Aside a solid Live experience, this retro title's best features are really the option to save the game, and the always-intriguing achievements. Battling through the game's eight levels in one sitting simply does not work for most gamers, so SEGA offers gamers the option to save your progress at any time and continue your battle when you have more time. The relatively deep achievement list awards easy feats, such as picking up a knife, to the near impossible, like beating the game without continuing, and quite a bit in between.
Not that it was ever a crowning achievement for the game, or anything remotely resembling original, but the Live Arcade version's most glaring flaw is leaving out the story. Gamers are immediately thrust into action upon starting the game, with the game's introductory cut-scenes giving the gamers the limited story are played only on the small version of the screen that takes up less than a quarter of the menu screen.
The game's sound is dated at this point, offering nothing more than a look back into videogame past to a time when you did not mind playing with the sound off. Graphically, Streets Of Rage 2 does offer a revamped look, but gamers will have to search for it. Oddly, the game's default graphics are the original, but gamers looking for a slicker looking version will find turning on "Smoothing Option" in the pause menu a nice change of pace. It does not go as far as Double Dragon did with the visual update, just cleaning up around the ragged edges so the characters look mildly stylized.
The Streets Of Rage series was the evolution of the side-scrolling co-op fighting genre, and at least more worthy of your MS Points than Double Dragon. Exactly what that means will differ for each gamer, as the game's innovations are old news at this point. Those looking to recapture their youth, and some difficult achievements, will find this to their liking. Anyone looking for a 'new' button-masher to eat up Arcade time will likely be a bit under whelmed.
