Special (police car icon): Gives one extra special attack.1UP (heroes miniature icon): Gives an extra life.In round 8, the special attack can't be used. The player is given one special attack per life or per level and power-ups shaped like police cars supply another.

In Streets of Rage, the special attack has assistance from a police car, which enters the screen from the left and fires explosives, taking health from all enemies. As in contemporary games Double Dragon and Final Fight, the player can pick up weapons, which include knives, bottles, and drainpipes. Unlike its sequels, none of the enemies are named within the game (they are named only in the Japanese version's manual) and only the bosses have life gauges. With the exception of round 7, there is a boss battle at the end of every round with a disproportionately large enemy. The player must defeat each opponent to progress through eight locations, known as rounds. Like in the game Golden Axe which was released two years prior by Sega, enemies walk onto the screen from both sides as well as occasionally appearing from other locations. Finally, Adam, Axel, and Blaze decide to take matters into their own hands and resign from the police force, taking to the streets as vigilantes to put a stop to the Syndicate. Three police officers, Adam Hunter, Axel Stone, and Blaze Fielding, repeatedly try to make a task force to counter and resist the Syndicate, but with their superiors either bought out and bribed by the Syndicate or too fearful to stick their necks out, nothing is done. Crime is rising rapidly, and no one is safe walking the streets, day or night. The Syndicate has absorbed the city's government (anyone can be bought if the price is right) and even has the city's police in their pocket. What was once a peaceful and prosperous city has fallen into the hands of a crime syndicate led by a man known only as Mr.

Streets of rage 4 arcade machine