Black History Month ’23, The World Of Streets Of Rage

The Hunter Family personifies Black excellence in the world of beat ’em up titles.

In 1991, Sega launched Streets of Rage for the Genesis console. This beat ’em title was Sega’s answer to Capcom’s Final Fight and Technos’ Double Dragon. Streets of Rage would go down in history as one of the most popular beat ’em up franchises let alone being one of the top intellectual properties (IP) belonging to Sega. The franchise has enjoyed Black representation through the Hunter Family over the span of four titles.

The series centered on the virtually never-ending battle against Mr. X and his criminal syndicate, leading a handful of people to take the law into their own hands. I often played as a member of the Hunter Family, depending on which member was available in which game.

#1 — Adam Hunter, Streets of Rage

Adam is an African-American man who quit the police force, along with his friends Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding, because of the rampant corruption within the ranks, as many high-profile officials were on Mr. X’s payroll.

He is a kickboxer, though his original biography has “Boxing” as his style. I enjoyed his unique move of doing a backward jump kick which is handy when dealing with enemies who are trying to get you from behind.

In Streets of Rage 2, Mr. X returns from the shadows, now on his own private island, and has Adam kidnapped, which leads to him not being playable. This prompts the heroes from the previous game, now joined by two newcomers, to take down Mr. X for good, and to rescue Adam.

Adam is rescued and he stays with the police force but is still not playable in Streets of Rage 3, though he does have a minor recurring part. Blaze, who was then working as a private investigator, is sought out by the cybernetic Dr. Gilbert Zan, who warns her about the alliance between Mr. X and the Robo-Cy Corporation.

Blaze attempts to contact Adam but has no luck.

Adam makes his appearance at the end of Stage 6 when you are surrounded by the surviving jetpack goons and guns them down with his helicopter. There is a brief happy reunion between Adam and Skate, his younger brother before the two have to part ways.

If you end up at the Robo-Cy Corporation in Stage 7, Adam comes to the rescue after you defeat Robot Y regardless if you defeated him in time or not.

After Streets of Rage 3, which was released in 1994, Adam faded into obscurity because Sega did not release an official sequel after. It would be 26 years later that a few companies would collaborate on Streets of Rage 4, which was not published by Sega, but by Dotemu.

Dotemu released a trailer that revealed the (actual) return of Adam Hunter.

Adam remained with the force and became a high-ranked detective and he can be unlocked midway through the game. The developers gave Adam an upgraded design showing that he’s older but still has that swagger.

I personally was happy that Adam came back.

As a treat, the original character sprite from the first game can be chosen.

#2 — Eddie “Skate” Hunter

Skate is the younger brother of Adam and takes his place in Streets of Rage 2 after the latter has gone missing. After the events of the first game, Adam remained with the police force, while Blaze and Axel moved away. Adam has legal custody of Skate and they live together in a small house.

When Skate returns home from school, he finds the house trashed and his brother missing.

Mr. X makes no effort to hide his identity as a photo left behind at the house indicates that Adam has been kidnapped. Skate calls one of the people that he could trust, Blaze, who then informs Axel, who then enlists the help of Max, a friend who’s a professional wrestler, and they venture out to rescue Adam.

Skate’s unique fighting style makes good use of his rollerblading skills which makes him the fastest of the four. I enjoyed his super moves, especially the aerial corkscrew attack (“Hoo, hee, hee!”).

If Skate is behind an enemy, he can jump on top of them, and punch the head repeatedly.

In Streets of Rage 3, Adam is preoccupied with his police work and instead sends Skate to assist Blaze in taking down Robo-Cy. I was disappointed that his aerial corkscrew attack was removed but I was happy that they kept his breakdance.

Skate does not make an official appearance in Streets of Rage 4 but his SoR 2 and SoR 3 versions are available to select.

#3 — Cherry Hunter, Streets of Rage 4

Cherry, Adam’s teenage daughter, is a new character created for Streets of Rage 4.

She is an example of how the Hunter Family has that swagger. Cherry is a member of an unnamed electro-rock band, which is why she carries an electric guitar on her.

I definitely enjoyed using Cherry a lot, especially with her super move where she slides across the screen while jamming on her guitar.

The Hunter Family exudes Black excellence let alone in the Streets of Rage franchise. I hope Dotemu adds more stuff to Streets or Rage 4 like an official return of Skate. If there is a Streets of Rage 5, I hope to see all three members as officially playable characters.