The Wonder Years: Week 17 - Streets of Rage 2
Posted by Owain J. Brimfield on 08.15.2007
The streets are alive with the sounds of violence.
Welcome to the column where all gamers of a certain age come to wallow in 16-bit nostalgia. I'm your host, Owain J. Brimfield, and I'll be discussing some of the hidden gems and instant classics of gaming's golden era. Some of these games may crop up on the Wii's Virtual Console at some point, some may be consigned to the annals of history. Either way, they're worth tracking down if you missed them first time round, or replaying if you were lucky enough to catch them. Let's take a trip to:
STREETS OF RAGE 2
(Sega, Genesis, 1993)
Ah, a true classic here. Sadly, in the 21st century the side-scrolling beat ‘em up is a genre that has faded into, if not obscurity, then at least mediocrity. SOR2 is a reminder that, at its best, the genre was once one of the pinnacles of 16-bit gaming. A no-nonsense concept, this is a type of game that, along with scrolling shoot ‘em ups, really represents old-school arcade gaming at its finest. For many gamers, SOR2 represents one of the high watermarks of the Genesis' lifespan - now while I will admit that personally, the genre is not a particular favourite of mine (mostly because in general I'm not that good at it), it's certainly easy to see the appeal, and of this game in particular. It's an intensely enjoyable experience, and a hearteningly cathartic one too. Let's face it, who hasn't wanted to beat the stuffing out of a bunch of hoodlums with a lead pipe at some point in their gaming career?
The story, of course, is the same old shebang that has been around since the days of yore (or at least, Double Dragon), with an evil crime syndicate led by Mr. X - shockingly original, I know - taking over a city, naturally without reckoning on a small gang of muscular do-gooders. So far, so blah. Of course, in the same way that no-one expects a story behind a traditional fighter like Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat (at least beyond the old "tournament of the world's best fighters battling it out for supremacy"), you can't go wrong with an old-fashioned crime syndicate in games like this. All the plot really needs to consist of is an excuse to throw thousands of muscle-headed lunks and punks the way of the player, not to mention a moral workaround if you ever need to justify your deeds as you stab yet another poor bloke in the face with his own knife. Not that I ever came across that particular philosophical dilemma myself, but I'm sure there are one or two introspective gamers out there who might question the rhyme and reason.
The fighting system itself is a vast improvement on the previous game, with a surprising amount of depth on offer. Although it's true that the characters themselves fall into the classic fighting game stereotypes (slow yet powerful big man, fast yet weak little guy, and two good all-rounders), there's a decent array of attacks and special moves. Even Axel, the most user-friendly fighter, takes a fair while to master, and for the expert gamers there's a solid challenge to be had trying to finish the game as the quirky Skate. It has to be said that some of the game's supposedly "new" features, such as enemy health bars and special attacks, were ripped off from Final Fight, but as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery - and if we're honest, SOR2 probably implements the features better anyway.
Although the single player mode is enjoyable, it can find itself getting a little repetitive - despite the high-score elements, there's only so many times you can German suplex a guy in the street without feeling an urge for something of a little more substance. Thankfully, that's where the two-player cooperative mode comes into play (literally). The fun factor is exponentially increased when duking it out through the city streets with a friend, whether you take a truly co-operative approach or try to outdo each other's high scores. The addition of a feature where you can actually throw your partner directly at a bunch of baddies, plus the reasonably impressive framerate the game maintains, results in an absolute riot of a multiplayer experience. There's also a straightforward one-on-one Duel mode, which proves mildly diverting but won't be rocking your screens for very long. If you have a housemate or sibling into gaming and/or violence though, SOR2 could very well find itself taking up a huge chunk of your time.
The game is, pleasingly, quite easy to come by in this day and age, with versions released on the Virtual Console and Xbox Live Arcade in the US and Europe, and in Japan ports are available on various Sega compilation discs on Dreamcast, PS2 and GameCube. The original cartridge, meanwhile, may prove a little nuisance to hunt out - however it is certainly worth tracking down for the highly amusing box art, which features characters so poorly drawn they barely resemble those in the game itself. SOR2 really does stand head and shoulders above the other games in the series (although it does lack the crazy electric cyborg character of its sequel... still, I suppose you can't have everything). Not only does it provide a lesson for today's generation in how games used to be played, it proves one of life's ultimate truths: it's always going to be fun to uppercut a fat guy in the face, then kick his friends to the ground and slice them up with a katana. Now that's something everyone can enjoy.
Streets of Rage 2 trivia
The game is known as Bare Knuckle II in Japan, and references to this can be found in the Amusement Park levels.
Legendary wrestler and full-time nutjob Ultimate "Warrior Warrior" Warrior bizarrely features in the game as a boss, although he does appear incognito.
There are about a dozen individual punks in the game who will bestow upon you a mighty 10,000 points for taking them down. Seek them out, all you high score fanatics!
Streets of Rage 2 is number 97 in my official all-time Top 100 games.
Splendid visitation possibilities
The place to come for random retro gaming tidbits, links and videos, and general amusing games-related stuff collated from the interweb.
Of all the highlights on lifestyle website www.gaygamer.net (and what a tremendous idea for a website it is - kudos to editor Fruit Brute), I think the following ‘brief' item is probably my favourite. Click on the link below, and earn yourself a laugh at my terribly witty pune, or play on words.
On a more musical theme, take a look at the following couple of bands who specialise in recreating video game themes. There are many notable artists in this surprisingly divers genre, but the following two are my favourites. Firstly, the Minibosses, whose rendition of the Ninja Gaiden theme is completely epic:
Every week in this section I'll endeavour to provide you, the faithful readers, with a fascinating insight into the various forms of entertainment currently dominating my spare time.
This week, I have been mostly enjoying:
Burnout 3: Takedown, a game which has cropped up in my recent foray back to the world of all things Sony. As lengthy as it is difficult, it's a hugely satisfying gaming experience on all levels, and makes me look forward to the upcoming next-gen iteration.
New Moon by Elliott Smith, one of the few posthumous collection albums that doesn't suck. There's some lovely stuff on here, and it's a shame the guy never got round to completing this material.
The Fountain, the recent Darren Aranofsky film which is a 90-minute acid trip of a movie. Sure it's been criticised for being hard to understand, but the great thing is that you don't need to understand it to appreciate it.
and Monty Python, which has recently been announced in yet another dubious study as the best British comedy ever. As if we needed telling.
And finally…
As always, reader feedback and suggestions are welcome, I respond to everything so just drop me a line. Next week in "The Wonder Years" - a sensible approach to sports. Until then - keep it real, keep it retro.
