Streets of Rage 2

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Streets of Rage 2

System(s): Mega Drive, Sega Game Gear, Sega Master System, MegaPlay, Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega (AM7), Ancient, H.I.C., Shout! Designworks
Genre: Side-scrolling fighter
ESRB PEGI CERO Missing Parameter!

Streets of Rage 2, known as Bare Knuckle 2 in Japan, is a Beat 'Em Up sidescroller for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis released during 1992-1993. It recieved a 8-bit port for the Master System and Game Gear as well as being included on numerous compilations. It is available on Virtual Console and the Xbox Live Arcade.

The music for was composed by Yuzo Koshiro (well known for his work with the Revenge of Shinobi') and Motohiro Kawashima.

Storyline

The game's storyline takes place one year after the events of Streets of Rage. Adam Hunter, Axel Stone, and Blaze Fielding go to a nightspot and reminise over the defeat of Mr. X. The following day Axel gets a call from Eddie "Skate" Hunter, Adam's younger brother, saying he returned to the house to find it in shambles and a picture with Adam chained to a wall next to Mr. X was left behind. They all decide to go on a rescue mission and to hopefully break up Mr. X's gang again.

Characters

Axel Stone is the most popular character, and the best choice for beginners. His blitz attack is the Grand Upper, which is arguably the most useful and effective move of the game, great for bosses and enemies with a "breakout" special move. He has average movement speed and agility.

Blaze Fielding is another well rounded and popular character. Her speed matches that of Axel Stone although she appears to be faster (her speed percentage is the same as his).

Eddie "Skate" Hunter ( Sammy Hunter in Japan) is the lightest and most agile character, also the weakest in terms of combo damage but the second strongest in terms of grappling. 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.

Max Thunder is the absolute "Powerhouse" of the game. He has great strength but incredibly slow speed which puts him at a disadvantage with speedier enemies.

Special Moves

In Streets of Rage 2, each character is given a blitz attack which will allow the player to do great damage with a single hit. Each characters blitz attack is unique to that character. The amount of times they can be used is limited. In addition, each character has their own unique move that causes substantial damage and is activated by double tapping forward and then pressing B.

Soundtrack

Yuzo Koshiro released another soundtrack co-composed with Motohiro Kawashima. There are a few unused beta tracks. Two of which appear in the final game's sound test: (The exception being Walking Bottom, which appeared in the Bare Knuckle 2 beta dump.) Go Straight, and Little Money Avenue. (The mix of Go Straight are the unused mixes found in the sound test and not the final versions actually used during the game.) This is by far the easiest of the three soundtracks to find because it had a US release as well as a Japanese release. This soundtrack is actually considered to be the best by some.

Bare Knuckle 2 Beta

A beta dump of Bare Knuckle 2 is actually available. The dump is very different from the final and only Round 1 is playable. The game lacks sound effects and the lost music track Walking Bottom is played all through the game. The player cannot pick up weapons, even if they are within range of being picked up. Max has a different sprite set and can vault enemies which means he cannot pull off his atomic power throw.

Regional Differences

The Japanese version is of the game is unaltered and therefore has no censorship. The US version however, has the Cigar Mr.X is smoking in round 8 removed as well as the ability to see up Blaze's skirt when she performs certain moves. The Eurpopean version has the upskirt animations present but doesn't have the Cigar in it.

In the Japanese version, Skate is known as "Sammy" in reference to the company Sammy's DJ Boy. Both names are in the roms of the final version of the game. If the regions were to be changed, Skate/Sammy's name would change as well depending upon region. Max Thunder is known as "Max Hatchett" in the European version of the game.

The European and Japanese versions of the game are interchangeable between European and Japan settings. Therefore, the Japanese version of the game could be played on a PAL Console and vice versa. The US version is region locked to only work on NTSC U/C consoles. Despite this locking, the tiles for the Bare Knuckle II title screen as well as the next data for the name "Sammy" are still present in the US rom.