine for 3 was solid (running!) and a lot more fluid than 2, but whatever developers were trying to do with the music or look of the game, something about it came off as darker and grimier than bouncy, energetic #2, not to mention #3's overuse of stage gimmicks like the bulldozer section or mine carts that absolutely kill the flow. That said, #1 hasn't really been mentioned yet and I'm wondering if people think that still holds up. I haven't actually played the fan-remake, but I've seen LPs of it and it looks like a blast.

 

[Big_Boss_Mantis]

Snip

I really love the first, and I think it aged gracefully. The graphics really look dated in comparison with two, unfortunately. But, in every other aspect it holds up great.
Fantastic soundtrack, great levels that laied the fundation for the others, solid gameplay (even if a little rough around the edges). And charm. Lots and lots of charm. From the opening screen to the end credits, for the way time passes chronologically in game that the night becomes day by the last level on the mansion, for the secret endings...
Everything just feels right about the first one (and it is still my personal favorite, actually).

SoR 2 is a very good evolution of the first, and I guess it is better than the first in every aspect. Gorgeous graphics (i think it looks great even today), arguably a better soundtrack, more varied levels (some a little wacky). It is regarded as the best of the series, and deservingly so! I just personally prefer the "magic" of the first better! (sorry for being so vague... Sometimes less is more. I actually like Arkham Asylum a lot more than Arkham City, for instance ... And Demon's Souls over Dark Souls)

Then came the third, and I agree with everything that you said.
Gameplay-wise it is the best of the bunch. Running; secret playable characters; that cooldown bar that, when full, let's you use the special moves without health penalty.
But the soundtrack is painful at times. Yuzo Koshiro, who wrote the soundtrack for the first two, used an experimental program for random generated notes for SoR 3. And it shows.
The soundtrack is a really big aspect of the game, moody and great.
Instead we got that "all over the place" vibe you mentioned.
And I disliked a lot of changes made from the japanese Bare Knuckle, like the change in characters collors.
See what made SoR great was the little details. It really was bigger than the sum of its parts.
Another thing that really made me angry about 3 was that the enemies had far too much health. Seems like I would hit them forever and they wouldn't die. That also made the pacing off.

I ended up writing a book. Apart from the soundtrack, it is hard to pinpoint what is wrong with #3. And it is a great game. It just doesn't feel JUST RIGHT like the first two! IMO.

 

[vid87]

I really love the first, and I think it aged gracefully. The graphics really look dated in comparison with two, unfortunately. But, in every other aspect it holds up great.
Fantastic soundtrack, great levels that laied the fundation for the others, solid gameplay (even if a little rough around the edges). And charm. Lots and lots of charm. From the opening screen to the end credits, for the way time passes chronologically in game that the night becomes day by the last level on the mansion, for the secret endings...
Everything just feels right about the first one (and it is still my personal favorite, actually).

SoR 2 is a very good evolution of the first, and I guess it is better than the first in every aspect. Gorgeous graphics (i think it looks great even today), arguably a better soundtrack, more varied levels (some a little wacky). It is regarded as the best of the series, and deservingly so! I just personally prefer the "magic" of the first better! (sorry for being so vague... Sometimes less is more. I actually like Arkham Asylum a lot more than Arkham City, for instance ... And Demon's Souls over Dark Souls)

Then came the third, and I agree with everything that you said.
Gameplay-wise it is the best of the bunch. Running; secret playable characters; that cooldown bar that, when full, let's you use the special moves without health penalty.
But the soundtrack is painful at times. Yuzo Koshiro, who wrote the soundtrack for the first two, used an experimental program for random generated notes for SoR 3. And it shows.
The soundtrack is a really big aspect of the game, moody and great.
Instead we got that "all over the place" vibe you mentioned.
And I disliked a lot of changes made from the japanese Bare Knuckle, like the change in characters collors.
See what made SoR great was the little details. It really was bigger than the sum of its parts.
Another thing that really made me angry about 3 was that the enemies had far too much health. Seems like I would hit them forever and they wouldn't die. That also made the pacing off.

I ended up writing a book. Apart from the soundtrack, it is hard to pinpoint what is wrong with #3. And it is a great game. It just doesn't feel JUST RIGHT like the first two! IMO.

The weird thing about some of #3's ideas was that, conceptually, they should've been great: adding a more concrete story that connects the levels and drives the action - ends up feeling disjointed (it's some kind of "mental mapping" phenomenon, like you can just picture how each level connects with each other in an overworld. #2 still does that really well [especially when you see the level 3 carnival in the background of level 4]) / They try to up the stakes with characters getting killed - the whole thing comes off creepy (why in God's name is Mr. X a brain in a jar?!) which is enhanced by the plonking, mechanical soundtrack (didn't know about the note generator - it makes so much sense now) / Include an actual "clubbing" section that would be perfect for the soundtrack - produces one of the silliest, out of place songs I've ever heard.

...a lot of this really comes back to the music huh? Not surprising - "Expander" (level 7 - the elevator that ends with robot bosses) is probably my favorite game song ever (if you like Dragonball Z, try putting that song over a fight scene like Goku vs. Cell).

 

[DarkhoIlow]

I still have Streets of Rage 1 on my Sega Mega Drive 2, oh the nostalgia of awesome games.

That and Revenge of Shinobi I played the shit out of when I was a kid.