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

First Review: Retro Review 1: STREETS OF RAGE (SMD, Sega 1991)

It was 1991 and video games were still young and exciting. The Sega Mega Drive (or Genesis if you're evil) was only around 1 year old when this beast of game came out. And that game was....well you've already read the title, anyway, it was called Streets Of Rage. For those unfamiliar, Streets Of Rage is 2D side scrolling beat 'em up, akin to that of Final Fight or Golden Axe, in which you go from the left side of the screen all the way to the right side of the screen punching people in the face. Sounds good already huh?

Starting up the game it gives you short cinematic explaining that a secret criminal syndicate has taken over the government and are wreaking havoc in a once "happy, peaceful, productive city." And in comes the 3 main characters, all ex-cops taking the law into their own hands. There's Adam, who's a boxer, Axel, a skilled martial artist and Blaze, a female judo expert. Non of their apparent fighting styles really come across though, since when did judo teach flip kicks? Each character has slightly different stats based on power, jump and speed, though when in game they're not really that noticeable.

                                           The character select screen.

The player must cross through 8 levels, or Rounds as they are called, battling a variety of enemies who all have various attacks and quirks, such as the legion of ginger punks who punch you in the face or come at you with knives or the ho's who hit you with their whips! Each henchman that crosses your path can be, and will be,  victims to your combos or grab attacks which are easily achieved by simply walking up to your enemy and mashing the B button, or to throw them you just walk into them and you'll initiate a clinch style grapple. From there you can mash B to give them some knees and elbows or press away and B to toss them into their buddies, you can even flip over them with the jump button and give the a nice German suplex, but if you find yourself getting swarmed and in trouble pressing the A button will call for some back up who will unleash a special attack.

                                      A rocket launcher flavoured special attack!


  During the course of the stage you come across objects such as phone booths, trash cans, traffic cones etc. which are all breakable with a single punch. When broken, the phone booths (or whatever you've just plunged your fist into) reveal power ups or items such as apples to restore your health or steel pipes to break teeth with or even bags of gold to increase your score. At the end of each Round you have to fight a huge disproportional boss like a wrestler or a fat fire breathing guy. Freddy Krueger even makes an appearance!

                       Okay so it's not really Freddy but we'll set 'em on fire anyway

The last stage of the game takes place in the Syndicate H.Q, on the last floor of a huge building. Pushing through enemies and previously defeated bosses, albeit from right to left this time, you come face to face the with the head guy, Mr. X! What is interesting about this meeting though is that Mr. X actually offers you to join him as his right hand man, now you can say no, pound his face in and beat the game with the "good" ending OR you can accept his offer in which he activates a trap door and sends you back to Round 6. If you make your way back to him and then beat him you get a pretty cool "bad" ending where you become the new head of the Syndicate, what's even cooler is if you're playing 2 player and one of you accepts his offer and the other declines, you both have to fight...to the death. And by the death I mean until you have no more continues!

            Is that a machine gun in your hand or are you just pleas...oh it is a machine gun

Just before I finish I must stress how great the music is in this game, by the end you'll have at least one track stuck in you're head that you'll whistle to yourself for hours on end.

• GAMEPLAY: Beating up some guys and walking right doesn't sound particularly interesting but I assure you the game is super fun, even more so with a friend.
  8/10
• CONTROL: The controls of the game are easy, intuitive and precise. Seriously how can you fuck up mashing B?
  10/10
• SOUND: As I said in closing, the soundtrack to this game is funky and catchy and will never dissapoint, although the sounds themselves like the punching and breaking of objects sound a little too soft.
  9/10
• GRAPHICS: Yes the game is 20 years old and to be honest they look it but are they bad? Not by a long shot. The characters look good, the dark and grimy stages look great and the HUD is clear.
  8/10                                                          
• OVERALL: This is a great example of a beat 'em up, it has great replay value, looks cool and has fantastic music.
  9/10