Streets of Rage 2 leads next Sega VC releases

Sega today specified four more additions to its assortment of Genesis games available for sale on the Wii's Virtual Console, as Streets of Rage 2, Kid Chameleon, Toe Jam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron, and Shining in the Darkness are all set to debut on the downloadable game service "soon."

Foremost among the new releases is Streets of Rage 2, the follow-up to Sega's Genesis beat-'em-up. When Adam, one of the three protagonists from the original game, is kidnapped by the nefariously anonymous Mr. X, it's up to Axel and Blaze to save him. Helping the pair out are two new characters, Adam's younger brother Skate and the muscle-bound Max. As in the first game, players pummel their way through waves of street gangs, making use of a variety of weapons and techniques along the way.

Streets of Rage 2 will be accompanied by another multiplayer cooperative action game sequel, ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron. After arriving back on their home planet of Funkotron, the scrawny ToeJam and portly Earl discover that a number of human stowaways have come home with them. Players must round them up and send them back to Earth in order to restore their reputations with their fellow Funkotronians.

Slightly more down-to-earth is Kid Chameleon, a single-player action game about a virtual reality arcade game that actually traps children inside it. As one such child, players must make use of a wide variety of power-ups in order to traverse the game's 100-plus levels and save the rest of the trapped gamers.

The fourth game offers players a bit of a break from the action, as Shining in the Darkness is a more traditional role-playing game. Players explore a number of labyrinths from a first-person 3D perspective, testing their mettle against foes, solving puzzles, and acquiring new weapons and secret items along the way.

Each game will sell for the Genesis-standard price of 800 Wii points ($8).