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 side-scrolling beat-'em-up for the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis, released in 1993. It received 8-bit ports for the Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear, as well as being included on numerous compilations of Mega Drive games. More recently, it was made available on the Virtual Console and Xbox Live Arcade download services.

Storyline

The game's storyline is set one year after the events of its prequel Streets of Rage. That game's protagonists Adam Hunter, Axel Stone, and Blaze Fielding go to a nightspot and reminisce over their defeat of Mr. X. The following day Axel gets a call from Eddie "Skate" Hunter, Adam's younger brother, telling him that he returned to the brothers' house to find it in shambles, with a picture of Adam chained to a wall next to Mr. X left behind. Axel, Blaze, Skate and their friend Max embark on a mission to rescue their friend and hopefully break up Mr. X's criminal gang once again.

Characters

Axel Stone is the most popular character, and the best choice for beginners due to his all-round stats. His blitz attack is the Grand Upper, which is arguably the most useful and effective move of the game due to its high damage but relatively fast execution, which make it effective against 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 rating on the character select screen matches that of Axel, although she appears to be faster. She also deals less damage with some of her moves.

Eddie "Skate" Hunter (Sammy Hunter in Japan) is the lightest and most agile character, the weakest in terms of combo damage, but the second strongest in terms of grappling. Skate is the only character capable of sprinting, thanks to the rollerskates after which he is named, which can allow him to escape many attacks which the other characters would not be able to avoid.

Max Thunder is the 'powerhouse' of the game, possessing great strength. This is offset by his very slow speed, which puts him at a disadvantage with speedier enemies.

Special moves

In Streets of Rage 2, each character is given their own unique blitz attack, which allows the player to deal great damage with a single hit. They also have 'breakout' moves that allow them to break out of holds, and can damage enemies both in front of and behind them. The amount of times that blitz and breakout attacks can be used is limited, as each decreases the player's life gauge (the latter only if the move connects, the former always). In addition, each character has a unique move (e.g. Axel's Grand Upper, noted above) that causes substantial damage without depleting their energy.

Soundtrack

Streets of Rage 2''s soundtrack was composed by Yuzo Koshiro (known for his work on the first Streets of Rage and The Revenge of Shinobi) and Motohiro Kawashima. It is by far the easiest of the series' three soundtracks to find in physical form, because it had a US release as well as a Japanese one, and is considered by some to be the best of the series.

There are a few unused/beta tracks. One of these, "Walking Bottom", exists in the Bare Knuckle II beta ROM. Two appear in the final game's sound test: "Go Straight" and "Little Money Avenue". The former is featured in the game, albeit in a different mix. There is also a slow version of "In the Bar" in the game's Sound Test that goes unused as well.

Bare Knuckle II beta

A beta ROM of Bare Knuckle 2 is available. The dump is very different from the final, and only Round 1 is playable. The game lacks sound effects, and the scrapped music track "Walking Bottom" is played throughout. The player cannot pick up weapons, even if they are within range. Max has a different sprite set, and can vault enemies, which means he cannot perform his Atomic power throw.

Regional differences

The Japanese version is of the game is the original unaltered one, and therefore has no censorship. The US version was edited to remove the cigar smoked by Mr. X in round 8, as well as removing the ability to see up Blaze's skirt when she performs certain moves. The European version has the upskirt animations, but no cigar.

In the Japanese version, Eddy "Skate" Hunter is called Sammy Hunter, in reference to the company Sammy's DJ Boy, another side-scrolling beat-'em'up, whose titular character also wears rollerskates. Both names can be found in the ROM of the final version of the game, and are chosen between depending on the region of the Mega Drive (or emulator being used).

The European and Japanese versions of the game are interchangeable between European and Japan region settings. Therefore, the Japanese version of the game could be played on a PAL console (at the correct speed, as the PAL version runs in unoptimised 50 Hz) and vice versa. The US version is region locked to only work on NTSC US/Canadian consoles. Despite this locking, the tiles for the Bare Knuckle II title screen and data for the name "Sammy" are still present in the US ROM. Streets of Rage 2 was one of the very first Megadrive games to be region locked.