About Streets of Rage
Streets of Rage is Sega's defining beat 'em up trilogy, released on the Mega Drive between 1991 and 1994. Developed initially by Sega AM7 and then by Ancient Inc., the series pitted players against the criminal empire of the mysterious Mr. X across three increasingly ambitious instalments.
What set Streets of Rage apart from contemporaries like Final Fight was its extraordinary soundtrack. Composer Yuzo Koshiro - co-founder of Ancient and a programming prodigy - built a custom sequencer on an NEC PC-88 to push the Mega Drive's Yamaha FM synthesis chip to its limits, producing techno and house music that sounded like nothing else in gaming at the time.
Thirty-plus years later, the series remains a benchmark of both game design and music composition. Streets of Rage 4 (2020) proved the formula endures, and Koshiro's original soundtracks continue to be performed at concerts and celebrated by musicians worldwide.
