Streets Of Rage 2 - All Throws & Grab Moves

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All Throws

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Published on February 5, 2023 2:09:28 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u02q564WEds

Game:

Streets of Rage 2 (1992)

Duration: 1:21

2,027 views

22

Characters:

Axel Stone - 0:00
Blaze Fielding - 0:15
Max Thunder - 0.30
Skate - 0:56

Streets Of Rage 2 (known as Bare Knuckle II in Japan) is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up game released by SEGA in 1992. It is a follow up to the 1991 title Streets Of Rage / Bare Knuckle. The game debuted on the SEGA Genesis / Mega Drive, and has since been made available on a wide range of platforms, including handheld and mobile ports. 8-bit versions of the game were also released on SEGA Master System and SEGA Game Gear.

Streets Of Rage 2 is widely considered to be the best game in the series, and one of the greatest beat-'em-ups of all time. This is due to the excellent gameplay, appealing graphics and outstanding music.

Streets Of Rage tells the story of Axel Stone, Adam Hunter and Blaze Fielding. These ex-police cops take the law into their own hands when Mr. X's crime syndicate is allowed to run rampant in the city. The heroes battle their way through low-level street thugs, plus trained combatants like kickboxers and ninjas, to end up confronting the final boss Mr. X.

Throughout the series, more allies join the team as playable characters. Streets Of Rage 2 marks the first appearance of Max "Thunder" Hatchett, a professional wrestler and friend of Axel, plus Eddie "Skate" Hunter (known as Sammy in Japan), a rollerblading enthusiast and younger brother of Adam. However, Adam is unavailable as a playable character, as he has been captured by Mr. X and must be rescued.

Streets Of Rage 2 allows two player co-operative play, but the game also includes a versus mode called Duel. The versus mode functions more like a 1 on 1 fighting game in static stages, but with the addition of weapons and 2.5D movement as in the standard game mode.

The game builds upon the grappling system first popularised by the arcade brawler Final Fight. The player can hold an opponent simply by walking into them. Streets Of Rage introduced a method for players to transition from a front to rear grapple, by vaulting over their opponent. However, Max does not have this ability, as it is replaced by him jumping with the opponent, in a similar fashion to Mike Haggar from Final Fight.

Grapple moves are achieved by pressing the Punch button simultaneously with the forward or backward direction, or Punch on its own. All characters perform a striking combo when the player inputs Forward + Punch. Additionally, Max and Skate can perform air throws, by jumping from the front or rear grapple. Skate's air throws are activated during his transitional vault movement.

Compared to the first Streets Of Rage, the sequel delivers a greater quantity and wider variety of grappling techniques. Axel now has his own unique fighting style, rather than sharing throws with Adam and Blaze as in the previous game. Blaze, who was described as a judoka in the first game, has received an additional judo throw to compliment her Tomoe Nage- It is an O Soto Gari (Major Outer Reap). As expected, the pro wrestler Max has a variety of suplexes and slams, but also a front headlock. It would have been nice for him to have a jumping piledriver or powerbomb, but I appreciate SEGA's attempt to avoid copying Final Fight. Max's air throws are instead quite unique for a beat-'em-up game. Skate has melee-based grab moves, with the exception of his jumping throws, adding more variety to the game.

It appears that SEGA has used some recycling of sprites and animations in different throw moves, probably to help reduce the file size of the game and allow it to fit on a cartridge. Most notably, Max's front and back suplexes look the same, aside from the orientation of the opponent. Interestingly, a beta version of Streets Of Rage 2 shows Max's front throw launching the opponent through the air- suggesting that Axel's similar front throw was originally intended for Max. Ironically, the game would have had greater variety had Axel retained his shoulder throw from the first game, due to the omission of Adam who shares the same move. I would also have preferred Max's front throw to look more like a vertical suplex or brainbuster. Taking everything into consideration however, the selection of grabs and throwing techniques on offer in Streets Of Rage 2 is very good.

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