Streets of Rage 2 opinions...

The area for all those other video games.

Moderators: Steve Halfpenny, Jonny2x4

Post Reply
Steve Halfpenny
Moderator
Posts: 180
Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2009 6:34 am

Streets of Rage 2 opinions...

Post by Steve Halfpenny »

Howdy.

In one last attempt to try and restore some interest in the Dojo (actually, that's not true. It's been pretty good since the restart! Cheers, Mike! Let's get some more bodies now...), I would like to get people's opinion of Sega's 1992 brawler.

When it came out it was a pretty big deal. There was boastings about how it was Sega's first 16 bit cartridge and whatnot and it did look very pretty, just like an actual arcade fighter at home, which was what everybody was going for at the time. It was very polished, much more so than the first game but it wasn't anything new. If you'd been a Double Dragon fan, it just seemed like another one of the endless copycats that had flooded the arcades. In fact, I'm surprised Capcom never tried to take them to court like they did with Fighter's History as SoR 2 bore more than a passing resemblance to Final Fight.

I never owned a Sega system and when a load more beat em ups came out for my SNES, I had no reason to care about such a game. But I did manage to play it with a mate in the day and enjoyed it a lot. It was very playable, graphics were nice and it had great music. It wasn't going to shake my world like it had done for some but it was very good overall. When I went home, I enjoyed my own similar titles like Rushin' Beat Ran and Sonic Blastman II, etc.

Fast forward some years later and I discover the internet. There were a few Streets of Rage fansites out there as expected. I recall one in particullar saying how it was a Final Fight ripoff but was an enjoyable romp in itself. And this guy was a big fan. Others list it as their favourite beat em up of its kind and again, whilst I'd dispute this personally, I can understand why people would say this. Nostalga is a powerful thing and I'm sure it's easy to list in your top ten favourite Megadrive carts.

Now here we are in 2010 and I don't know about overseas but here in the UK there seems to be a universal truth amongst gamers, magazines like Retro Gamer and GamesTM that Streets of Rage 2 was the best beat em up ever. Even the editor of RG seemingly makes the point that there is none like it better, every single issue. When did this happen and why do people think this? I had to check it out again...

I dunno what the big deal is. It's as linear or as good as any other similar game. It's definitely not a stand out title to me and I honestly prefer Final Fight overall. Why is SoR 2 any better than say the Turtles arcade games, Vendetta, the Punisher, POW or hell, any Double Dragon game?!

We've probably had this discussion in the past but does anyone have any strong opinions on this one either way? And why do you think it is the best / overrated?
User avatar
DojoMaster
Site Admin
Posts: 129
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2009 9:07 pm
Location: California
Contact:

Re: Streets of Rage 2 opinions...

Post by DojoMaster »

Thanks Steve! On a quick side note, we shot up to about 100 hits a day or so around the time I posted the news on the Zeebo Double Dragon game, but right now the clicks are pretty low. It seems that as long as you have new content for people to see, you maintain the hits. Too bad there isn't much Double Dragon information at the moment.

Getting back to your point, (oh and I hope this really isn't your "last" attempt to spur clicks here - we could use an article on playing Double Dragon over the Xbox Live if you know what I mean!) I only played Streets of Rage 2 as a kid. I didn't actually own a Genesis, a friend did, and I would play the game at his house. I enjoyed it, but I would have to download it on the Virtual Console to give you a fair criticism of the game.

Growing up I was a big Double Dragon III fan, and when I couldn't rent that, I'd pick up Double Dragon II.
Steve Halfpenny
Moderator
Posts: 180
Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2009 6:34 am

Re: Streets of Rage 2 opinions...

Post by Steve Halfpenny »

DojoMaster wrote:oh and I hope this really isn't your "last" attempt to spur clicks here - we could use an article on playing Double Dragon over the Xbox Live if you know what I mean!


Oh no! I have plenty more discussions in the works! :D
User avatar
oxe161
Yellow Belt
Posts: 22
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 8:44 pm

Re: Streets of Rage 2 opinions...

Post by oxe161 »

Well i wouldn't say it's a big final fight rip-off. I mean final fight didn't have back-up or the super moves u use with the A button. It only had the defensive 360 attack. And Final Fight did rip-off Streets of Rage, In Final Fight 3, there was a character named Dean, he wore the same clothes as Axel, only his pants and headband were black
http://fightingstreet.com/folders/artwo ... y_Dean.jpg
That's just my opinion
"If the illusion spreads, the evil will live again. but if two dragons soar through the sky, an angel will fall to the Earth
Steve Halfpenny
Moderator
Posts: 180
Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2009 6:34 am

Re: Streets of Rage 2 opinions...

Post by Steve Halfpenny »

Originally it was made to compensate for a lack of Final Fight on the MD. Lots of enemies even look the same.

You are right about FF3 though.
User avatar
oxe161
Yellow Belt
Posts: 22
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 8:44 pm

Re: Streets of Rage 2 opinions...

Post by oxe161 »

Well yea some enemies look the same, but they have more variety than the 7-8 people and the end boss isnt a pain like belger. I mean that crossbow can do massive damage
"If the illusion spreads, the evil will live again. but if two dragons soar through the sky, an angel will fall to the Earth
Steve Halfpenny
Moderator
Posts: 180
Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2009 6:34 am

Re: Streets of Rage 2 opinions...

Post by Steve Halfpenny »

Just had a thought... You know, Dean may in fact be a reference to Axel from SoR. Capcom have a tendency to do that (like with Dan Hibiki in Street Fighter being a parody of SNK characters). Never heard this before though.
User avatar
oxe161
Yellow Belt
Posts: 22
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 8:44 pm

Re: Streets of Rage 2 opinions...

Post by oxe161 »

Maybe, i know dan hibiki is a reference to a fighting game "art of Fighting" Where a character named Robert appears and has a similar design as Dan. Maybe it was capcom's revenge
"If the illusion spreads, the evil will live again. but if two dragons soar through the sky, an angel will fall to the Earth
Jonny2x4
Moderator
Posts: 96
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:07 pm

Re: Streets of Rage 2 opinions...

Post by Jonny2x4 »

Dean doesn't really look that much of an Axel Stone clone. If anything, Axel's more of a Cody clone and I always thought of Cody and Guy as Capcom's answer to Billy and Jimmy. Even Yoshiki Okamoto admitted that Final Fight was partly inspired by Double Dragon in an old Gamespot interview.

The popularity of the Streets of Rage series can be explained by the fact it was a console-based franchise and not an arcade one. As you know, arcade games are only kept available as long as they continue being profitable and most arcade-based beat-em-ups got overshadowed by the whole competitive fighting game boom during the early-to-mid-90's.

On one hand, Streets of Rage 2 was just another game you could play whenever you got tired of Street Fighter II': Special Champion Edition. On the other hand, finding a Violent Storm cabinet at local arcade was simply a matter of chance. Most of the coin-op beat-'em-ups that were widely distributed were often licensed ones like Punisher, X-Men, The Simpsons, Dungeons & Dragons, and X-Men, all which I was lucky enough to play at some point or another when I was growing up.

Also, another reason for the Streets of Rage's popularity has to do with the awesome soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro. Personally, I'm more of a Shinobi fan.
Steve Halfpenny
Moderator
Posts: 180
Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2009 6:34 am

Re: Streets of Rage 2 opinions...

Post by Steve Halfpenny »

I understand all that but there were still plenty of beat em ups at home (maybe not so many exclusive ones for Sega. I never owned any of their systems before the Dreamcast so I can't really remember).

The music is technically impressive but not particullarly memorable (quite unusual for Sega as I like so many of their other game themes). Still, a lot of fans do speak highly of it.

On a side note, funny you mention the Punisher. I discovered that a few months back and it was actually a pleasant surprise. I guess due to the licence it'd be doubtful that it would appear at home, now or then.
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests