Streets of Rage is a solid beat-em-up. No more. No less.
The game follows three ex-cops who have to kick and punch their way down streets (of rage, appropriately) filled with gang members. Each round (eight total) culminates with a boss fight. The major appeal of this game (and the reason why I bought it) is the cheesy late 80's, early 90's style. It has the title and main characters (one of them, the girl, is named Blaze) of a really bad action movie.
This is button mashing to say the least. You walk to the left. Punch a guy out. Walk a little bit more to the left and punch the next guy out. You can also jump. When you need a little bit of extra help, you can call in help from one of your buddies from the precinct who packs a rocket launcher that will kill every baddie on your screen (with the exception of the bosses, which take a bit more damage than the rest). While this gameplay seems a little bit easy, and almost boring, the game is short enough so it doesn't really get old. It's more of a test of survival than a test of fighting skills.
The graphics are...well...early 16 bit graphics. It's really nothing to gawk at. None of the characters are particularly nice to look at...but it's not painful either. It's just typical. The music is fun, and works well with the cheesy, action movie style of the game.
I have to admit that I've had a lot of fun with this game. It's a little on the short side (I think it only took me half of a hour to complete it), but it's totally worth it. Something to tide you over until YOUR favorite beat-em-up comes out (come on Bad Dudes!).