Streets of Rage II

"2 Good 2 Be 2"

As a youngster, the console I played the most often probably was the Sega Genesis. Heck, I still play it a lot even now. A genre that may be dying down a bit more now but was at its peak of popularity with the many games that were released at the time is Beat-em-up. The Streets of Rage series was the cream of the crop of beat-em-up games in my book. The original, and this one, as well as various other titles such as Golden Axe, Fighting Force, Double Dragon and Final Fight, were some of the biggest names to stake their claim to be amongst the greatest beat-em-ups in gaming history. It's hard to disagree with that either, but what made Streets of Rage one of those that stood out? Even more, what was it that made Streets of Rage 2 such an enjoyable sequel and superior to its predecessor?

Well, I'll just tell it like it is. Streets of Rage 2 had anything and everything it took to make a great beat-em-up, but none of the old “and-then-some” adage. The gameplay is almost identical to that of the original, with a few new moves, as well as those new characters with some unique move sets. The screen scrolling feature is a little better since you're now not just advancing in one direction all the time, but up and down too. There are some new enemies too, new items, and new levels. So, if it's an entertaining fighter platform you're after, then this is one to get.

We'll start with the game's storyline. There's nothing at all appealing or special about it. Mr. X is back in town. You defeated and killed him at the end of SoR1, but he still somehow came back. He just could. So that's happened, now what? Well, he seems to want control of the city again, so we're going back to Streets of Rage 1's storyline. So did Sega do anything else to make the storyline just that little bit better? Yeah, they threw in that same old ‘save the captured person' theme. Adam, who was in the predecessor, is kidnapped by Mr. X's syndicate, so you've got to save him with one of the 4 characters (2 from before and 2 new) while you battle your way through the city to take down Mr. X for a second time. No special story in my eyes, but then again, it never has to make the game.

The good thing about this, of course, with there being four characters, each one has different features and abilities. Max, a professional wrestler has lots of raw strength, terrific moves and handles weapons very well, but he's a little on the slow and vulnerable side. Axel is more or less in the same form as from the last adventure – the most well-rounded in terms of speed, power and jump. Blaze has agility and a good jump, but not as strong as the other two. The other new character is Adam's little kid brother Skate, who may be a younger, but has what it takes to battle the crime wave. Very speedy, not too tough, but a good choice for beginners or experts.

Streets of Rage 2 has 8 brand new levels, taking place in many different settings, and these levels are a lot longer, and quite tougher than those of the original. The game does have a good length on it, and you will traverse through many different areas to get to the criminal headquarters. There is an arcade arena, a baseball pitch, underground forest, construction site, and so on. These levels are all great fun to play through, and many of them are new areas to explore for a beat-em-up, let alone a Streets of Rage game. That's not a bad thing though, as you definitely wouldn't just want to see the same old things in terms of levels and scenery from the first title.

As you make your way through the game, you'll battle many enemies on your way, and the expedition will be a tough and endearing one. However, there are a few helpful items that you can use to your advantage on the way. You can pick up pieces of food like chicken and apples to restore your energy if you're being worn down by your opponents, as well as weapons to give you a better chance of defeating enemies in large groups, whether it be crashing a large lead pipe on their skull, or piercing their heart with a discarded pen knife. If not, you still have your fists and feet to do the talking, with basic punches and kicks, a few combos, and some new special moves.

There are a lot of enemies in the game. Some were seen in the original Streets of Rage, a few are new. They also now come with names and life bars (both regular enemies and bosses), so you can tell how well you're wearing them down as you fight them. You can use this feature to try to figure out what kinds of moves work on them best. Many of them appear in droves, and you don't have the cops to help you clear them out if you're ambushed this time, so you've got to keep your wits about you, not let your guard down, and do whatever is necessary to knock out the massive groups of punks!

One other thing to make the gameplay a bit better were the controls. The game has almost identical controls to the original Streets of Rage, but there are some advanced moves now. For example, pressing right or left twice in quick succession then B with Axel will perform a flaming fist attack he calls the “Bare Knuckle” (no prizes for guessing where that comes from) or a multiple-hit flurry. You have to sacrifice a bit of life to perform these though, so use them sparingly.

Moving onto the game's graphics – this was one I definitely could see that stood out from the predecessor. Every level is detailed and very colourful, and the graphics are amongst some of the best you'll see on the Sega Genesis. Everything is detailed very well, and all backgrounds and level designs and layout look very realistic, for the game's time at least. Characters and enemies, as well as the bosses, also have some good designs, and animations look superb. The game has a great rhythm to it, and is played at a nice tempo – something the graphics definitely helped with.

The music of the game wasn't too impressive – truth be told, Streets of Rage 1's music sticks in my mind more than the themes from this game for some reason. However, I've got no complaints with what's in here – every game needs music to make it more appealing, and the themes for each level suit them very well. Some of the music is recycled from SoR1 (although it has been jazzed up a little). There is a wide range of music, and it's all a pleasure to listen to. Nothing spectacular, but what's there is nice, so Sega get some credit for their effort and not being lazy. As well as that, there's a nice variety of sound effects and voices sound OK too.

To wrap this up, in conclusion, Streets of Rage 2 did a better job as a beat-em-up than its predecessor. I do think this game is better to a degree than the first – not by a large amount, but not marginal either. It has a lot of factors that make a good sequel, and just about everything is a general improvement. There's not much more innovation, and the replay value, after playing the first 2 or 3 times, will get lower. However, the game does offer a decent challenge, and it'll be a little easier if you play through with a friend, all the better if they're a Streets of Rage wiz.

So, what else is to say about Streets of Rage 2 as we come to a conclusion? Great gameplay, great graphics, decent music, good challenge, some nice new features, and an all-round great beat-em-up, which is definitely worth getting if you liked the first, and it'll go well in a Sega Genesis owner's library.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/03/06