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1. (60 FPS Genesis) Round 1: City Street - Axel (Normal) - Streets of Rage

245 views · Published 22 November 2014 · 6:39 · Indexed 22 October 2026

Channel: WhiteKhakis · 2014 · Gaming

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Please pick the 720p60 or 1080p60 resolutions to play back in 60 frames per second. (Internet Explorer, surprisingly, appears to be the best browser for playback.)

NOTE: Based on some tests... it appears Streets of Rage may possibly be a 30 FPS game. Viewing in 60 FPS still recommended.

Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR46gDZGqO4FZPsbrqAKQjQO7

Hey, there! This is a series I've been wanting to do for a long time: Sega Genesis at 60 frames per second! Why? Well... have you ever watched an older game on YouTube and noticed the main character turn invisible when hit, or some other such nonsense? That's because some older games use some ridiculously high speed flicker effects to achieve those crazy hitflashes on bosses or that "ouch I'm hurt!" flicker! These are not displayed properly at 30 fps, but now that we're able to upload at 60 fps we can see all the special effects that older games would use! (They'll be smoother, too!)
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Welcome, to the streets, of RAGE. I just love the title for this iconic series! This is considered by many to be the best beat-em-up series available to home consoles! Or at least a huge influence! This first one is little rough around the edges, and even though the series really hits its stride in the second outing, this one is still plenty of fun!

The story for our stalwart heroes is basically this: Crime is rampant. There's a syndicate controlling it and apparently the entire city's government. Three young and totally rad dudes (and dudette) don't want a part of any of this. They decide that the best way to manage is to quit the police force and beat the snot outta everyone, on the streets... of RAGE!

What more reason does one need to get out there and kick some butt?
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Level one, er ROUND one throws you right out there, on the streets... of RAGE! (I'll soon stop doing that, honest!) I'm playing as Axel, because he's always been a favorite of mine. I'm coming from Streets of Rage 2, so much of this is new to me. In reverse, I guess? I mean, you can walk up to people and punch them in a super punchy-kicky combo, you can grab them and pummel them, and you can jump kick them. It seems super basic, but, it works! Oh, there's also a back attack input which can be useful, though, it seems you can string your regular combos in either direction.

One odd thing for a beat-em-up is that the enemies have no health bars. It seems that a basic combo can take most of them out, though, so I guess it works out. Bosses have health bars, though. Speaking of which, I'm not sure why the syndicate employs a gigantic boomerang dude. I mean, he is imposing and all, but... a boomerang? Maybe this is why he's level, er ROUND 1 material.

There's a trick to landing upright when thrown in this (and subsequent) games. Hold up and jump when airborne! And you'll land on your two feet! Helps out a ton.

Another difference that I take some getting used to is that there's no special in this game. You would often use it in later games to break out of a hold or a bad situation with an area affecting punch or some sort. Well, I GUESS there's one in this, but it's more of a SUPER SPECIAL KILL EVERYONE WITH A BAZOOKA move. And you only get one per level (ROUND) unless you find more. ...unfortunately since I'm used to throwing out a special when ganged up on, I'll waste my bazooka Joe now and again.

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Some additional notes for those technically inclined:

This was captured from an original Sega Genesis system via composite output along with stereo sound to get as authentic a recording as possible. The Genesis used is one of the "good" models with proper sound and video output. Genesis can also output an RGB signal which is clearer, but I vetoed the idea because it breaks the dithering effect (color blending and transparencies) as seen here: 
http://retro-sanctuary.com/comparisons%20-%20differing.html
Also, the vast majority of people could not use the RGB signal even if they wanted to, so the experience they remember would be the composite signal as shown in this video.

There are a couple things to note about the quality of the video, however. Sega Genesis has a very dirty video signal that often "breaks" attempts to capture it with a capture device. The capture device I use is considered one of the most capable when it comes to older systems, but the Genesis' video signal still introduces some inconsistencies. These usually manifest where there are extremely thin lines in game, mostly the text, and in some other places as well. As a whole, it is more than manageable, but it is worth noting.

Also, the original sega genesis resolution is, in essence, 240p at 60 frames per second. To take advantage of YouTube's higher bitrate offerings and to enable 60 fps I need to upscale that resolution to 1080p. There is also a step of video deinterlacing before that to create progressive video. That is a significant amount of video processing to the image, so I want to note that here as well.

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