Streets of Rage II

"Best of the series, and one of the best side-scrolling beat 'em-up titles for the Megadrive !!"

FOREWORD

My mum made me laugh when this game came out - she was trying to demonstrate that she could get into video games (bless her), and even now she refers to this title as "the Stick Thingy Game" - isn't that sweet ? But if even my MUM could get into playing it, what excuse do YOU have for not giving it a try ? Read on ...

OVERVIEW AND OBJECTIVE OF THE GAME

Set after the successful Streets of Rage, Streets of Rage 2 picks up one year after the first title left off.

You must choose one of four characters, each with different backgrounds, but all of whom have united for a common goal - to take down Mr. X - the big boss who has taken Adam Hunter (one of the characters from Streets of Rage) hostage, in retaliation for the group's kicking his butt during the first game - before he can realise his plans (whatever they may be).

GRAPHICS - 8/10

The characters in Streets of Rage 2 are big, very well-drawn, and extremely well-animated given the age of the title. All the special moves have plenty of frames of animation, and even just watching the characters standing around doing nothing is a pleasant experience (perhaps more so in Blaze's case than some of the others, but hey).

There is a good sense of contact when you strike other enemies, and the characters all fell well-weighted when they leap about the screen.

The special moves are appropriate to each character (nothing insanely massive, but nothing totally useless either), and your enemies are just the same on all points.

Boss fights are appropriate, and the bosses are all distinguishable from the regular characters on account of their plethora of special moves, and personalised graphical twitches (usually colour-changes from their lesser subordinates).

The backgrounds are nicely attended to throughout, with bright neon signs for nightclubs, telephone boxes that you can smash and so on, littered about the game.

There are also a fair few weapons to pick up including (yes mum) the infamous "stick thingy" - basically a pipe that, if you are playing with Blaze, has a REALLY really long reach, and is much fun to use.

There is minimal sprite flicker, and minimal slowdown, although this IS sometimes noticeable when there are a large number of sprites on-screen (such as when the bikers are whizzing past you on one of the earlier levels).

SOUND - 9/10

For a Megadrive/Genesis title, this game REALLY shows off the capabilities of the system. First and foremost, the sound effects. Attempts have been made to include digitised speech to accompany the special moves of each of the main characters in the game (and a few of your enemies as well), and they UNIFORMLY work well. There are no real attempts to whack in entire sections of dialogue, but there are lots of little comments like "Ki-too-ya-too-ya-toh" from Blaze (forgive my phonetic spelling) and "Geh'da-ta-karh" from Axel, all of which just add that little extra "YES !!" factor to striking somebody in the face, or jump-kicking them off a bike.

Even the sound of punching or kicking somebody has been painstakingly well-calculated for maximum satisfaction ... it's great !! :)

Next we turn to the music, which is arguably THE BEST music I have heard on ANY Megadrive title EVER. It even vies with the music in the Sonic the Hedgehog titles in my opinion, it really is THAT good.

Every single stage has different music, and that music has been well thought-out, and well-implemented.

The music in the boss fights is PARTICULARLY impressive I find, and adds to the tempo of the fights, and your sense of their importance in the progression of the game.

CONTROLS - 9/10

The controls in this title are crisp, and responsive. You have an array of commands at your disposal, and they are all very easily pulled-off, so none of your special moves should pose you a problem to execute.

In fact, in what I consider to be a gesture of goodwill from the developers, they have made it so that, whilst the easiest special moves to execute button-wise drain your health, the most complicated one (towards, towards and b) does not drain any health when you execute it - fair play to them !! :)

Once you have gotten used to how your character operates, you will be finding all sorts of neat ways to use them and their powers - you can do reverse attacks, you can even use Axel to do a backwards-version of his towards, towards and b upwards fist attack (which is surely a glitch, but I'm not complaining).

All told the control are very precise, very appropriate, and very satisfying to use.

PLOT - 5/10

The plot really isn't anything to write home about, but it is heart-warming to see that friends stick together I guess ...

Adam has been kidnapped by Mr. X in response to your having fought so well in Streets of Rage, and so you reunite with your friends, and team up with new ones, to go and kick Mr. X's butt !!

It's that simple really.

GAMEPLAY - 9/10

Needless to say, the plot ISN'T where the mainstay of this game's enjoyment stems from. The gameplay is VERY, very impressive, not in the least because of the rather inappropriate level of satisfaction you get from battering your enemies. The beautiful "thwack, crack" sound that the developers have included EVERY TIME you hit somebody, makes you want to keep hitting people !! It's almost subliminal !!

Since there are four characters to play with, and each has a VERY different style of play, you will enjoy experimenting with them until you find which one best suits your playing methods, and thereafter you will most likely stick with them (maybe switching to one other just to keep your experience of the game in general fresh) - however having the four of them there makes sure there is plenty of variety on offer.

The music that plays throughout the game really does inspire you to get cracking (often literally) and batter your enemies into blissful submission, and the variety and beauty of the graphics of your enemies themselves (check out the muscle guys - they're HUGE !!), means you won't be shy of any eye candy when playing either.

REPLAY VALUE - 9/10

Even longer-term, the replay value of this title is great. Years after you've finished with it and consigned it to some shelf you never touch, you will walk by it and think "Hey ! I remember that ... I wonder if it's still as good now as it was back then" ... and let me tell you ... it is ;)

VALUE FOR MONEY - 9/10

This is a great title, no doubt about it - the only drawback with it is that because it is quite old, and because you must obviously have a Megadrive/Genesis to hand in order to play it, the expense and inconvenience of finding one if you don't already have it to hand will be quite a pain in the butt. However, for what it should cost you to buy a copy of the game, I think it still represents fantastic value for money, even today.

OVERALL - 9/10 (This is NOT an average)

This is a no-holds-barred stick thingy fest of the highest calibre. With four characters and tonnes of bone breaking and face-slapping moves to chuck at your enemies, there's more fun here than you can shake a stick at !! (Pun intended). The characters are all very well drawn and animated, the music ROCKS, and the boss fights are cool too. The penultimate boss (Shiva) is my favourite in any side-scrolling beat 'em up !!

MAIN GOOD POINTS

* Great sprites
* Loads of frames of animation
* Fantastic sound-effects
* Brilliant music
* Addictive gameplay
* Plenty of characters to choose from

MAIN BAD POINTS

* It will be rather hard for you to find a copy these days
* You must have a Megadrive/Genesis to play it (obviously)

SO SHOULD YOU GET IT ?

If you can get it without too much trouble, then I would say yes, definitely get it. This is the best title in the Streets of Rage series without a doubt (steer WELL clear of Streets of Rage 3 !!), and makes a handsome addition to any video gamer's Megadrive collection. I will never part with my copy, that's for sure !!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/15/07