Streets of Rage 2 Review

I have previously looked at a Sega 3D Classic for this site, if I remember right Fantasy Zone 2 scored quite well even though it was the first time I had actually played it. Streets of Rage is a different creature altogether though, being often quoted as one of the best 2D scrawling beat ‘em ups of all time! I myself had a Super Nintendo so was more of a Final Fight guy, not through choice, but necessity, after all it was all I had! I had heard of Streets of Rage, my friend had it, but nowadays this particular iteration is remembered as a great in the genre. As a new player will it stand up as good and indeed, will it beat Final Fight for me!?

There have been many golden ages of gaming, Super Nintendo versus Sega Genesis was just one of those times, Mario and Sonic were bitter rivals with armies of fan boys backing them up, Streets of Rage was Sega’s big beat ‘em up on the scene and was a decent rival to the Super Nintendo’s best. The first isn’t as regarded as the second however, so this is the big deal where it is at in many gamer’s hearts. It is a brilliant choice for the developers to make, the fans of Streets of Rage 2 are many and they are passionate and with only the 3DS having it is quite a thing.

The game is good, let’s get that off my chest first, it looks good, it plays good, it sounds good, I like it overall. I feel the 2D side scrolling beat ‘em up genre has not aged well however. I have recently played Final Fight and wow, it actually a bit of a chore now. I sort of feel this way about this, but I agree with the fans of this one on this, the game actually has a decent enough variety of enemy types for me to think this is cool, a main flaw that hurts these games is the same person attacks you with the same name and clothes, the variety helps end this for me. The level locations are very nice too, cool, well detailed and quite well interactive.

I feel it is obvious scrolling and pressing a button to punch can get boring, even though a ten-year old version of me never minded right enough. The game play follows this but also has enemies you need to jump kick and enemies that will attack you in different ways you need to work out, so it is a bit more than just the typical side scroller to me. I would say the game itself is worth it’s name as a classic, it’s aged remarkably well for it’s genre and you cannot say fairer than that.

No doubt it is a best of its genre, but I would maybe wonder if a modern gamer would enjoy it, I feel that whole genre aged poorly. However if you were backing in that generation or would like to give a bit of premium gaming history a go then this is for you. Needless to say fans will be rabid over it.

The 3D like in the other 3d Classics on 3DS works really, really well, as good as anything else on the 3DS. The value is there too, it is a decent size, has extras, has two players across wifi. Overall I give this one a buy just give it a try and you will see why this is considered a classic! As for Final Fight, it my have not aged as good, it still has a place in my heart too. Big Haggar, Cody and Guy will always be the top guys to me!

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Nintendo 3DS code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.