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"Bare Knuckle 2"

Crime. It was put to an immediate halt last time we talked. In fact you put all this controversial transgression to a stop. You showed initiative and determination. I’m proud of you. But you didn’t finish your business. It seems that our old friend, the cleft-chinned crime boss Mr. X, was left for dead—but demise was far, far away in his battle plans. He isn’t ready to die. No… change that, he won’t die. It also seems that our three young vigilantes who you ordered around are in danger. Well one of them is.

You see, Mr. X knows what you did last year and he knows that what happened would never happen again. He calls upon his bodyguard, Shiva, and both of them hunt down the euphonious and portentous Adam, who’s of African descent and who helped to take out Mr. X last time. They beat Adam up and lock him in a cell that is very carefully guarded. Now our two remaining heroes who you dealt with last time, Axel and Blaze, are looking for revenge to their deprived friend. But they’re not alone. It seems that Axel has some great trust in one of his wrestling buddies, the buff Max. And it also appears as if Adam’s sibling is out to help, the unfathomable and young Skate.

But the odds are still against you. Four equally young vigilantes against a whole crime syndicate. I don’t know… but remember it’s not about me; instead it is all about you.

You begin this suicide quest of yours in the street. Fashion stores and diners all leave a dry scent in the background as you punch little punks in the gonads and would-be gangsters straight in the face. You descend a long curve down the street and again you continue to dispatch some of your would-be dispatchers. You then reach a bar—tables and chairs all set down very gentlemanly, only to be destroyed by you. The bar owner glances a look straight in your eye and then runs out to the alley so his electric bodyguard can take you out. You then beat her down and you get ready to take down the bar owner, as he might know a clue to Adam’s whereabouts. You kick the owner in the groin and leave a heavy punch mark in his face and soon he tells you where to go.

Now you might think that this will take levels upon levels for a short story like this to progress—oh, how wrong you are. All these events mentioned above all take place in the game’s first level. Now that’s pretty amazing as there is even more story to this game as you continuously progress through the game’s eight massive levels—some set in streets, others on the beach, while some even take place on a platform high in the air that moves in a gentle pace, much like an elevator.

From what I briefed you in on the first level, you will by now probably get the idea of what you do in this kind of game—you punch and kick out all the enemies that come before you in a non-courteous-like manner. Enemies are everywhere though, and each one of these guys has a different type of attacking style and a different look to them. One enemy, Jack, will carry knives in his jacket and try to take you down Jack-Ripper-style, while another will slide on the floor hoping he (or she even) knocks you down. Bosses are also weird looking as well. Some are buff and repellent, while others are half-naked trying to entertain the millions of people watching from the background by kicking your ass.

Like the original Streets of Rage you can pick what character you think will suit you best. And now that four characters are present, you will most definitely find one that at least matches your style. By going with the powerful and buff Max you will have excellent power and stamina, but you will also be laughably slow and your jumps will be hideous as well. If you think his style isn’t so good you can pick Axel, who’s all about technique, speed, and strength—while his jumps are also sluggish. Then there is Blaze who is equal in just about every one of her stats. But maybe you were looking for more speed and jumping height and that is where Skate comes in. You see each character is different in some way and picking the right one is a matter of your opinion and on which one you like. Picking the equally perfect one will always be the hardest thing you will have to overcome in Streets of Rage 2 (and all these games for that matter).

The characters that are available in this game all have the same moves as the ones in the last game, with a few minor alterations here and there. You got your punches and jumping kicks all done by the press of a button, and then there are your special attacks. Here’s where the minor changes come into play. In the first Streets of Rage, you see, a special attack was when a police car came behind you and then a cop took out his rocket launcher and shot down your enemies with burning fire. In Streets of Rage 2, however, the squad cars are out and the heavy punching and energy blasts are in. Each character has two different special moves—you can use them whenever you want but both will drain parts of your life. Your characters even have some remaining additional attacks—like throwing, super punching, and even a running tackle.

But if normal attacks are just not cutting it, and special maneuvers prove to be just too dangerous, then there are always the weapons that are strewn all around the levels. Weapons include pocketknives, hunting knives, swords, and my favorite, the lead pipes. Each weapon is pretty powerful—the sword being the strongest, and the pocketknives being the weakest. A larger assortment of weapons would have been a definite good thing; though four sturdy, but fallible weapons are still good in my opinion.

Where Streets of Rage 2 yet again outsmarts its predecessor is in its two-player options. The first one only allowed you to play alongside a friend and nothing else (which is still good by the way—but it is not enough for some). Streets of Rage 2 not only allow you to play with a friend, but it gives you the opportunity to go against a friend. In the game’s Duel Mode you pick a character you want and your friend picks his. Then you choose what levels you want to combat in, as well as enable or disable your characters own special maneuvers—hell, you are even given weapons to use against your friend in the actual match.

The graphics have also been improved proving that this game is a step in the right direction. Now gone are tiny character sprites and cheesy effects, now in are huge character sprites with cool backgrounds and effects. The huge character sprites even make this game look a lot like an Arcade game, and they also seem to push the Genesis’ hardware to its limits, as far as attractive eye-candy goes. The audio is also very good. The audio in this game includes urban-themed tunes with an enchanted and melodic twist; Yuzo Koshiro composes them all. The audio isn’t perfect, I liked the original one’s a little better, but it is still great and if you got ten bucks then do yourself a favor and purchase the official soundtrack to this game.

Finally, Streets of Rage 2 stands out as a far improvement to the series’ original. It is backed to the bone with amazing gameplay, illustrious graphics, judicious music, and amazing replay value. If you have got an old dusty Genesis lying around along with a copy of Streets of Rage 2 then you owe it to yourselves to relieve the memories and the adventure that Streets of Rage 2 offers up. If you don’t have this game then look everywhere for a copy of it; it should be cheap nowadays; the cost for it is about five to ten dollars in most places.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/11/02, Updated 09/03/02