No More Heroes 2 fixes issues from the first game and improves on things we didn't know needed improving.
After the climactic showdown with his brother, Henry, Travis disappeared. He became an urban legend in the city, which became the Assassin Headquarters of the world. However, Travis is gone. Until the #1 Assassin slays Travis's best friend. Now, Travis comes out of hiding to get revenge for his friend. Also, Silvia is willing to give him the greatest one night stand of all time if he becomes #1 again.
The game has an oddly serious tone to it, but still manages to get it's twisted humor into everything. The fights are even more intense then in the last game, ranging from an earthquake machine, to giant robots, to TWO Destroy Mans (who some how survived the first game). However, Travis is not alone in his fight. Some portions of the game allow you to play as Shinobi, the foxy black samurai ninja, and Henry, the cool handsome foil who just happens to be Travis's twin brother. The story for the game also takes Travis further down the road of morale confusion. Is assassinating something he is cut out for? Is all this killing going to be worth the revenge he gets in the end? There are several touching scenes of Travis's morales coming into question and him asking himself "Is this all worth it?" I felt like this was a great place to take the character, especially after his (mostly) uncaring attitude towards the enemies in the first game.
Controls are mostly the same as the first game. But, as a refresher; A is to slash, B is to grab, C is to reset the camera, Z is to lock on/block, (-) activates Darkside Mode (it's basically Super Sayain), and swinging the Wiimote when prompted delivers a Death Blow (the Nunchuck can be implemented, too, when you are using the second beam katana). Now, the new controls are as follows: Holding 1 will enter you into recharging the beam katana (which is still shaken in a dirty way), and holding 2 will let you switch beam katanas in the heat of battle. However, you can be hit while selecting the beam katana (once it's been selected, however, you will be invincible until you activate it).
Now, some of the things that have been fixed are simple control issues. However, the biggest change is that the city is no longer open world. It's just a point and click map. You can still do side quests and assassin missions, but you just point and click where to go. I thought this was a vast improvement. Also, mini-games to earn money have been turned into more of a old NES style game. These are fun, but can be frustrating. The dojo has also been turned into an NES style game. There is also a mini-game to make Travis's cat, Jean, thin. I don't know what you get out of it, but it's fun to play with the cat.
Level designs are done the same as the last game (in that you beat up a bunch of mooks and then face the boss), but nearly ever level is new. Bosses in this game are crazy. The game earns it's name "Desperate Struggle" with how difficult some of these bosses are. And, once you beat the game, you unlock a Boss Mode where you can reface all of the bosses. It's fun and allows you to replay the Shinobi and Henry fights.
As I said, the game can be crazy hard. Outside of that, I have no real complaints with the game. There have been improvements all around and it feels like a much more complete game compared to the first No More Heroes. Suda51 said that this would be Travis's final game (as the protagonist). And it really was a good swan song for Travis. The story, gameplay, music, graphics, everything. It was a good improvement over the first No More Heroes. No More Heroes 2 is available at your local Gamestop for a mere $9. So, no excuses. Go get it!