Streets Of Rage 2 could possibly be the greatest beat 'em up ever, as well as one of the best action games of all time.
Story 10: It's very cinematic here it is told from the instruction manual of the game. 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 Sammy "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.
Game Play 9.0: Sure your gonna tell me it's just like Final Fight, well it is, just a stepped up version of Final Fight. You chose from 4 playable characters, Axel , Blaze, Skate, and Max. Either you alone or you and a buddy can go out and walk the streets of rage. The game play is pretty much moving to the right as several punks appear trying to kill you. You have to kill all the punks to go further across the screen. You can find food to heal when damaged and you can find an arsenal of weapons including, lead pipes, knives, and swords to help you along the way but be careful some punks can knock them out of your hands and take them from you. Eventually after all this happens you come across a boss and you take him out and then move on to the next stage. Its simple but extremely fun. Oh by the way you can hit your partner so if you just want to beat up your partner it's better to go to duel mode for that not story.
Controls 10: You use 3 buttons one to jump, one to attack, and one to do your special move. Simple right? wrong. These 3 Buttons can be used in many different ways like moving left or right and using the special attack button will unleash your super attack, holding the attack button for about two seconds will let you use your final combo without having to chain hits first, you can walk into a punk which makes you grab them you can then either keep pressing attack until they get knocked over or you can toss them backwards or forwards at incoming punks or flip over there heads and do a move exclusive to the character you chose, you can also double tap the move button (makes skate dash) and press attack to do a signature move (Axel's is the most useful because it rips out a lot of health form enemies.) And then there's the three kinds of jump attacks jumping in the air while moving and pressing attack makes you do a standard jump kick, jumping in the air and holding down while pressing attack makes you pull off a mid air stomp, and jumping straight in the air and pressing attack makes you do a power jump kick. So as you can see this game has a lot of ways to beat thugs up. Also this is just a bonus technique but when grabbed and thrown by an opponent press up + jump to land on your feet without taking damage right before you hit the ground.
Sound 10: One of the best video game soundtracks I've ever heard It's so good that the composer of the music Yuzo Koshiro Had to put his name on the title screen so people would know he made it. it mixes techno sounding music with dance club music which is actually a great mix.
Difficulty 10: The game lets you choose from 4 difficulty settings easy, normal, hard, and hardest. All are what they say they are, If you manage to beat the game on hardest it tells you a secret code to unlock level select and two more difficulties, Very Easy and Mania. So there's a lot to test your skills on.
Graphics 9.5: At the time they were as good as genesis graphics could get and they still look great. A nice blend of darkness and colorful graphics plus they are very improved from the first Streets of Rage.
Overall 10: As you can see this game won't fill you with rage it will fill you with joy. Obviously this is one of The best things I've ever played in my life (seriously I couldn't find anything to dislike about it.) and you should seriously play it which means either get yourself a genesis with this game or buy it on Wii Virtual Console, XBLA, or PSN immediately!
Well guys that was My 4Th and so far longest review. Once again this is ShaolinTurtle going back into his shell. See ya!