BitSnark

Behold! Streets of Rage & Golden Axe – No finer expression of 16-bit testosterone.

Ah, the wistful memories of 16-bit side-scrolling pugilism – the battering of multiple enemies, the pressing on the ends of the screen to progress to the next section as soon as possible, the desperate reaching for a weapon to level the playing field…  In my adolescence, it was gaming satisfaction at it’s best and having a mate sat next to me, frothing at the mouth as I was to beat that final, seemingly indestructable boss, only added to the enjoyment.

Sadly however, the old side-scrolling brawler appears to be the genre that time forgot.

That is, until tomorrow when Sega will release the Streets of Rage collection, including all three original Sega Megadrive/Genesis titles on Xbox Live Arcade tomorrow for 800MSP.

They’re also doing the same thing with Golden Axe; releasing all three of the 16-bit console games as a collection on the service tomorrow for 800 of your Microsoft Points.

I think i’ll be plonking down the points for the Streets of Rage collection for sure, but the Golden Axe collection is not something that appeals to me much; given that the only decent one (the original) is available on XBLA already and the two sequels that followed it were lame ducks indeed.

Any of you lot up for some old-school scrolling brawling action?

Streets of Rage Collection and Golden Axe Collection both release tomorrow on XBLA at 800 Microsoft Points each.