Retro Review #3: Streets Of Rage 2 (SMD ,XBLA, PSN Sega 1992)

New graphics, new characters, new music and new combos are welcomed whole heartedly in this sequel to the 1991 beat 'em up classic

Just one short year after the release of Streets Of Rage and Sega are here to spoil us with a great sequel. Like it's previous game, the premise is a standard "left-to-right" beat 'em up but with the addition of new special attacks, characters and weapons, it's easy to see why people value this game so highly. The first thing I noticed when starting this game is that the graphics had had a massive overhaul, the sprites are so much bigger than in the previous game and they look great. With the new graphics and sprites also came a huge batch of new enemies such as ninjas, kick boxers, bikers, karate masters and even robots!


Before we start the game we are treated to a little cinematic outlining the events of the previous game and telling us that Mr. X is back and has kidnapped our friend Adam, so it's time for our remaining two vigilantes to get some new allies, rescue Adam and to take back the Streets...Of Rage! Joining Axel and Blaze we have Max Hatchet (Max Thunder in the US and Japan), a friend of Axel who is a wrestler and a huge power house and Eddie (or Sammy in Japan) "Skate" Hunter, the younger brother of our kidnapped comrade.

Our 2 new heroes.

                                           

Each character, like the previous game, has different stats and new moves so that now our fighters don't all feel the same. In the first Streets Of Rage special attacks were done by pressing the A button, the same is true  here but instead of having back up come and shoot our enemies our chosen character instead unleashes a new attack, pressing the A button on it's own activates a "GET THE HELL OFF OF ME!" attack like Max's spinning axe-handle or Skate's break dancing sweep, while pressing forward and A gives a more focussed attack such as Axel's punch flurry or even a Chun-Li style energy wave by Blaze. But, each one of those attacks comes with a price, it takes a little bit of your health away so don't use them to often or you'll end up in danger.

 In addition to the special attacks each character has three different jumping attacks and a "semi-special move". By jumping straight up and pressing B you do short ranged Anti-Air type attack, jumping forward and pressing B gives you a drop kick or dragon kick to knock your foes away with or you can press down and B while in the air to do a jumping attack that doesn't knock the enemy down so you can continue your combos. When grounded you can press forward twice and B to do your characters semi-special like a slide kick or a fiery uppercut depending on your chosen hero.

GRAND UPPAH!

                                                   

Another new addition to Streets Of Rage, giving a nod to Final Fight, is the inclusion of enemy life meters, they're not just for bosses this time but for your standard enemy too. Also (just like in Final Fight) we get to see the names of our victims so now instead of shouting "Take that you punk!" you can now shout "Take that Donovan, you punk!". Weapons still play a part of the game with a few new ones a kunai and a katana but as a result we lost the beer bottle, baseball bat and pepper pot. An upside to weapons is that every weapon can be thrown by pressing Jump and B simultaneously, which also means knives aren't thrown at random any more but as a downside weapons are dropped upon grabbing an enemy.

TAKE THAT DONOVAN...YOU PUNK! (see I told you)

Stages are a lot longer than in the previous game and are broken up in to different sections such as in Round 1 we battle our way down a street then through a bar and finally into a dingy back ally before taking on the boss. The stages, though a little familiar, are varied and look great and there are some pretty neat weather effects like rain and mist. All the enemies have different characteristics and attacks Kick boxers will use their long legs to keep you away and anti-air your jump ins with high kicks, street punks will rush you with knives and pipes and the bikers will even try to run over and lob grenades. Some of the bosses should also be tackled with a different approach as most of them can block your combos or attack through them.

                             
The soundtrack of the game by Yuzo Koshiro, who also did the first games soundtrack, has done a fantastic job on the music again. Keeping to the techno-pop sound of the first game it makes the game feel warmly familiar and brand new at the same time, there are also a couple of remixes of the first games Rounds 4, 8 and Final Boss theme that sound amazing. There are quite a few "nods" to other franchises too like one of the fat bad guys being named Heart an obvious reference to Hokuto No Ken/Fist Of The North Star character of the same name and stature. If you end up getting bored of the main game, which is highly unlikely, you can challenge a friend in "Duel" mode which pits you one on one against each other. This game is mad fun and even better than the original so go get a mate and give it a play, you will not be disappointed.

• GAMEPLAY: All the new additions to the game make this left-to-right fighting experience all the much sweeter and the new duel mode is great fun.
  9/10
• CONTROL: Characters handle great and everything comes out smoothly.
  9/10
• SOUND: The funky electronic sounds by Yuzo Koshiro are among some of the best game soundtracks ever, even today. Lot's of new sound effects and screams make all the hard hitting impact come alive.
  9/10
• GRAPHICS: A huge overhaul on graphics and animations make this one of the best looking games of 1992 and the whole 16-bit era.
  9/10
• OVERALL: A great sequel to a great game, one of my all time favourites and a game that everyone still plays to this day. Included in the Sega Mega Drive Collection, along with it's prequel and sequel, and also as a downloadable game on PSN/XBLA just goes to show that this game has still got what it takes.
  10/10