The Rage is a beat’em up based on old classic games such as Final Fight and
Streets of Rage. The plot of the game is that Sarah, Bruce’s girlfriend, goes
into a coma after she’s given an experimental drug. Bruce and his friends Max
and Lisa find out that she went to a bar run by mafia, who are testing this
drug on people at random. The friends, along with Alfred, a long-time friend
of Sarah, then decide to take on the mafia and find a cure for their friend.

Up to four players can play simultaneously in the same machine or over a LAN
or the Internet, selecting one of the four available characters: Max (a
karateka), Alfred (a wrestler, clearly inspired in Max from Streets of Rage
2), Bruce (a metalhead with moves inspired in those of Axel, from SoR series)
and Lisa, the gang’s girl. The gameplay is that of SoR series , only
translated to 3D: characters can move around in all directions, throwing
punches, kicks, jumping and running. Enemy characters can also be held and
thrown away. Weapons can be picked up, such as bats, golf clubs, revolvers,
machine guns and even bazookas, as well as items such as money (for points)
and food (for health). Many of those items are hidden in breakable parts of
the scenery.

Each character has specific attributes (power, speed and technique) and moves,
including a running attack (combined with a punch or a kick, depending on the
character) and a superblow, which is stronger than other attacks but takes a
portion of the character’s life bar when used. The game is comprised of 6
stages with two or three sections each.