Meet the Cast
Axel
Axel Stone, the main protagonist, sets out to help his old friend Adam after he's been kidnapped by Mr. X. Axel is SOR2's Ryu (or Ken) in that he is easily the easiest character to use for beginners, and if you know how to use him, he can be deadly in the hands of an expert. His move Grand Upper (forward, forward+punch) is so cheap you can basically beat the game just by using it. Other than that, his moves are pretty mundane. A punch, a kick, a jump kick, and what looks like a mid-air pelvic thrust. His special involves him lighting his fists on fire and punching the enemy. A good way to get the fire department on your ass.
Skate
Adam Hunters younger brother, Eddie "Skate" Hunter, joins the party to save his older brother. Skate is my favorite character, and he has some of the most useful attacks in the game. Not powerful, mind you, but useful. For instance, he's the only character capable of dashing, which is kind of lame for a beat-em-up. Skate, as you may imagine, is on skates the entire time, and therefore is the fastest character available. He has many moves , such as Dynamite Headbutt (punch while in a dash), the Slingshot (punch while in the middle of changing sides in a grapple) and a few others. His special involves a drilling kick, in which he yells "WOOPEEPEE!" (seriously), and a breakdanceish maneuver. (WARNING: Fighting crime while on roller skates is a good way to break your neck. Try being a waiter at a 50's restaurant if you cant bear to take your skates off)
Blaze
Also returning is Blaze Fielding, a Interpol police detective and good friend of Axel and Adam. Thanks to Chun-Li, women in the early 90's were everywhere in video games, but unlike Chun-Li, who wasn't much of a sex symbol (until she took a shower in Street Fighter: The Animated Movie.) they were usually sexually exploited. Somehow they remained hot despite taking immense beatings, and wore as little clothing as possible. Blaze is a great example of this, as even though shes a police detective fighting crime, she looks like a hooker-version of Cindy Crawford. I mean seriously, some of the women in the game that I'm pretty sure ARE whores are dressed more modestly then Blaze. But that's neither here nor there. Blaze is pretty much the exact same character as Axel, albeit a little quicker and weaker. Her special attacks consist of her punching with what I think is lightning (Although, since her name is Blaze, it seems like it'd make more sense for her to use fire. Or marijuana)
Max
If this was a fantastic four game, Max would definitely be The Thing. Big, slow, and obscenely powerful, he fits the "Big, slow, and obscenely powerful" character Archetype. While he's next to useless on quick bosses, he's extremely good at taking out soldiers. Max definitely shows a lack of creativity in the game developers. You can tell he was just thrown in at the last minute when they realized they didn't have a super strong dude. This is further proven by the lore surrounding him: "Axel's Pro wrestler friend who decides to help them find Skates brother". Oh Axel has a pro wrestling friend? That's convenient. How come he never mentioned him before? How come he didn't appear in the first game at all, when we REALLY could've used his help? I mean seriously, did he have a title defense at Summer Slam? What the hell Max? Anyway, Max's specials are a revolving polish-hammer type maneuver, and a shoulder tackle.
Stage 1: Downtown
The first stage is pretty much the same as it is in every beat em' up. Just a random urban setting with weak enemies that let the newer gamers practice their attacks. Make your way through the urban plight to the entrance of the bar. There you face the first mini-boss of the game Jack. Jack obviously had a troubled youth, as he plays with knives, has a mohawk and wears shredded pants. Since he's beyond saving, just kick his ass. He's really nothing special, just attack/grab/throw like the regular trash.
Welcome to the bar. Thankfully it doesn't seem to be karaoke night. Good samartians realize that skate is not of legal drinking age, and proceed to try and kill him. Kick ass until you reach the end of the bar to see the bartender making a martini (Shaken, not stirred) and the next mini-boss, Elektra. Her whip is electric, and she's elektra. This is the first of many many puns, so brace yourself. She's just like jack, grab-able and weak, except she has a long whip. Just avoid her lashings and she's easy japanesey.
Boss Time: Barbon
Turns out the guy's named Barbon (A Bartender named Barbon? What're the odds?). Evidently this mixologist isn't too happy about you busting up his bar, and seeks revenge, not to mention he also works for Mr. X. For the first boss, Barbon isn't as easy as you'd expect, mainly because he hits pretty hard and has long reach. Another annoying trait is that grabs only work half the time, the other half he just chucks you across the screen. Using jump kicks works pretty decently, and if you can get behind him just punch away, and if you're feeling daring, go in for the grab to try to do some big damage. He has a decent amount of health, but he shouldn't be much trouble ultimately, hit him enough and it's last call for Barbon.
Stage 2: Bridge Under Construction
Bridges and/or Construction sites were quite popular in 90's beat-em ups. Why? I have no freakin' clue. But SOR2 took it a step further: A bridge under construction! BRILLIANT! This stage is mind numbingly annoying, so thank god its the shortest stage, save for the final. The annoying thing is the damn dirt-bikers who will NOT leave you alone. Evidently this is their god-damn bridge and they want everyone to know. They will fly at you very fast, and as if that isn't annoying enough, they'll chuck grenades at your face. You get the feeling they don't like you very much? If your quick enough, you can jump kick them off the bike. But this plan is risky because the dirt bike will slide at you and explode. So yeah, dirt bikers = VERY ANNOYING. Just stay out of their way and avoid the grenades and you should be alright. After that, jump in the truck that says "Free Candy" on the side.
Unfortunately, its filled with dirt bikers, not candy, but without their bikes they're not nearly as annoying. They're in the background for now, cause they want to see Kyzou (Who will be hence-forth be known as "Kung-fu" guy) kick your ass. Don't worry, he's easy, just treat him like a regular trash soldier. Kick his ass and the bikers will come forward to kill you. Instead, you should kill them, and then proceed through the front of the truck.
Boss Time: Jet
Now you're at the unfinished part of the bridge, and you'll notice the music start to get darker. That's cause its time for a boss fight. Seriously, as a kid i always thought this was a woman. I think its a dude I'm still not sure. Anyway, Jet has a Jet pack (coincidence?) and that's how he gets around since his car got towed last month. This is the easiest boss of the game, just jump kick the crap out of him and punch him while he's hovering.The only thing to watch out for is the grab, where he'll take you up into the air and slam you down like Charizard did to Magmar. Avoid that, and Jet will plummet faster than Ashlee Simpson's career.
Stage 3: Amusement Park
The gang decides to make they're way to the amusement park, because the only way to rescue they're teammate is to ride roller coasters evidently. But as they arrive they see that the most magical place on earth is overrun with baddies. This place has the most scenery changes than any other stage, so I can't put pics of each part up, but I'll post the most important ones. Make your way through he entrance to the Arcade, to see henchmen playing Bare Knuckle (What the Streets of Rage franchise is called in Japan) and totally putting off their work. These are my kind of henchmen, but unfortunately you have to kill them. Part of me LOVES throwing them into the arcades, but part of me thinks its a waste of a beautiful game.
Make your way to the Pirate boat and what do you see? A Ninja!! Seriously, did you think you'd make it through a game in the 90's without seeing one? Curiously, they're on a pirate ship. Which must mean the killed the pirates and took the ship for themselves! Well there you have it, Streets of rage answerd the "Pirates vs. Ninjas" question a long time ago. The Ninjas are just regular trash, except they move very fast and have weapons. Just be fast with your fingers and you'll have yourself some sweet ninja weapons.
I don't know about you, but my favorite ride at amusement parks is always the green misty area where you see alien eggs and weird heads pop out of the walls! ...Never heard of a ride like that? Yeah neither have I, but there seems to be one at this amusement park. Watch out for the eggs, they're explosive, but don't avoid them entirely cause you'll find katanas and turkey in them (If i wasn't talking about a video game, that would be the weirdest sentence ever). Make you're way through the trash to the mini-boss. Vehelits is a snake like creature who strongly resembles King Ymiron from Utgarde Pinnacle. Just jump kick his head and avoid his slow moving attacks. A few more ninjas left and you'll get to the boss of the alien house.
Boss Time: Zamza
If you crossed Blanka from Street Fighter and Wolverine, you'd get Zamza. Even though he moves fast and looks terrifying, he isn't all that hard. The move to look out for his when he tumbles across the screen. Other then that he doesn't have that many attacks, except for an occasional upper-cut that'll knock you out of the air. Grabbing him is pretty easy, so just grab and kick/throw to your hearts content and he'll be dead in no time.
To Be Continued
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