The Actual Ending: The best ending in this classic side-scrolling beat 'em up can only be achieved on Normal difficulty or above, and results in the good guys being rescued by a helicopter mere moments before the HQ they're in explodes. The day is saved, the good guys all make it, and a decisive "The End" appears as everyone lives happily ever after. The Alternate Ending: If players choose to play the game on Easy difficulty, the usual 7-stage game lasts merely 5 stages. After beating the snot out of the final boss, Mr. X, it turns out that all you've done is defeat his robot clone, he still has a hostage, and taunts you with the claim that "you play this game like a beginner. You'll have to do better than this to defeat Mr. X." Grim music then plays out as Mr. X is shown watching his dead robot clone on a TV screen, before his glass of wine shatters in his hands and "The End?" appears. Why It's Awesome: It's such a brilliant way to flip off gamers who wanted a nice, easy, calm ride through Streets of Rage 3. It's the game's equivalent of saying, "You want to take the easy way out? We're going to make it totally suck for you", and there's no doubt that just about anyone who arrived at this ending felt pretty insulted by the game literally saying "you need to try harder".
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
