4/5 ★ – TheWolvesDen's review of Streets of Rage II.

Fluidity, Motion , Feel. Using dashes to get moves and inches in on characters with skate is just perfection. Honestly using Alex and Blaze without the dash feel like a step back. However the lack of reach from Skate is a detriment and everyone’s special moves feel different for different purposes , so play styles are all accommodated. I think the inches on screen to hit enemies or get hit is the prevailing detail. I think about the design of the factory with the moving tracks that affect you and your enemies where combos get dropped because of how they move you. Some solid level design there another level with a gimmick that changed how the core of the game felt would really raise this experience . From a visual standpoint it’s just a beauty to watch in motion, enemy designs are still great and obviously the beatem up deisign of the 90s has you beat bosses again as lackeys later. I am not sure which villains are all timers outside of Shiva, Mr X and Oehelits though . The baseball stage and that pirate stage visually are great to look at with some great backgrounds to stare at as you get chucked by an enemy. All in all this was a challenging play through much like the first one but it just feels great. Oh and obviously an OST that is gripping. It’s not surprising that this game endures in the memory of many.