Streets of Rage 2

"For what it's worth, a very solid port of one of the most memorable games"

Streets of Rage 2........The name that is embedded in any old-schooler's heart. Who will ever forget the first time we entered Mr. X's personal elevator, only to fight every pass boss? Or when you fight his right-hand-man Shiva, the only other individual who is equal to you? Now this classic comes to the short-lived Sega Game Gear product.

Is it good?

It is both good and bad. For the casual gamer, nothing in this game will scream at you too much. But if you're a fanatic as I am, you will have a blast playing through the extra levels added in. Nearly every stage is in here (No Bridge stage, though the motorcycle thugs are faithfully re-created....)but it makes up with it by adding in some new area's, and even a new stage altogether!

Graphics 8/10 Every thug that was in the classic SOR2 is present here, be it the wimpy denim jean wearing thug Galsia, the ever-sneaky yellow jacket wearing Y Signals, or the malicious and psychotic Zamza, they are all here. Not only are they here, they are animated to look like nearly exactly like they do in their Console conversions! The only problem with some of the graphics are that it could be abit tough to see if you were to use the actual Game Gear system. Somehow Sega couldn't bother to swap around colours for the enemies and give them the distinguishing names such as Y.Signal, G.Signal, R.Signal, Surger, BT, U3, etc. I believe that the Sega Master System has the names, but I could be wrong on that.

Sound 8.7/10 I was VERY pleased to hear almost every stage song faithfully recreated here. Sure they may not sound spot-on, but it gives them a bit more of a rhythmic beat. It is alos official that the Boss theme can sound great even in an Atari 2600 game. The sound-effects are abit lackluster, the punhces don't sound meaty, and explosions sound too quiet. But it is nice to see that the genius Yuzo managed to fit his creations on here.

Gameplay 7.8/10 Yes it plays out alot like the SOR2 console version, but here it is VERY tough. Cheap shots hound on you, the Y. Signals cheap slides will maim you, and some people will never let you even get up. Ouch. Not good if you're far in the game and can't afford to lose another life, but an Electra jump kicks you into submission. But aside from the bad, it's fun to bust punks up with pipes and other assortment of deadly weapons. It plays faithfully, and has a cool Predator-styled boss in the Alien House area(To my knowledge, Zamza may have appeared in the Arena where you would fight Abedede, but don't count on it...). All in all, nice gameplay, but the cheap-shots and infinites drown it somewhat.

Verdict

If you must play every conversion of Streets of Rage, then get it, but if you have a tendency to get angry easily, then maybe put it down and browse back to the more easy console version(Excluding Mania difficulty of course). If you ever do come across a Game Gear and a copy of this game for sale, then I suggest you buy it....It's a would-be masterpiece...But falls too long to be considered a good port.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/18/04