Streets of Rage II

"Bare Knuckle II: The Mother Of Them All"

1992 was the year of sequels for sega, Sonic 2, Batman 2, Road Rash 2, World of Illusion (castle of illusion 2) 2 plus 2 equals 4 as in Thunder Force 4 (or Lightening Force in the US) and then there was Bare Knuckle II, or Streets Of Rage 2..not to be confused with street fighter 2, which many people did because they were both 16Meg games...thats right, back in 1992 when Clinton won the election, Sir Mix alot got some ''back'' and the internet was a government project. 16 megs meant a big deal in videogames, it meant things can be bigger, bigger characters, bigger stages, bigger graphics, bigger sound & music...and bigger it was...the jump from 1991's original which clocked at the standard 4 megs, Bare Knuckle 2 was 4 times the size, the power, and the excitement that the original made.

Story: (10/10) One year after the battle......the syndicate was believed to have been destroyed and the 3 heroes met up to commemorate the anniversary of their good efforts. While blaze and axel moved to the suburbs, adam went back to the force and looked after his lil' brother skate. however Mr X, the leader of the syndicate goes into an all out frenzy of attacks on the town and looting begins even worse than before. among the destroyed city property is the house of adam and skate and on the teared furniture is a note inviting axel and blaze to take on the challenge of saving their friend. Yup, adam's been kidnapped. so now its personal. skate vows to get his brother back, and axel get big help, Max Thunder! Bare Knuckle 2 begins!

Graphics: (10/10) I wasnt lying when i said the graphics were bigger, they are much bigger than in the 1st BK game, the setting take you all over town from a bridge to an amusement park to a baseball stadium to a beach and a construction factory, all well detailed and much brighter and colorful, even to have some slight rotation effects ala mode7. the dark setting is still there but the detail is much more precise this time around. the characters are all amazingly drawn and animated, evenm facial expressions can be seen in the awesome moves these guys have. Blaze is really hot this time around showing off some lovely leg & stockings while kicking the bejebbes out of a goon. (the japanese version shows off a bit more ;)Axel looks more like Final Fight's cody, but way better moves than him... Skate is phenomenal with his inline skating kicks and moves much faster that anyone, and while Max is a big Ox and slow, his presence alone takes up to 20% of the screen which is a lot for a side scrolling character at that time. Bosses are even bigger too. and much more dangerous than before, human and non human alike. yes sir get ready to face some unusual baddies in unusual settings. overall a far improvement on an already great game.

Gameplay: (9/10) More moves, more action, the gameplay has been revamped in II. the panic button is now gone and are replaced by special attacks, raging from a dragon punch type for axel. or a fireball attack for blaze, even tapping the directional button twice and pressing attack gives you a super move, like axel's ''Grand Upper'' or blaze's ''Kikousho-saw'' these guys have it all. the downside is that the 2 player doesnt have the somersault feature on the original so it limits the 2 player team up a bit, but with everything else going on in the game you barely even notice it missing.

Difficulty: (8/10) The game is challenging but it may be a bit easier that the original, the easy setting can give away the fun factor by making this game shorter and less challenging, so go and set it on hard, that should give you a challenge, but hardest gives you a secret code in the end so lets see if you dare...

Sound and Music: (10/10) MUSIC © YUZO KOSHIRO
i cant explain how he does it, all i can say is that he does. at first listen i didnt like the music b/c it didnt sound like game music..then it hit me, its not meant to sound like game music, its meant to sound like actual modern music. Yuzo went as far as studying techno and house beats from europe, america and japan to recreate the beats of BK2 and he outdones himself. truly awesome, from the house music in the first level, to the bar medley in the 2nd to the remix boss music...and thats just the 1st stage, little did i realize the bridge has this fast paced techno beat going all over. so give yourself a bit of fun by connecting this to your stereo system, even a surround system can give you many sound samples of what this composition is about. THIS IS THE BEST SOUNDTRACK FOR A SEGA 16 BIT GAME, MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT....after that i realized that yuzo is my idol, b/c of his works i listen to music not by its lyrics and message but by its composition. you can imagine how i listen to music of frank sinatra, beastie boys, korn or wu-tang clan thinking how Yuzo himself would have composed their works. Sounds are great, more remixed and bigger. but voice is a great addition, even the broken ''engrish'' or the fast paced japanese speech are inviting to this brawlfest.

Overall: (9/10) if you have a sega genesis or MD and you dont have this game, the you are missing out on a great experience. i said that the first game would be appreciated by older gamers, but this one can easily sink into everyone as its graphics stand out even by today's bright standards, THE MUSIC IS PHENOMENAL!!! so hook this up to a stereo just to give it a holla. i didnt say as much as in my BKI review b/c i want for you to experience it, so i avoided giving you any spoilers. aside from all the hype im giving this game, the series shining moment was in this powerhouse sequel that improved over the original like T2 did for the original Terminator...BK3 comes out 2yrs after II with mixed thoughts...i will be giving my input so...ILL BE BACK!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/11/03, Updated 05/11/03