Roo, known as Victy in the Japanese version, is a mini-boss and playable character from Streets of Rage 3, who is fought alongside Bruce. He is also a playable character in Streets of Rage 4 as a hidden character.
Overview[]
Roo is a trained kangaroo wearing red boxing gloves, blue training shorts, and a leash with a broken chain. During the fight in Streets of Rage 3, Bruce will mostly stay out of range while Roo attacks the player with jumping kicks or a spinning kick. Whenever Roo is knocked down Bruce will get close to whip the animal to force him to continue fighting.
In Streets of Rage 4, he is found near the end of Stage 5, working as a bartender at Barbon's bar. If the player holds up at the counter where Roo is, he'll drop one of each elemental bottle (Toxic, Fire and Lightning).
As a playable character[]
In Streets of Rage 3, if the player defeats Bruce first without killing Roo, the animal becomes playable when a continue is used. He cannot pick items.
Roo wasn't initially playable in Streets of Rage 4, but was added as a secret character in the Mr. X Nightmare DLC. To unlock him, the player must do the following inputs at the main screen:
- Highlight the Story Mode option.
- Press and hold the Attack button (Square on PlayStation, X on Xbox, Y on Switch).
- While still holding Attack, press and hold the Up button.
- While still holding Attack + Up, press and hold the Start button.
- Release all three buttons and enter Story Mode, on any save slot.
In the mobile version, Roo is unlocked differently, instead of a code, find him and tap his sprite hidden throughout the options menu. If your having trouble finding the first sprite, it’s in the language settings screen, being very tiny.
Gameplay[]
Roo has a very unorthodox gameplay style which combines boxing moves, as well various kicks and tail swipes, given he is a kangaroo. He has the fastest jab in the game, which also has the lowest reach; in Streets of Rage 4, his basic combo can combo with itself near walls, allowing for near infinite loops. His back attack, on the other hand, covers the highest range of any character, on top of moving Roo backwards, allowing him to cover more range. He is also notable as his Blitz Move and Offensive Special Attack deal multiple hits, trapping opponents.
Blitz Attacks[]
- Handbrake: Roo does a quick spin forward and slides through the ground with his head, hitting the opponent with his back. It deals multiple hits, and in Streets of Rage 4 it hits opponents off the ground. This move has noticeable ending lag.
- Gatling Kick: the alternate Blitz Attack unlockable in the DLC for Streets of Rage 4. Roo does a series of four kicks forward, moving through the ground, using his tail to propel him forward.
Defensive Special Attacks[]
- Somersault Tail Whip: Roo does a quick spin jump forward, hitting opponents multiple times. In Streets of Rage 4, it can deal up to 5 hits, and knocks enemies upwards (but downwards if Roo performs it while grabbing the opponent).
- Spinning Kick: the alternate Defensive Special Attack unlockable in the DLC for Streets of Rage 4. Roo spins in place, with his legs extended while his tail holds his weight, hitting opponents around him, dealing up to four hits.
Offensive Special Attacks[]
- Hurricane Kick: Roo spins forward with legs extended, while his tail holds his weight, hitting opponents multiple times. In Streets of Rage 4, it can deal up to 24 hits, with the last hit knocking enemies horizontally. This attack can hit off the ground.
- Rolling Attack: the alternate Offensive Special Attack unlockable in the DLC for Streets of Rage 4. Roo does a rolls forward very fast, covering a huge distance. If it connects with an enemy, they knocked away upwards. This move has a long ending lag, but it can be cancelled into an Air Special Attack.
Air Special Attacks[]
- Air Tail Whip: Roo's default Air Special Attack in Streets of Rage 4. An aerial version of his Somersault Tail Whip. It has a follow-up attack once connecting that deals more damage. Grounded enemies are launched upwards and airborne opponents downwards.
- Air Rolling Attack: the alternate Defensive Special Attack unlockable in the DLC for Streets of Rage 4. An aerial version of his Rolling Attack. Grounded enemies are launched upwards and airborne opponents downwards.
Star Moves[]
- Here Comes Bruce: Roo's default Star Move in Streets of Rage 4. He summons Bruce, who acts independently to strike enemies with his whip, and can also hop around to avoid damage. Bruce has his own hidden healthbar (around 350 HP, which equals to 3.5 bars) and has no set duration, staying until dying or if the player moves to the next screen. He'll persist on screen if the player dies (including in multiplayer, if the Roo player loses all his lives).
- Earthquake: the alternate Defensive Special Attack unlockable in the DLC for Streets of Rage 4. Roo leaps high into the air and descends down, stomping the ground up to four times. The player can control Roo's sideways movement.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In Streets of Rage 3, he is the only secret character in the game with a complete move set and his own portrait.
- He uses some of the same voice samples as Skate.
- In the Bare Knuckle III Beta, his early name, shown in a game magazine, was "Kan".
- In the boss room of Stage 8 in Streets of Rage 4, a Picasso-inspired painting of Roo can be seen in the background.
- Roo's portrait is the oldest surviving portrait picture in the game, with it being spotted in the earliest publicly known screenshots, and remaining unchanged upon release.
- Despite his Streets of Rage 3 version being added to Streets of Rage 4 via DLC, his playable character select screen portrait uses the Streets of Rage 4 version instead. This is due to him not appearing on the cover art of Bare Knuckle III, only on the North American cover of Streets of Rage 3.
- In Streets of Rage 4, when selecting alternate colors for Roo, Bruce's color palette will follow the same as Roo when summoned through the "Here Comes Bruce!" Star Power.