are able to destroy Mr. X's Robot Y and his capsule which kept his brain alive, the bomb timers are neutralized. However, a dying Mr. X attempt to self destruct the lab to die alongside the heroes, until Adam rescues them. With Mr. X now no more, RoboCy is defunct, Dr. Dahm is recovering at asylum after his testimony, and Dr. Zan's name has been cleared. Characters Three of the playable characters from former games return in the sequel: Axel Stone, Blaze Fielding, and Eddie "Skate" Hunter (Sammy Hunter in the Japanese version), each of which have their respective strengths and weaknesses. Dr. Zan replaces Max from the second game, with any weapon he picks up turning into a ball of energy. Adam from the first game makes a story cameo, and Max only makes a cameo appearance in the game's "good" ending. Three of the game's boss characters can also be accessed through in-game codes. The first mid-boss, a homosexual named Ash, was removed from the Western releases of the game (although he can be accessed through cheat cartridges). Shiva, the martial artist who debuted in Streets of Rage 2 and newcomer Roo (Victy in the Japanese version) the kangaroo can also be accessed. Shiva, Roo, and Ash are unable to use weapons, which also serves as a main inspiration for Shiva's unique mechanics in Streets of Rage 4, where he is also a DLC playable character. Development and release Several pre-release screenshots show that there was originally a section where the players got to ride the motorcycles they are so often attacked by. This section was removed for the final version, but is still playable (though buggy and unfinished) with a Game Genie code in the Japanese version. Version differences When the game was localized from the original Japanese version to the English-language release, significant changes were made. The clothing of the three returning heroes (Axel, Blaze, and Sammy) was altered from their original colors seen in previous Streets of Rage games, the female enemy characters wore less-revealing outfits, and a sub-boss named "Ash", a gay stereotype, was removed from the English version (though he is still accessible in Streets of Rage 3 as a playable character via cheating and/or hacking). The voice-effects were also changed, with most noticeably Axel's catchphrase of "Grand Upper" for his blitz move being replaced with "Bare Knuckle". Another notable difference between the