As you would expect in a Streets of Rage game, you start out by selecting your character. There are three playable characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. First up is Axel, a rather well balanced character who excels in "technique" and does his best work putting his fists in enemies faces. Then there is Blaze, the tough, yet sexy gal, who is the most balanced of the bunch. Last, but certainly not least, we have Skate, who excels in "speed" and "jump" categories, and can't seem to resist the rhythm of the memorable Streets of Rage music. There is enough variety with each character, and their corresponding special moves, to make it worth your while to try each out. Also of note, there is a 2-player option for the game, which I am unfortunately unable to test out.
As far as the storyline goes, the evil Syndicate, headed by Mr. X, is up to no good again. In order to lure our heroes out, Mr. X's goons have kidnapped Adam, friend of Axel and Blaze, and brother of Skate. That's your plot and that's all that's needed. Now you can justify beating countless thugs to a pulp. Which leads us to how the game plays.
Streets of Rage 2 does an excellent job of bringing the thrills of the classic Genesis franchise onto the Game Gear. As you would expect, the controls are simple and take no time to get accustomed to. Move your character with the D-pad, attack with the 1 button, and jump with the 2 button. The developers did a great job of packing a good variety of attacks into the game. Even more impressive, they did so with only two buttons to work with. You have your standard jump attacks, grappling attacks, as well as specials performed by directional and face button combinations and button "charge" attacks. The controls work wonderfully and feel very intuitive. The actions seems to have been slowed down some compared to the Genesis games, but this works out pretty well to accommodate the Streets of Rage action nicely onto the small screen.
There is a decent enough variety of enemies to lay bare knuckle to throughout the game's six levels. Most are simple unarmed hooligans, though some carry knives and pipes. These weapons can be picked up from the ground and used to smack, stab, or throw at the enemies. For the most part these enemies are rather simple to do away with. You will find a little more challenge when coming across some of the more advanced enemies like the charging, fire-breathing "Big Ben" type enemies, and the sexy, whip-cracking dominatrix "Electra" badgirls. Things can get a little frustrating when the enemies start to "juggle" you, as in knocking you down, then knocking you down again the moment you stand up. This happens occasionally and it can be frustrating to see your entire health meter drained by such a cheap tactic. But then again, this is pretty much the tactic you will use against your enemies throughout the entire game. So turnabout is fair play? The only real challenging enemies are the boss characters who, after defeating them the first time, will reappear in later stages as mid-level bosses. Still, after a little practice, the bosses attacks and patterns are not to hard to master. You also have a few continues to work with. Thankfully, you will continue right where you left off and do not have to restart the entire level.
Graphically, the game is one of the better looking handheld action games of the era that I have played. It has that classic, Streets of Fire-inspired art design and the character models are drawn well. And is a review of a Streets of Rage game complete without at least commenting on the music? Sure enough, the music is excellent and as we would expect from Yuzo Koshiro. Even as I write this review I can't keep the main theme of the song out of my head. Naturally, the music here does not sound as nice as on the Genesis, but it certainly is a highlight of the game and successfully gets the vibe across.
There are a few drawbacks to the game, but nothing that really gets in the way of having a good time, which is what playing games is all about. There are only six stages in the game, none of which are very long, and the pace of the game is a tad slow. The enemies don't pose too much of a challenge, though you could crank the difficulty up to the highest level and set your lives down to the minimum level if that's your bag. These few quibbles, along with the instances of being "juggled" to death by the enemy as mentioned earlier, are fairly minor complaints when you consider all that the game does right.
In closing, if you have never played Streets of Rage 2 for Game Gear, it's definitely worth a look. You would be hard pressed to find a classic portable game that gets the beat-em-up formula so right. If you have played the game and it's been a while, it's a quality title that deserves a revisiting. From the graphics, to the music, to the near spot-on controls, Streets of Rage 2 is a classic beat-em-up that should never be forgotten. Enough talk, get out there and bust some skulls...in the finest of traditions. Long live the Streets of Rage!
