Streets of Rage 2

Streets of Rage 2

North American box art
Developer(s) Sega
Ancient
Publisher(s) Sega
Producer(s) Noriyoshi Ohba
Designer(s) Kataru Uchimura
Ayano Koshiro
Mikito Ichikawa
Programmer(s) Kataru Uchimura
Akitoshi Kawano
Yukio Takahashi
Composer(s) Yuzo Koshiro
Motohiro Kawashima
Series Streets of Rage
Platform(s) Arcade, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Sega Game Gear, Sega Master System, MegaPlay, Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, iOS, Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)
  • NA December 20, 1992
  • JP January 14, 1993
  • EU January 1993
Genre(s) Beat 'em up
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer
Distribution ROM cartridge, digital distribution

Streets of Rage 2, released in Japan as Bare Knuckle II: The Requiem of the Deadly Battle (ベア・ナックルII 死闘への鎮魂歌 Bea Nakkuru Tsū: Shitō he no Chinkonka) and in Europe as Streets of Rage II, is a side-scrolling beat 'em up video game released by Sega in 1992 for the Mega Drive / Genesis console. The game is also playable in the game Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection. It is the second game in the Streets of Rage series, a sequel to Streets of Rage and followed by Streets of Rage 3.

The game introduced two new characters: Max Thunder and Eddie "Skate" Hunter (known as Sammy Hunter in Japan), brother of Adam Hunter from the original game. It was critically acclaimed upon release and has since been listed among the best games of all time.

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, ninja, kickboxers and robots.

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 throw it at will, whereas in the first game the it could be thrown by accident by the player. As a trade-off, the knife does much less damage when thrown in Streets of Rage 2. A kunai has been added, with the same functionality as the knife. The baseball bat from Streets of Rage is replaced by a katana, which performs the most damage of any weapon in the game.

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, performed by double tapping a direction and pressing punch. Also, Skate had the ability to dash when a direction is double tapped, a feature carried over to all characters in Streets of Rage 3.

The first of the three fat enemies in Stage 5 is named "Heart", as a reference to the popular manga Fist of the North Star (original Japanese name Hokuto No Ken), which featured an extremely overweight martial artist called Heart. Additionally, level 6 features an enemy named "Souther," another character from Fist of the North Star. 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.

Plot

A year has passed since the events of Streets of Rage. To celebrate the defeat of the mysterious 'Mr. X' and his syndicate the previous year, Adam Hunter, Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding met at their favorite nightspot in the city and spent their time reminiscing about their vigilante crusade against "Mr. X" and his organization. Axel and Blaze had moved out of the city after the adventure from last year. Axel has begun working as a part-time bodyguard and Blaze teaches dance classes. Adam has since rejoined the police force and lives in a small house with his younger brother.

The next morning, Axel received a phone call from Eddie 'Skate' Hunter, Adam's younger brother. Skate had arrived at home from school and was shocked to find his house in ruin and his older brother missing. Attached to the front door was a picture of Adam chained to a wall at the feet of Mr. X. The criminals began to retake the streets once more. Beatings and lootings took place regularly and in broad daylight. Chaos reigned in the city, far worse than before.

Realizing that Mr. X and his syndicate has returned for revenge against them and the city, Axel and Skate waste no time in telling Blaze about the unexpected situation and Blaze herself is determined to help Axel out in defeating Mr. X and rescuing Adam. Accompanied by Adam's young brother Skate and Axel's "friend," a professional wrestler named Max Thunder, Axel and Blaze set forth on a rescue mission, which will take them from the city all the way to Mr. X's hideout on a desolate island, where they will eventually face Mr. X and his bodyguard Shiva.

Unlike the other two games in the series, this game has only one ending, the "good" ending where Mr. X is defeated and Adam is rescued. The five heroes then take a helicopter to leave Mr. X's island.

Release

In Japan and Europe, Streets of Rage 2‍ '​s title uses Roman numerals (Bare Knuckle II in Japan and Streets of Rage II in Europe) instead of the Arabic numerals used in North America (Streets of Rage 2). In the North American version, Blaze's flying kick sprite was slightly edited to be less risqué. The Japanese version also shows Mr. X smoking a cigar, which was edited out of the EU and U.S. versions. The Japanese version gives Skate's first name as Sammy, but in the European and North American versions, his name is Eddie. The European version gives Max's second name as Hatchett; the North American and Japanese versions give it as Thunder.

In a beta version, available via ROM emulation, 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 will respawn three times upon defeat. After that, the player is stuck in the Boss Area. 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 (this one named officially "Walking Bottom"), more similar to the tunes found within Streets of Rage.

The Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear 8-bit 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 as different levels and the inferior graphics, Max Thunder is omitted from both. The Game Gear version does not show enemy names.

An arcade version of Streets of Rage 2 was released onto Sega's Mega Drive based Mega-Play hardware. It uses a regular credit system. In this version, all 1-ups have been replaced by money bags, there is no in-game timer and the difficulty levels are one step above the Mega Drive version. Scoring is kept by number of KOs, instead of damage inflicted.

Streets of Rage 2 was collected in the Sega Smash Pack for Sega's final home console the Dreamcast. 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 PlayStation 2 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). The game appears in Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. A Streets of Rage Collection was also added to Xbox Live Arcade, featuring all three Genesis games, as part of the Sega Vintage Collection.

The game was released for Japan's Virtual Console on May 15, 2007, and then released on North America's on May 21, 2007 and on Europe's on June 1, 2007. The original game was released for the iPhone and iPod touch in April 2011. Streets of Rage 2 is also available for free download as part of Sony's PlayStation Plus service, or for £3.99 on the PlayStation Network. It was published on Valve's Steam platform on 26 January 2011, both as stand-alone purchase and part of the SEGA Mega Drive Classics Pack 4.

On August 29, 2007, Streets of Rage 2 was released on Xbox Live Arcade for the Microsoft Xbox 360 console, featuring filtered graphics and online co-operative play. It was later removed from the service in June 2012 and replaced with the Streets of Rage Collection, which includes all three games of the series.

Soundtrack
"Go Straight"
"Go Straight" from the game's soundtrack demonstrating techno and house influences, distorted electro synths, "trancey electronic textures," and panning audio.
"Expander"
"Expander" from the game's soundtrack demonstrating a blend of house music with "dirty" electro basslines and "trancey electronic textures."
Problems playing these files? See media help.

The soundtrack for Streets of Rage 2 was composed by Yuzo Koshiro, along with three contributions from Motohiro Kawashima. It was composed using then outdated NEC PC-8801 hardware alongside Koshiro's own audio programming language. According to Koshiro: "For Bare Knuckle I used the PC88 and an original programming language I developed myself. The original was called MML, Music Macro Language. It's based on NEC's BASIC program, but I modified it heavily. It was more a BASIC-style language at first, but I modified it to be something more like Assembly. I called it Music Love'. I used it for all the Bare Knuckle Games."[1]

The soundtrack was influenced by electronic dance music, specifically house, techno, hardcore techno,[2] and breakbeat.[3] The soundtrack for Streets of Rage 2 is considered "revolutionary" and ahead of its time,[4][5] for its "blend of swaggering house synths," "dirty" electro-funk and "trancey electronic textures that would feel as comfortable in a nightclub as a video game."[4]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator Scores
SMD SMS GG VC XBLA
GameRankings 92%[6] 85%[7]
Sega Retro 90%[8] 79%[8] 83%[8]
Review scores
Publication Scores
SMD SMS GG VC XBLA
Allgame 4.5/5[9] 3.5/5[10] 3.5/5[11] 3.5/5[12]
Computer and
Video Games		 95%[13] 94%[14]
Console Monster 92%[6]
Consoles + 92%[15] 84%[16]
D+PAD Magazine 4.5/5[6]
Eurogamer 8/10[17] 8/10[18]
Famitsu 26/40[19]
GameFan 96%[20]
GamePro 5/5[21]
GamesMaster 88%[22]
GameSpot 7.8/10[23] 8/10[24]
IGN 8.5/10[25] 7.3/10[26]
Joypad 93%[27]
Joystick 94%[28]
Mad Gamers 9.5/10[6]
Mean Machines 92%[21]
Mean Machines
Sega		 90%[29] 85%[30] 89%[31]
Mega Drive
Advanced Gaming		 91%[32]
Mega Play 164/200[21]
MegaTech 95%[33]
Official Xbox
Magazine		 9/10[6]
Player One 90%[34] 55%[35] 79%[36]
Sega-16 10/10[6]
Sega Force 93%[37]
Sega Power 92%[38] 74%[39]
Sega Pro 96%[40] 90%[41] 90%[42]
Sega Zone 92%[43]
The Video
Game Critic		 A[20] A[20]
Thunderbolt 9/10[44]
VicioJuegos 93%[45]
VideoGamer 94/100[6]
Awards
Publication(s) Award
Mean Machines Sega[29] Mega Game
Sega Force[37] Sega Force Smash
Electronic Gaming Monthly[46] Hottest Video Game Babe (Blaze)
Stuff,[47][48] GameFAQs[49] Best Games Ever
Retro Gamer,[50] BuzzFeed,[51]
NowGamer[52]		 Greatest Retro Games

Upon release, Streets of Rage 2 received wide critical acclaim, with scores above 90% from most video game magazines at the time. In the United States, GamePro gave it a perfect score of 5 out of 5, stating that "against the Final Fights and Super Double Dragons of the world, Streets of Rage 2 more than fends for itself" and concluded it to be the "side-scrolling street fighter to beat."[21] GameFan gave it a 96% score, describing it as "the best side scroll fighter" they "ever played" and concluding it to be "the best fighting sequel of '92."[20] Mega Play reviewers gave it scores of 84% and 80%, with the former describing it as "definitely one of the best games in this genre for the Genesis" while the latter criticized the special moves for giving "too much strength" and making "the game too easy" but concluded it to be "a solid two player game".[21] In Japan, however, the game received a mixed reception from Famitsu, which gave it a score of 26 out of 40.[19]

In the United Kingdom, Sega Force reviewers gave it scores of 95%, 93%, and 92%, with one reviewer describing it as the "first 16 Meg" (2 MB) "cartridge to grace the MD," possibly "the best MD game to date and definitely the best beat 'em up on any console," and "the best thing to happen to MD owners since the rise of a certain blue hedgehog," while another described it as "an awesome game" and another stated that it "deserves a place in any gamer's collection"; they gave it an overall score of 93%, concluding that it "Wipes the floor with Street Fighter II."[37] Mean Machines gave it a 92% score, describing it as "the ultimate cartridge beat 'em' up on the Megadrive," praising the graphics as "superb, with huge sprites and great animation" and "loads of enemies attacking at once," the sound and presentation as "of an equally high standard," and the gameplay as "superb, especially in two-player team mode."[21] Mean Machines Sega gave it a 90% score, with one reviewer describing it as "a truly arcade quality beat 'em up" that "beats the spots off any Neo Geo beat 'em up" and as "simply the best beat 'em up you can get for a console" while another reviewer recommended that, "if you don't like beat 'em ups, buy it anyway, because this game will convert you"; they conclude it to be "the greatest sequel we've seen for ages" and as "certainly the best scrolling beat 'em up ever to hit a home console!"[29]

The soundtrack also received a positive reception for its techno-based chiptune tracks which impressed many gamers and critics at the time, especially due to the audio limitations of the Mega Drive/Genesis console. In 1993, Electronic Games listed the first two Streets of Rage games as having some of the best video game music soundtracks they "ever heard" and described Yuzo Koshiro as "just about universally acknowledged as the most gifted composer currently working in the video game field."[53] Notably, the boss theme is considered one of the best boss themes in the 16-bit era and of all time. The reception for the soundtrack was so high that the game's music composer, Yuzo Koshiro, was invited to nightclubs to DJ the tracks.

Streets of Rage 2 has been considered by many to be one of the best games ever made. In 2004, readers of Retro Gamer magazine voted Streets of Rage 2 as the 64th best retro game of all time,[50] and the staff later included in their top ten lists of Mega Drive, Game Gear, and Nomad games.[54][55][56] It has also been listed as one of the best games ever made by publications such as Stuff[47][48] and GameFAQs,[49] and as one of the greatest retro games by sites such as NowGamer[52] and BuzzFeed.[51]

References

  1. ↑ Szczepaniak, John. "Retro Japanese Computers: Gaming's Final Frontier". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved 2011-03-29. Reprinted from Retro Gamer (67), 2009
  2. ↑ Davis, Jeff. "Interview with Yuzo Koshiro". Gaming Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  3. ↑ "Yuzo Koshiro Bare Knuckle II". Discogs. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 McNeilly, Joe (April 19, 2010). "Game music of the day: Streets of Rage 2". GamesRadar. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  5. ↑ Mustin. "Streets of Rage 2 Original Soundtrack (US): Review". Square Enix Music Online. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 "Streets of Rage". GameRankings. Archived from the original on 2012-02-03. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  7. ↑ "Sega Vintage Collection: Streets of Rage for Xbox 360". GameRankings.com. 2012-05-30. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Streets of Rage 2". Segaretro.org. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  9. ↑ Streets of Rage 2 (Sega Genesis) at Allgame
  10. ↑ Streets of Rage 2 (Sega Game Gear) at Allgame
  11. ↑ Streets of Rage 2 [Virtual Console] at Allgame
  12. ↑ Streets of Rage 2 [Xbox Live Arcade] at Allgame
  13. ↑ Computer and Video Games, issue 135, pp. 26-28
  14. ↑ Gary Whitta; Paul Anglin (August 1993). "Streets of Rage 2". Computer and Video Games (141): a10–11. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  15. ↑ Consoles +, issue 15, pp. 76-79
  16. ↑ Consoles +, issue 31, p. 143
  17. ↑ Whitehead, Dan (2007-06-02). "Virtual Console Roundup Review • Page 1 •". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  18. ↑ Reed, Kristan (2007-09-01). "Streets of Rage 2 •". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "ベア・ナックルII 死闘への鎮魂歌 [メガドライブ] / ファミ通.com". Famitsu.com. 2014-11-27. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 Streets of Rage 2 at MobyGames
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 21.5 Streets of Rage 2: What Did Critics Say Back in 1993?, Defunct Games, 2014
  22. ↑ GamesMaster, issue 3, pp. 72-75
  23. ↑ Davis, Ryan (2007-05-22). "Streets of Rage II Review". GameSpot.com. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  24. ↑ Davis, Ryan (2007-08-30). "Streets of Rage II Review". GameSpot.com. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  25. ↑ Thomas, Lucas M. (May 30, 2007). "Streets of Rage 2 Review: The definitive console brawler". IGN. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  26. ↑ Goldstein, Hilary (2007-10-12). "IGN: Streets of Rage 2 Review". Web.archive.org. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  27. ↑ Joypad, issue 16
  28. ↑ Joystick, issue 34, p. 230
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 "Streets of Rage II: Review". Mean Machines Sega: 1369. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  30. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, issue 17, pp. 92-93
  31. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, issue 10, pp. 46-47
  32. ↑ Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, issue 6, pp. 42-44
  33. ↑ MegaTech, issue 13, pp. 34-37
  34. ↑ Player One, issue 27, pp. 64-67
  35. ↑ Player One, issue 38, p. 116
  36. ↑ Player One, issue 34, pp. 118-119
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 "Reviewed: Streets of Rage II". Sega Force (16): 2831. April 1993.
  38. ↑ Sega Power, issue 41, pp. 30-31
  39. ↑ Sega Power, issue 47, pp. 52-53
  40. ↑ Sega Pro, issue 16, pp. 28-29
  41. ↑ Sega Pro, issue 27, p. 61
  42. ↑ Sega Pro, issue 25, p. 74
  43. ↑ Sega Zone, issue 3, pp. 16-18
  44. ↑ Kelvin Tay (2007-11-19). "Streets of Rage II - Genesis/MegaDrive review at Thunderbolt". Thunderboltgames.com. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  45. ↑ "Streets of Rage 2". VicioJuegos. 2007-08-24. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  46. ↑ "Electronic Gaming Monthly's Buyer's Guide". Electronic Gaming Monthly: 20. 1993.
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 "100 Greatest Games", Stuff, October 2008: 116126
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 "100 Best Games Ever", Stuff, February 2014, pp.87-99
  49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 "Spring 2009: Best. Game. Ever.". GameFAQs. Retrieved June 10, 2009.
  50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 Retro Gamer 8, page 67.
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 The 23 Best Vintage Video Games You Can Play In Your Browser, BuzzFeed, 2014.
  52. ↑ 52.0 52.1 100 Greatest Retro Games, NowGamer, Imagine Publishing, 2010: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
  53. ↑ "Electronic Games 1993-06". Archive.org. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  54. ↑ "Top Ten Mega Drive Games". Retrogamer.com. 2014-01-07. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  55. ↑ "Top Ten Game Gear Games". Retrogamer.com. 2014-12-05. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  56. ↑