Liking this game at all is no Struggle... I just had to go there.
Desperate Struggle takes place three years after the original title after Travis Touchdown's success in climbing up to Number 1 in the United Assassins Association in a long bloody fight against many tripped up assassins. Tired of the relentless fighting, Travis retires from the ranks and stops bothering with fighting the assassins attempting to take Travis' number one spot. In between however, his city of Santa Destroy has quickly become structured into a giant city almost entirely owned only by the Pizza Bat Corporation. Travis' actions in killing the top ten assassins of the city would obviously not go without some form of desire for retribution against him, and thus resulting in the death of his friend the video store owner Bishop. If you know Travis, you'd know that this is only asking for over the top violent trouble at the very least… When he gets to you that is. In order to get his revenge on those who have killed Bishop, Travis must once again slice and dice his way to number one in the Association charts to face the number one assassin who killed Bishop. Not only this, but being out of the ranks for 3 years has caused him to drop all the way down to number 51 on the charts. As a result, heads will roll in many directions once Travis comes back onto the scene, and much blood splattering on you TV screen.
In terms of story for the game's plot, Desperate Struggle lives up to the over the top, overly bloody, kinky, and fourth-wall breaking nature that made many enjoy the original. It's not exactly a story that will stay with you once it's over and the ending does slightly disappoint in some ways, but fans of the original can at least expect the same presentation values that have been established in the franchise.
In terms of graphics, No More Heroes wasn't exactly known for being a powerhouse demonstrating the Wii's graphical capabilities. With that in mind though, this doesn't really mean that it isn't a very good looker because of the emphasis on cell-shading and making everything look almost like an anime in motion. In terms of technical performances, there isn't too much to complain about though it does have some issues. Just like in the first game, the frame rate does take some dips when there's a boatload of blood flying onto the screen when you're done slashing. This is pretty much the only situation where technical issues settle in, otherwise there aren't any glitches or game killing aspects that render the game unplayable.
Sound factor is pretty much the same as it was in the original as well, fashioning that infectious theme song as well. The sound effects don't clip or deafen the ears either, the sound effects from the wii-mote speaker also work well in terms of saber swings. Another thing that absolutely had to return was the cast of voice actors and thankfully pretty much all of them do return. Robin Atkin Downes is simply essential in portrayal of Travis Touchdown and he does not disappoint. Paula Tiso as Sylvia is as seductive as ever, Quinton Flynn is joyously over the top with his accent, everything here just simply works.
So everything is in place for presentation values, but is everything that everyone enjoyed about the gameplay here? It all depends on what you complained about or didn't complain about in the original, but everything here that made the first game as fun as it was is still in place. There are two different gameplay situations just like the first one consisting of the ranking missions and side missions, though the assassination mini games that were in the first game are no longer present. Another thing that has been axed from the game is the free-roaming gameplay that was a main point of complaint for many who played the game, now there is a selection based over world that players can choose from. Aside from the two main gameplay situations mentioned, you can also do several things in Travis' room such as playing with his cat Jeanne to help her lose weight (Lowering her weight to 10 pounds will allow Travis to learn a jumping move), or changing his clothes.
If you didn't like the mini-games from the original games, most of the mini-games have taken the form of throwbacks to NES games in 8 bit graphics and sound glory, this includes the gym. There's a job to exterminate bugs in a Zelda fashion, there's a pipe-laying job similar to Bioshock's hacking, there's a coconut gathering job, there's a space trash collecting job, the premises are over the top but fit as if they were actual NES games. The only 3D game that has returned from the first game is the scorpion scooping job that not too many people liked in the first place. Despite these jobs being out there, they are all totally optional in terms of advancing the story, it's all optional if you want to buy new beam sabers at Dr. Naomi's lab, get new clothes, or increasing Travis' stats at the gym. There's no longer any need to pay for the missions and this allows for the game to move at a faster pace.
So finally onto the stuff you might be wondering about, is the combat still intact here? Yes it is. It overall plays like the first game, moving with the analogue stick, locking onto enemies with the Z button, and button mashing allows for Travis' attacks to reign supreme on the battlefield as he slashes enemies to show what he's really good at, with the continuously extending combos depending on what saber Travis is using. Moving the wii-mote up or down will allow for the choice of quicker or stronger attacks. Another signature move is when Travis manages to drain an enemy's health down to zero and then landing a death blow by thrusting the wii-mote in the direction the screen tells you to swing. This doesn't mean you can do it forever though, because eventually the batteries do run out. When this happens, you should be sure to run for cover, hold the 1 button and shake it until it is ready for action again.
For players of the original game, this is very familiar in terms of gameplay, but not everything is the same. Travis can now hold many sabers on his belt as opposed to just one in the first one, and there is also a point in the game where Travis gets to use the cool dual beam sabers that you have seen on the cover. There is also the new ecstasy gauge that changes colors when Travis manages to successfully attack enemies and allows you to use new assassin techniques to slice through enemies quicker than ever before. Another change is that players now have three levels to play through as different characters, Shinobu Jacobs and Travis' twin brother Henry. The levels with Shinobu play just about the same as Travis' levels do, though there are some platforming sections that the players have to go through, which are really the only parts of the game that are not very entertaining to manage your way through, and Henry only has one boss battle, so there's really no way to make players feel like they are actually playing as a different character when it comes to these levels. In the end there aren't many major changes to the game with the exception of the axing of the free-roaming of the city. With that in mind, the game is essentially the same but with enough new changes to make for a good example of a sequel.
The game is also as long as the original game being about 12 hours to complete, and is possible to breeze through in a much shorter time, if the jobs are all passed up and such. After that, there's not much replay value, the new game plus option and boss rush mode notwithstanding.
With all of the new bells and whistles added to the sequel to Travis Touchdown's first bloody adventure, there's enough to establish Desperate Struggle as an excellent sequel to the original. There's even some material in the game that will allow for players who didn't even like the first game to find newfound respect for the flourishing franchise. Desperate Struggle is also a necessary purchase if you're a Wii owner because according to the creator Suda 51, this is supposed to be the last No More Heroes game on the Wii though it will carry over to future Nintendo consoles and a port of the original to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 later this year. Desperate Struggle isn't too difficult to enjoy and marks for a great way to open up the 2010 year for the Wii, overall worth a purchase if you come across the game anywhere.