You thought today would be just like any other day, didn’t you? Well, you’re wrong, because this fine morning Sega-16 brings you the fourth match in the acclaimed Genesis Power Battles tournament! We’ve got a great match lined up you today! Skate from Streets of Rage and DJ Boy from, uh, DJ Boy…will be battling it out in a fantastic, high-speed, no-holds-barred, inline-skating showdown! This will be a fight to remember, folks. After all, how often do you get two kid crimebusters on skates in the same arena?
The competitors will be judged in five different categories: Background, Appearance, Abilities, Speed, and Overall Power. Here’s a rundown of what we’re looking for in each one:
Background: Where did the participants come from? Would their backgrounds provide them with any distinct advantage?
Appearance: How intimidating would the characters actually be? Do their looks reveal what kind of opponent they’d be?
Abilities: What weapons or powers do the participants have at their disposal? Are they melee-based or long-ranged? Any special moves?
Speed: What some characters lack in power, they make up for in quickness.
Overall Power: How much damage do their special attacks do? Are they powerful enough to eliminate all enemies in sight or are they limited to a single foe?
And now, on to the fight!
Background
We don’t know much about DJ Boy’s background. He seems to be something of an item with the girls, but other than that his history is pretty much a gigantic blank spot. Skate’s a bit more defined. We’re know he’s an ex-cop’s little brother, and can infer from the storyline that he has a sense of duty and genuinely cares for his sibling. All we can really say about DJ Boy is that he’s an underage playboy. So while Skate fearlessly goes against a massive crime organization in order to free his big bro, DJ Boy just wants to save his girl; certainly a fine thing to do, but when weighed against each other, Skate’s maturity wins out.
Advantage: Skate
Appearance
Until Tony Hawk came along and defied convention, wearing a helmet for safety was not cool. Didn’t matter if your vehicle of choice was a bike, skateboard, scooter, or rollerblades. A hero of this happy, carefree, pre-protective headgear society is Skate. He’s the essence of the ’90s with his jean shorts, backwards cap, and tank top. Notice I didn’t mention a helmet. On the other hand we have DJ Boy, who is indeed sporting a dorky helmet. And not just any headgear… it’s nothing less than a construction helmet, in all its gaudy orange glory. Even more insulting is DJ Boy’s total lack of headphones. A DJ without headphones? Lame, lame, lame. These two factors slam the last nail home in DJ Boy’s chances of winning this section. Skate takes this one home in style.
Advantage: Skate
Abilities
DJ Boy is sorely lacking when it comes to techniques. With only a handful of different moves and no throws whatsoever, he doesn’t stand a chance against the host of punches, kicks, and holds Skate is capable of dishing out. Not to mention Skate’s berserker special attacks, to which DJ Boy can give no reply other than a weak dual-directional punch. It doesn’t help that DJ Boy’s attacks are essentially all the same: punch, kick, and jump kick are far too similar to be used tactically. Skate can work himself out of corners and take on opponents from all directions with lethal efficiency. Although one of the weaker fighters in his group of streetwise vigilantes, Skate is tough stuff when held up against his current competition. Finally, one has to remember that Skate has more than just fists with which to dispense justice – he can wield up lead pipes, katanas, shuriken, knives, and baseball bats as well. Not good news for DJ.
Advantage: Skate
Speed
Both Skate and DJ Boy specialize in this area, using inline skates to outpace enemies and zip from place to place. That said, DJ Boy puts his blades to work much more frequently and is apparently quick enough to keep alongside speeding vehicles on the highway. Skate is certainly much slower than Mr. X’s biker gangs, and only ever really uses his wheels to escape messy situations. He’s certainly faster than most of the punks he encounters, but it’s pretty clear that DJ Boy would summarily trounce Skate in a flat-out race. Linear motion isn’t the only thing that must be considered, however. The speed with which the characters are able to dish out pain is extremely important in a melee situation, and it’s here that Skate is able to show his mettle. DJ Boy’s punches and kicks are sluggish, but Skate’s fists are as fast as lightning. So while Skate may have a bit of trouble catching DJ Boy, you can rest assured that he’d be able to lay down a flurry of blows in a very short space of time.
Advantage: Draw
Overall Power
The seemingly obvious solution here is Skate. We’ve already seen that he’s got a deadly arsenal of moves. But when it comes to sheer power, DJ Boy is not to be trifled with. Think about it for a moment… it can take Skate a dozen attacks or more just to knock out intermediate level grunts. That number is much higher when it comes to the nastier baddies, much less bosses. In addition, he’s definitely the weakest of the Streets of Rage roster. Although that’s forgivable because he’s part of a team and can count on backup from his stronger buddies, there’s no question that DJ Boy, trained for solo fighting, can flatten his enemies in short order. What may take ten strikes for Skate requires a mere three for DJ Boy. End of story? Not quite. We must take into account is that the foes DJ Boy tangles with considerably underpowered when compared to the fearsome street punks that Skate trashes. Which scares you more? A skinhead hooligan wielding a lead pipe or a tiny redhead in a disco outfit? A ten-foot bartender with a wicked right or a fat woman with intestinal cramps? With this difference in enemy power factored in, the category is left in limbo.
Advantage: Draw
Winner: Skate (3-0)
Although Skate’s had a landslide victory, this contest would still be a neat one to watch just because it’s so unique. What are the odds of there being two characters with the same set of off-beat skills? All right, so maybe it’d be more humorous than anything else. When you think about it, two skinny kids chasing each other around an arena on inline blades is sort of funny. Still, it’s a fight I’d pay money to go see. It’d be worth the price of admission just to see Skate slap that cheesy hardhat off DJ’s head.
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