Narcos, the Netflix original drama series charting the rise and fall of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, featured a surprise cameo from a Sega Mega drive classic that ends up having far-reaching effects for everyone involved.

When Streets of Rage was first released in 1991, it was intended as a response to Nintendo’s rival Final Fight and Double Dragon side-scrolling beat-em-up arcaders.

However, the game ultimately surpassed the success of both those titles to earn a place as one of the most popular games to be released on the signature Sega console.

A total of three games were made for the Mega Drive, with Streets of Rage regularly featuring on the various Sega compilations created and released on Xbox and Playstation’s various platforms over the past few years.

Fans could be in line for a Streets of Rage revival though after the game was featured in a key scene in Narcos season two.

WARNING MILD SPOILERS AHEAD.

On the run from the Feds and keen to keep a low profile while maintaining a happy home life, Wagner Moura’s Escobar has been holed up with his wife, mother and eldest son Juan Pablo.

And it is Juan Pablo who, in the episode entitled Cambalache, he’s seen playing the game with.

So far, so incidental, but according to website Xataka, this is a very deliberate choice with a very deliberate meaning.

For one thing, they reckon that the picture of Escobar playing the game alongside his son is entirely realistic: Escobar was known for lavishing his son with presents of this kind and, with Streets of Rage released around the time he was on the run, it is likely he played it.

But it’s inclusion goes beyond merely scene-setting – it has a thematic purpose.

With Escobar underground and on the run, the game serves him up the perfect lightbulb moment: by creating chaos on the streets of Colombia he can make the lives of those authorities out to hunt him that much more difficult.

The game’s depiction of streets littered with weapons and violence is the setting Escobar begins to take from the world of gaming and into the realm of the real.

As you probably know, it does not end well for anyone involved.

Aside from Streets of Rage of course.

Narcos Season Two is available to enjoy on Netflix now and comes highly recommended.