Play Renegade Online

Summary

Renegade remains a cornerstone of the beat‑'em‑up genre, introducing the belt‑scroll arena that let players roam both horizontally and vertically while chaining punches, kicks and grabs. Its three‑button layout—punch, kick, jump—set a template that later classics would follow, and the eight‑way joystick gave the combat a fluid, almost cinematic feel.

When the game landed on the Sega Master System, Natsume took the NES version as a foundation but pushed the visuals further, adding sharper sprites and smoother animations. New death cutscenes give each defeat a brief, comic‑book flair, and the ending was re‑worked to feel more satisfying for home players. This version never saw a North American release, staying exclusive to Europe, Australia and Brazil.

Beyond its immediate success, Renegade’s design philosophy rippled through the industry, inspiring titles like Double Dragon and cementing the beat‑'em‑up formula. The arcade original topped Japanese charts in 1986, and the home ports sold hundreds of thousands of copies, with the Famicom version alone moving around 400,000 units. Its lasting appeal is evident in modern re‑releases on platforms such as PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, where both the US and Japanese editions are preserved for new generations.

Storyline

In the Western version of Renegade, you play as a street brawler on a mission to rescue his kidnapped girlfriend from a mob boss. The game is divided into four stages: a subway platform where you fight an armed thug gang and their leader Jack; a harbor filled with motorcycle‑riding enemies and the boss Joel; a street alley dominated by an all‑female gang led by Kim; and finally a parking‑lot showdown with knife‑wielding hitmen that leads into a building where the handgun‑wielding mobster Sabu awaits. Defeating Sabu triggers a brief cut‑scene in which the rescued girlfriend appears and kisses the player, after which the game restarts at a higher difficulty.

The original Japanese version tells a different story, starring Kunio, a high‑school delinquent who steps in to protect his classmate Hiroshi from rival gangs. Each level begins with the gang assaulting Hiroshi, prompting Kunio to chase them down. The game concludes with Hiroshi and other students greeting Kunio outside Sabu’s hideout, sealing the victory with a handshake. The Western localization swaps this plot for the damsel‑in‑distress rescue narrative described above.