Play Bare Knuckle III (Japan) [En by Twilight v1.0] Online

Bare Knuckle III (or Streets of Rage 3 if you're not playing the Japanese version) is where the beat 'em up series goes all in. Mr. X is back—somehow—and now he's got an army of robots and mutants. You pick between Axel, Blaze, Skate, or the new guy Dr. Zan, who’s basically a cyborg with a jetpack arm. Weird, but it works.

The first thing you’ll notice is how much faster it feels compared to the last two games. Enemies swarm you quicker, and some of them hit like trucks. The soundtrack’s different too—less of those iconic synth beats, more experimental stuff. Took me a while to warm up to it, but the boss theme slaps.

Oh, and there’s branching paths now. Mess up a QTE or take too long, and you might skip a whole stage. Found that out the hard way when I botched a jump and wound up fighting a tank instead of a helicopter. Still one of the best brawlers on the Genesis, even if it’s a little rough around the edges.