Big Ben (sometimes stylized as "Big-Ben"), is a recurring enemy in the Streets of Rage series, who debut in Streets of Rage 2. He is based on the boss Bongo from the first game.
Overview[]
Big Ben appears as a large, bald and obese man of Asian descent wearing suspenders and a baseball cap. He is notorious for his signature laugh, often used as a taunt after hitting the player.
Streets of Rage 2[]
Big-Ben debuts in Streets of Rage 2, his arsenal of moves includes slapping the player, a flying kick, a jumping belly attack and occasionally breathing fire. He makes his first appearance on Stage 4 as a mini-boss at the baseball stadium, a blue-dressed variant named Big-Go fights along Him in higher difficulties. Similar enemies are faced later in the game.
Streets of Rage 3[]
He returns in Streets of Rage 3, first appearing in the second act of the first stage. He has retained the slap attack, the fire-spitting attack, and his taunting laugh but has lost his jumping moves. However, he has gained new abilities. He can now perform a rolling attack, but he becomes dizzy afterward, leaving him vulnerable to hits. Additionally, he can pick up a Garcia to use as a shield or throw at the player. Similar to Soozie, he can perform a slap combo which gets faster with each slap, but he rarely do this though.
Due to his heavy weight and unlike Streets of Rage 2, his mass punishes most tosses and slams, although Skate and Shiva can sweep him. Blaze can't toss or slam him either, but she can sweep him from the front.
Streets of Rage 4[]
Big Ben returns in Streets of Rage 4, showing up more often than previous games. He only attacks by running breathing fire and using a slap when getting up very close to the player; unlike in Streets of Rage 3, he can no longer pick up and throw Galsia. He can now also perform a dodge roll, which grants him super armor.
Like in Streets of Rage 2, Big Ben can be thrown by any character, although all characters, except for Floyd and Max, will require effort to lift his sizable girth to throw or slam him; as with all heavyweight enemies, his ground bounce is shorter than normal enemies.
Variants[]
Big Ben has three variants, each having increased health and employing different attacks:
- Gourmand, with a beige costume, attacks by performing a leap attack. He has the same health as Big Ben.
- Anry, with a blue costume, attacks by performing a rolling attack, which can also hit other enemies in addition to player characters. He has the same health as Big Ben and Gourmand.
- Heart, with a green costume, also attacks by performing a rolling attack, but it's significantly faster and ricochets a bit more. He has twice as much health compared to the other variants.
Big Ben and all his variants have super armor upon getting up from a knockdown, and will often use the dodge roll to get a distance from the player and use their signature attack.
Bare Knuckle Mobile[]
A blue-dressed Big Ben named Isao appears as the final boss of stage 3 of Bare Knuckle Mobile. Actually, he is a replacement of Bongo. His moveset consists in a running attack and a fire breathing attack. Like Bongo, he can't be lift, as he will crush the player.
Move List[]
- Slap: a quick slap. He hits twice, with the second knocking down the player. Used in all games except Bare Knuckle Mobile.
- Slap Combo: multiple slaps combo, gaining speed with each slap. Used in Streets of Rage 3.
- Fire Breath: he runs towards the player while breathing fire. Very hard to intercept directly. Used in all games.
- Splash: he jumps high in the air towards the player, falling on his belly. Very hard to intercept directly unless using anti-air attacks. Used in Streets of Rage 2 and Streets of Rage 4, but only by Anry and Gourmand in the later.
- Jump Kick: He jumps high in the air and hits player with his foot. Used in Streets of Rage 2.
- Rolling Attack: He spins around ricocheting on the stage. He has super-armor during its entire duration. Used in Streets of Rage 3 and Streets of Rage 4.
- Dodge Roll: used by all variants in Streets of Rage 4. He'll roll around, which has super armor. Often used right after getting up from a knockdown. Anry and Heart's versions deal minor damage and knock down players.
- Joint Attack: he picks up Garcia, uses him as a shield and then throws him at the player; Garcia performs an elbow drop when landing. Used in Streets of Rage 3.
- Running Attack: runs diagonally stamping the player. Used in Bare Knuckle Mobile.
Strategy[]
Big Ben and his variants are notorious for their high priority moves and high health, making them formidable enemies, especially when paired with other powerful foes. They should always be a top priority to dispatch as they're dangerous in large groups.
In Streets of Rage 4, they are notorious for their surprisingly high mobility and damage output. When fighting Big Ben, the player should avoid challenging the Fire Breath directly, instead moving away and attacking him from behind. Against Gourmand, anti-air attacks are effective to intercept his leap attack; for characters who lack a decent anti-air, dodging the attack by moving away and punishing their landing. Anry / Heart are the most dangerous variant as their rolling attack has super armor for the entire duration, and they use it in quick succession, making it hard for the player to punish it; the player can instead use it to their advantage, as the rolling attack will damage other enemies.
Sprites[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Big Ben's character design appears to be copied from the character Tinker in the 1989 film Roadhouse, played by John William Young
- Big Ben's variation names are related to his girth (Big Ben, Buffet, Gourmand). One of those is named Heart, after the villain Mr. Heart from the Hokuto no Ken series.
- In Streets of Rage 4, Big Ben is the very first enemy that appears during the opening, being punched by Axel.
- He's revealed to be bald, much like his Streets of Rage predecessor.
- In the opening, Big Ben is shown in-game being attacked by Blaze and Axel at the start of Stage 7 and the second part of Stage 2, respectively. Big Ben never appears in neither of these spots.
- In Streets of Rage 4, Big Ben's clothes can be seen hanging on a rooftop during Stage 10.
- In Streets of Rage 4, his iconic laugh from Sega Genesis titles was re-used rather than having new voice clips recorded.
- The laugh is sampled from Mickey Dread- Operator's Choice