When XBLA and PSN were new and I was just a young man, full of vim vigour and a full head of hair, the download market was dominated by ports of older computer games; Pac Man, Golden Axe, even Streets of Rage 2. Since these Halcyon days bigger, better, unique download games have dominated; Limbo, Castle Crashers, Braid. Sega have never been one to listen to reason and have released some of their greatest hits in a series of collections. Sega Vintage Collection Streets of Rage is one such collection, is there room in this increasingly crowded download market for a loyal adaptation of a bunch of Megadrive games from the 90s?
The simple answer is yes! The slightly more complex answer, would be yes, if you are a fan of retro gaming. Of all the adaptations, remakes, updates and ports, The Streets of Rage Collection has to be one of the most impressive I have seen. Containing Streets of Rage 1, 2 and 3, all the games are based on the original Megadrive/Genesis versions looking and playing like they did in situ. The game offers single player gameplay, but just like the originals you can also play 2 player co-op, each game offering a slightly different selection of characters from your normal brawler type, a skateboarding child, a boxing Kangaroo and even….. a woman!
Each game is represented in a respectful way and just like with the original versions the games play better in co-op. Any side to side brawler is more fun with an additional player on the screen and a few more enemies thrown into the mix. Streets as a series is a classic example of the 90s brawler and any player who has yet to have a taste of this retro action could do worse than picking up this collection, but are three ports of old games really worth it? Are there other features?