PixlBit

This classic pure beat 'em up is classic pure fun

The Streets of Rage series was Sega's answer to Capcom's Final Fight on the Super NES. The first game was decent, the third game was terrible, but the second one was great. Streets of Rage 2 was released for the Genesis in 1992, and was developed and published by Sega. It's a two player beat 'em up game, and it's one of the best.

There are four characters: Axel (he's balanced in speed and power), Blaze (also balanced), Max (he's the power guy), and Skate (he has the fastest speed). Blaze is my personal favorite because she's faster than Axel, meaning she can get in more hits. Each character has a unique fighting style. All three buttons on the Genesis controller are actually used for SoR2. The B button is your attack, the C button makes you jump, and the A button is your special attack (which uses health, so use it wisely).

Once you pick your character, you take to the streets to fight crime and corruption. The bad guys run the gamet in this game: street punks, bikers, whip-wielding femme fatales, judo fighters, fat guys who blow fire, kickboxers, etc. That sound of punching and kicking them is so wonderful! Each enemy's name and life appears at the top of the screen once you start pummeling them. Each bad guy will scream in pain when they die (which is just funny). Some enemies will come at you with knives or long pipes; they'll drop these after you start laying the smack-down and you can pick them up and use them. Bashing enemies with the pipe is probably the best part of the game; it makes taking out enemies easy and is just awesome.

SoR2 will take you through all kinds of locations, from the streets to an amusement park to a baseball stadium. Each level contains plenty of destructible objects which you can attack in order to grab health, weapons, or points. The game is quite generous in giving you health items, and you'll need them to finish the game. There are eight long levels, broken up into several sections each.

Most bosses are unrealistically huge. Henchmen will often attack you with the boss until you get rid of all of them, then it's just you and the big guy. The bosses get recycled throughout the game, becoming bad guys in later levels. One level boss near the end of the game has you fight two previous bosses, which is just lazy. You'll also have some mini-boss fights when a new bad guy is introduced, such as Big Ben (fat guy who blows fire). These are fine, but at other times you'll fight old baddies who have way too much life, and downing them takes a long time.

SoR2 shines brightest in the area of combat. Not only can you use normal attacks on the bad guys, but you can also grab them if you get close enough. Once you grab them, you can do a beat down in front, or you can throw them behind. Sometimes you'll perform a wrestling move, which never gets old! The problem is, if you're holding a weapon, you'll drop it when you grab someone, and doing this too many times will cause the weapon to disappear. The fighting in this game is sensational and satisfying. It's pure beat 'em up bliss. Plus, there's no slow-down when tons of enemies are on screen, which is pretty amazing. 

One of the best things about SoR2 is that it's two player. Taking out punks with a friend is very fun. But here we have another sticking point: you can grapple and/or hurt your partner, which is annoying and makes the game more challenging. It's best to have one player fight on the top of the screen and the other on the bottom so as not to get too close, but even so, sometimes the two will get too close and one will grab the other (sometimes in an awkward way) or you'll accidentally hit your partner. Two player is still a blast, though.

Finally, I have to mention the music! The music for SoR2 is simply amazing, being composed by the great Yuzo Koshiro. He puts a lot of spunk in the music, making the game stick out even more in the minds of those who've played it. These pulsating vibes will stay with you long after you've stopped playing. Check out a couple of my favorite songs below.

Final Verdict--4 Stars: Recommended

Fun, challenging, full of personality and spunk, Streets of Rage 2 is probably the best beat 'em up on the Genesis. It surpasses its predecessor and easily out-performs the game after it, making it the best in the series. There's no "rescue the hostages" crap in this game; it's pure beat 'em up bliss, sensational, satisfying, and those punching sounds are awesome. If you've never played this Genesis gem, it's available on the Wii Virtual Console.

Join me every Saturday as we take a look back at all kinds of retro games, good and bad.