Streets of Rage 2

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Streets of Rage 2
Streets of Rage 2 cover art
Developer(s) Ancient
H.I.C.
Shout! Designworks [1]
Publisher(s) Sega
Platform(s) Sega Genesis, Sega Game Gear, Sega Master System, MegaPlay, Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade
Release date 20 December 1992 (North America)
13 January 1993 (Japan)
Genre(s) Beat 'em up
Mode(s) Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s) CERO: A (Sonic Gems Collection)
B (Virtual console)
ESRB: E
PEGI: 7+
Media 16-megabit cartridge
Input methods Genesis controller, Wiimote

Streets of Rage 2 is a side-scrolling beat 'em up released by Sega in 1992 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. It is the second game in the Streets of Rage series, a sequel to Streets of Rage and followed by Streets of Rage 3. It is known as Bare Knuckle II in Japan and Streets of Rage II in Europe. Its soundtrack is again done by Yuzo Koshiro, whose work was inspired by early '90s club music.

The game was ported over to the Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear and released for the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console on May 21, 2007 for the USA and June 1, 2007 for Europe as well as Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) on August 29, 2007. The game introduced two new characters: Max Thunder (known as Max Hatchett in Europe) and Eddie "Skate" Hunter (known as Sammy Hunter in Japan), brother of Adam Hunter from the original game.

Contents

[edit] Gameplay

Though Streets of Rage 2 plays very similar to its predecessor it improves and refines much of the gameplay. The biggest change is the replacement of the original special attack, which was calling a police car to damage all on-screen enemies, with individual special attacks performed by each character, that depletes some of their health. Each character's move list has been expanded and edited to make them very individual to play instead of similar with different handicaps.

Enemies are also improved; all are given Life Gauges (previously only Bosses used them) and names, and like the selectable characters, given bigger and more individual movesets. There are many new enemies, including Bikers, which speed across the screen in certain levels, running over the Player, tossing grenades and/or leaping off their bikes to attack; new Ninjas, which are excessively quick and sometimes deadly to fight due to their avoidant tactics, ranged weapons and special moves; Kickboxers and Robots.

A welcome sight from the first game are the "suicide stabbers"—weak enemies, invariably a Galsia, who hold a Knife in front of themselves and literally run at the Player in the hope of impaling them. Since these "stabbers" usually arrive only when the Player is involved in mortal combat with other enemies, and their only attacks are fast strafing attacks, they can often be a lethal, but highly amusing, nuisance.

There are also changes to the weapons that can be picked up. The Pepper Shaker and the Bottle from the original game have been removed. The Knife has been tweaked, so the Player can choose to throw the Knife when he or she pleases, whereas in the first game the Knife could be thrown seemingly by accident by the Player, with all the hazards it implies. As a trade-off, the Knife does much less damage when thrown in Streets of Rage II. A Kunai has also been added, with the same functionality as the Knife.

The Baseball Bat from Streets of Rage is replaced by a Katana, which is the most deadly weapon in the entire game.

A much needed piece of functionality, as already hinted, is the ability to throw all weapons at will by holding down jump (C) and pressing attack (B). When not holding a weapon, this combo allows the Player to lash out behind him or her to take out an enemy sneaking up from behind.

Aside from the differences in weapons and enemies, the characters themselves are given some special abilities and handicaps. In addition to their traits and individual moves, the characters now have a "semi-special move": a powerful, non-energy-draining attack delivered by double-tapping a direction and pressing attack (B).

[edit] Synopsis

[edit] Plot

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According to the game's Instruction Manual:

This time it's personal

One year had passed since ex-police officers Adam Hunter, Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding had broken the Syndicate's hold and destroyed it's leader, the mysterious "Mr X". Peace had returned to the streets, people were moving back to into the once vacant city neighbourhoods, and the city had returned to prosperity.

On the anniversary of the Syndicate's destruction, Adam, Axel and Blaze met at their favourite nightspot to commemorate the occasion and catch up on the latest news. Both Axel and Blaze had moved out of the city; Axel working as a bodyguard, and Blaze teaching dance.

Adam had rejoined the police force, and moved to a small house on the edge of the city with his kid brother. The three celebrated until late in the night, and made plans to meet at the same place next year.

As he was planning to check out of his hotel the next day, Axel received a frantic phone call from Eddie "Skate" Hunter. He had arrived home from school to find the place a total ruin. He'd called the police department, but nobody there had seen or heard from his brother since early that morning.

Both Axel and Blaze rushed to Adam's house. Windows had been shattered, furniture smashed. Stuck on the remains of the splinted front door was a photo: Adam in chains lying at the feet of a man they knew only too well.

Adam's disappearance marked the beginning of the nightmare. Criminal elements swarmed out to reclaim the streets. Gangs roamed the parks, and bomb-wielding bikers made the roads deadly to travel at night. Beatings and lootings took place regularly and in broad daylight. Chaos reigned in the city, far worse than before.

Axel and Blaze tried to contact their old friends at the force, the ones who'd provided backup with heavy artillery. But everyone they knew had either been fired or transferred elsewhere. This time the Syndicate was in complete control and the two ex-cops were on their own.

Assisted by Adam's brother Skate and Axel's friend Max, Axel and Blaze set out to rescue their friend and destroy Mr X once and for all. Standing in their way is the nastiest collection of punk and brawlers ever assembled. Add to that a force of professional fighters specially groomed to take them out of the picture!

As one of the 4 young vigilantes - or together with a friend - you'll battle with your fists and feet, and attack with whatever weapon you come across, as once more you walk the Streets of Rage!

The city that the Streets of Rage games are set is unnamed, but it seems to be based on New York. The box art of the US/Euro release of Streets of Rage features the Empire State Building in the background, and in the Round 2 of Streets of Rage 2, one can see the Twin Towers of the now-destroyed World Trade Center in the skyline. The Twin Towers can also be seen in the box art of Streets of Rage 3.

[edit] Levels

Streets of Rage 2 featured much longer levels, each with multiple settings, such as a bar from the city's streets in Round 1, a highway in Round 2, an indoor pirate ship and 'alien' fun house from a theme park in Round 3, and a baseball stadium and secret underground elevator leading to a wrestling arena in Round 4. It also added further round specific elements, such as Battle Robots fought at the end of Round 7, and weather effects, like rain and mist. In the instruction manual of the game there is an introduction for every level, as it is mentioned below.

  • Round 1: Downtown - Start your search where knife-wielding punks rule the streets. Trail them into a seedy downtown dive, and clean house! In a back alley, you'll meet Barbon, a bartender who lifts barbells more than bottles - and who isn't happy about your trashing his clientele!
  • Round 2: Bridge Under Construction - There's a toll on this bridge, and the bomb-tossing bikers plan to take it out of your hide! In the back of a moving supply truck, you'll challenge one of their best warriors. At the far end of the bridge, an airborne attacker threatens to ruin your day!
  • Round 3: Amusement Park - Let the local slime know that the party's over as you stroll through the park grounds. Score a few hits in the local arcade, and enter the "Pirates" attraction where blade-wielding ninja types make for a rough ride! Try out the Alien House, where the props explode, and real danger lurks in the fake fog. You might even have to take on the attraction itself...
  • Round 4: Stadium - On the diamond you'll beat Big Ben, a baseball fan who looks like he's had far too many chilli dogs. Clean his clock, and watch that fiery breath! A secret elevator takes you to an underground arena where winner takes all!
  • Round 5: The Ship - Check out the cargo holds for valuables and gangsters, and take on Raven, a vicious kickboxer! Swab the upper decks with a couple of undesirables,but be on the lookout for some really bad news...
  • Round 6: Jungle - There's no time to stop and admire the scenery - you'll be too busy with Raven's kick-boxing buddies! Knock through sandbags and grab Items while you can. You'll need all the stamina you can get for the battle ahead!
  • Round 7: Munitions Plant - Take on waves of attackers on moving conveyor belts. Then grab a cargo elevator up to the roof, where you'll take on two very solid foes!
  • Round 8: Syndicate Stronghold - You're on your own here. Just be aware that Mr. X has been expecting you, and he has some surprises in store...

Now every level has a major boss, along with multiple mini-bosses.

[edit] Characters

  • Max Thunder is the absolute "Powerhouse" of the game. His Atomic Drop is the most powerful move in the entire game. He is able to clear both in front and behind with a Lead Pipe or Katana due to his huge swing. He is also unable to vault over an enemy to throw, due to his weight. Instead, Max jumps into the air holding his victim in a facelock/waistlock and can deliver some crippling slams. His semi-special is a Power Slide which is vulnerable to many attacks and not so powerful. His downside is his incredibly slow, lumbering pace, which may be a serious problem against ninjas, kickboxers, bikers and their grenades and other fast, avoidant enemies.
  • Axel Stone is the most popular character, and the best choice for beginners. His semi-special is the Grand Upper, which is arguably the most useful and effective move of the game, great for bosses and almost invulnerable. His great technique allows him to kill easily every enemy unable to block, except Bosses: when you punch the enemy, wait for a moment before you punch him the second time, the third and so on. The enemy will not be able to react and Axel will not continue his combo, instead he will punch him over and over, until he is knocked-out.
  • Blaze Fielding is the all-rounded fighter of the game. She is one of the few (if not the only) female characters in side-scrolling beat 'em up games which is not the weakest of all.[citation needed] Her advantages are her remarkable flexibility and her improved skill with weapons. She has a special ability which allows her to deliver two attacks with the Knife in one action, a stab and a slash. Her semi-special move is a Vertical Slash which knocks down all opponents affected. She also seems to be faster than Axel, although they have the same speed percentage.
  • Eddie "Skate" Hunter is the lightest and most agile character, also the weakest. However, Skate is the only character capable of sprinting, by double-tapping a direction, and this can allow him to escape many attacks which the other characters could not. Since double-tapping skate causes him to sprint, his semi-special is a Dynamite Headbutt which can knock over large crowds of enemies. It is perhaps Skate's most invaluable move. He is also a great thrower, forward and backward. His skill with the Lead Pipe and the Katana is poor, due to his weakness, but he is very fast with the Knife.

[edit] Release versions and ports

In Japan, and in Europe, Streets of Rage 2 uses Roman numerals (Bare Knuckle II, Streets of Rage II) and Blaze's up-skirt jump kick sprites are intact. Bare Knuckle II also shows Mr. X smoking a cigar, which was edited out of the EU/US version. Bare Knuckle II gives Skate's first name as Sammy, but in Streets Of Rage 2 and Streets of Rage II, his name is Eddie. Streets of Rage II (the European version) gives Max's second name as Hatchett, both Streets of Rage 2 and Bare Knuckle II give it as Thunder.

  • Beta Version via ROM Emulation, a beta version of the game's first level is playable. It is semi-complete with moves, areas, rain effect and all sound effects missing. The bar area is much shorter and without breakable tables and chairs, and the Electra mini-boss is missing, replaced by a Donovan sprite named Singer. Barbon, the level's boss is scrambled when performing certain moves and constantly respawns upon defeat. Max Thunder uses a completely different sprite set, giving him a more gorilla-like appearance. Axel's special moves were also changed for the final, in this beta he uses two attacks similar to Sagat's Tiger Uppercut and Ryu and Ken's Hurricane Kick from Street Fighter II. It also features a different Background Music, more similar to Streets of Rage's.
  • 8-bit Versions the Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear versions of Streets of Rage 2 are quite different from the Mega Drive original, and to each other, similar to the Master System/Game Gear version of Sonic the Hedgehog, they are, in truth, different games. As well different levels and the inferior graphics, Max Thunder is omitted from both. The Game Gear version does not show enemy names (because of size constraints).
  • Arcade Version An arcade version of Streets of Rage II was released onto Sega's Genesis/Mega Drive based Mega Play hardware, with brighter colouring and a few different sound effects. It uses a regular credit system. In this version, all 1-ups have been replaced by money bags, there is no in-game timer (though a 10 seconds timer for selecting a character appears) and the difficulty levels are one step above the Megadrive version. Scoring is kept by number of KOs, instead of damage inflicted.
  • Collections Streets of Rage 2 was collected in the Sega Smash Pack for Sega's final home console the Sega Dreamcast; the port is not of good quality. There is also a port of the game as well as the first and third games on the Japanese version of Sonic Gems Collection for the PS2 and GameCube. The ports on Sonic Gems Collection are Genesis perfect and are the Japanese versions of the games. (They are also available on GameTap)

[edit] Cultural references

  • Some levels of the game have references to the Japanese name of the series. In the second half of Round 3-1, there are arcade machines that say "Bare Knuckle", posters featuring "BK2", and adverts in Round 4 that say "Bare 2."
  • One of the fat enemies in the game goes by the name of "Heart", as a reference to the popular manga Fist of the North Star, which featured an extremely overweight martial artist called Heart.
  • The character Skate resembles the eponymous playable character from the game DJ Boy, another side-scrolling beat 'em up. This arcade game, developed by Kaneko, was later published by Sega on the Mega Drive. In fact, Sega changed the in-game name of the character from "Sammy" in Bare Knuckle 2 (Japanese release) to Skate in Streets of Rage 2 (U.S. release); American Sammy licensed the arcade game for U.S. distribution. Skate is the character's nickname in both incarnations; his first name in the non-Japanese versions is given as Eddie.
  • Two bonus thugs in the game are called Talk and Wanter. They are named after Talk Uchimura (Planning & System design) and Wanta (Project management).

[edit] Staff reference

The Round 4 boss Abadede is named after a staff member listed in the credits.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Arcade: Streets of Rage 2 - Xbox Live's Major Nelson

[edit] External links

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