What was the better series? GA vs SoR

[Gunstar Zero]

I mean I enjoy Golden Axe. I find it to be a whole heck of a lot harder. I definitely think there is more quality in the product that is Streets of Rage. It just feels, to me, that there is more care put into it. That said I will confess I have had only limited exposure to Golden Axe 2 and 3.

I hear what people are saying about the settings and its really personal preference. I love a good fantasy too, but that said the Golden Axe universe doesn't feel as fleshed out as it could be. Maybe that changed with the non-beatemup titles I'm not sure.

Streets of Rage isn't eithier BUT because of its genre it has the advantage of not needing to be. I love Streets of Rage because it feels like a corny yet awesome modern day martial arts movie. It reminds me a LOT of the film Roadhouse with Patrick Swayze, or something like Romeo Must Die. Its got that so bad its good feeling. So does Golden Axe! Golden Axe reminds me of the original two Conan films. But the image is just more complete with Streets of Rage to me. It helps that there are a lot of games with a fantasy setting, not as many that feel like an urban martial arts film, so Streets of Rage ends up standing out more. But you have to like that kind of thing to actually get that particular appreciation from it I suppose.

When I'm told there is a female ex-cop in hooker clothes named Blaze Fielding I'm pretty much set.

[Assman]

Streets of Rage by plenty. I like Golden Axe a lot, but none of those games compare to SoR 2 and 3.

[drunkex]

the streets of rage games aged better and were always just more fun to play.

[cowboyscowboys]

I didn't expect all the GA bashing. The games play fine and are still fun to this day. Just didn't have the resources like the Streets of Rage sequels had.

Lastly SOR 3 isn't in the same league as SOR 2. The big budget sequel bombed and put SOR out of commission. I swear to god I have nightmares about how good SOR 3 could and should have been.

Final Fight 3 is a way better effort then Streets of Rage 3 even though their both flawed.

[djshok]

Well, for me Golden Axe never felt like a Sega game. The first one I ever played was a DOS version, and I remember thinking to myself, wow this sucks. It was slow and clunky with really washed out looking colours and the first time I played it, it got stuck on the part where those gnomes steel your stuff. Then I tried it again on the Genesis a few years later and I still didn't dig it. Tried it again fairly recently to see if maybe I'd gain an appreciation for it and still nothing. Technically I don't think it's a bad series, I just really don't like the style and aesthetics of it, overall it just bores me.

[A Black Falcon]

Golden Axe. The Streets of Rage games are great beat 'em ups, sure, but I love fantasy settings, and Golden Axe has always been a real favorite of mine. I remember playing the arcade game back in the late '80s and early '90s, that and TMNT The Arcade Game are two of my favorites of the era. I remember even as late as '92 or so I chose to play Golden Axe (in arcades) over Mortal Kombat... yeah, I liked it a lot. The Genesis port is just about as good as the arcade version, and it's got two Genesis-only sequels as well!

Sure, Golden Axe II and III aren't too original -- they mostly just take their ideas from the first game -- but they don't really need to be, it's a great formula and works well. I wish we'd gotten a cart release of the third one.

[roundwars]

Rock bottom? SoR3 has by far the best gameplay (faster, more moves, better specials system, etc.).
Sure, the music's worse and the characters are cheesy, but the game is better overall. There's a reason why SoR3's gameplay is used in the SoR remake. SoR2's gameplay is just too sluggish and feels outdated.

Strong disagree. SOR3's fast-depleting weapons are clearly inferior to SOR2's system, where how long you get to keep a weapon depends on your skill in preserving it. The special meter is a step backward too; special moves are supposed to be SPECIAL, not something you need to use every X number of seconds or feel like you're wasting resources. Together these changes destroy much of the sense of pacing and depth that the second game had.

I think one thing SOR2 is really outstanding at is constantly giving the player little challenges to meet that keep them motivated -- see how long you can keep your weapon, see if you can survive till the next turkey, see if you can survive until the next point value that gives you an extra life, etc. And you can improve your records on multiple fronts -- once you've beaten the game in normal mode, see how far you can get in the harder modes, or how far you can get on one continue, or how many levels you can 1LC. And then you do all that again with a different character. Out of all the games I've played, SOR2 is the one that really exemplifies this sort of game design, and SOR3 doesn't achieve this at the same level. Whether that's due to the mechanical changes or just being too damn difficult, who can say.

[108 Stars]

I find all GA games pretty ugly and they have sluggish controls. GA is a prime example of a game series aged badly imo. None of the games can compare even to the first SoR imo.

[Olls]

Strong disagree. SOR3's fast-depleting weapons are clearly inferior to SOR2's system, where how long you get to keep a weapon depends on your skill in preserving it. The special meter is a step backward too; special moves are supposed to be SPECIAL, not something you need to use every X number of seconds or feel like you're wasting resources. Together these changes destroy much of the sense of pacing and depth that the second game had.

I think one thing SOR2 is really outstanding at is constantly giving the player little challenges to meet that keep them motivated -- see how long you can keep your weapon, see if you can survive till the next turkey, see if you can survive until the next point value that gives you an extra life, etc. And you can improve your records on multiple fronts -- once you've beaten the game in normal mode, see how far you can get in the harder modes, or how far you can get on one continue, or how many levels you can 1LC. And then you do all that again with a different character. Out of all the games I've played, SOR2 is the one that really exemplifies this sort of game design, and SOR3 doesn't achieve this at the same level. Whether that's due to the mechanical changes or just being too damn difficult, who can say.

I was talking about the special meter, which is clearly an improvement. There is no point in using specials that take away part of your life meter.

Streets of Rage isn't eithier BUT because of its genre it has the advantage of not needing to be. I love Streets of Rage because it feels like a corny yet awesome modern day martial arts movie. It reminds me a LOT of the film Roadhouse with Patrick Swayze, or something like Romeo Must Die. Its got that so bad its good feeling. So does Golden Axe! Golden Axe reminds me of the original two Conan films. But the image is just more complete with Streets of Rage to me. It helps that there are a lot of games with a fantasy setting, not as many that feel like an urban martial arts film, so Streets of Rage ends up standing out more. But you have to like that kind of thing to actually get that particular appreciation from it I suppose.

When I'm told there is a female ex-cop in hooker clothes named Blaze Fielding I'm pretty much set.

The #1 inspiration to games such as Final Fight and Streets of Rage:

[cowboyscowboys]

The special system isn't even the same in SOR3 and BK3.

In SOR3 you can cheese your special all day because barely any life is taken away with only a couple bars filled of the special. In BK3 if the bar isn't topped up or close it takes a ton of life. Either way I like Streets of Rage 2's special system more.

[Kogen]

You are all just jealous of Ax Battler's greased-up figure.

[tenchibr]

I think SoRII was more accessible than GAII, both my favorites of each series.

[Assman]

I was talking about the special meter, which is clearly an improvement. There is no point in using specials that take away part of your life meter.

I agree completely. I almost never use the specials in SoR2 for the simple fact that they drain your life. That sucks. I basically only use them if I know I'm going to die, if I'm near the end of a round and I know I'm going to live (so I don't even need to use it anyway), or if I'm surrounded by so many enemies that it's frustrating the hell out of me. The occurrences where I'm willing to give up some of my life for a little extra damage and range are incredibly rare.

[eddiespruce]

I agree completely. I almost never use the specials in SoR2 for the simple fact that they drain your life. That sucks. I basically only use them if I know I'm going to die, if I'm near the end of a round and I know I'm going to live (so I don't even need to use it anyway), or if I'm surrounded by so many enemies that it's frustrating the hell out of me. The occurrences where I'm willing to give up some of my life for a little extra damage and range are incredibly rare.

When I play SOR2, rather than always use the specials, which as you said, drain your life, I find myself using the "Grand Upper", which doesn't drain your life at all to my knowledge. A few punches + Grand Upper can really do some damage to your enemies.

[roundwars]

I was talking about the special meter, which is clearly an improvement. There is no point in using specials that take away part of your life meter.

The point is you use them strategically. You can use them to get out of a tough spot, or to gain the upper hand in certain conflicts where it can save you more of your life bar on the whole than you spent using the move.

It's also fun to casually toss them around right before a health pickup or the end of the level.