Streets of Rage 2

Streets of Rage 2 (also known as Bare Knuckle II in Japan) is a side-scrolling beat 'em up released by Sega for the Sega Genesis in 1992. This game received several re-releases, including ones for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo 3DS.

Plot
The game takes place one year after the events of the first game. Mr. X has taken over the city and kidnapped Adam Hunter. It's up to Axel Stone and Blaze Felding to save the day with the help of Adam's kid brother Skate and a pro wrestler named Max Thunder.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) An amazing dance music soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro that is worthy of nightclubs.
 * 2) Vastly improved controls and gameplay mechanics.
 * 3) The game introduces Adam's younger brother Eddie "Skate" Hunter and wrestler Max Thunder and Shiva, and more.
 * 4) Each of the four characters have a unique playstyle.
 * 5) Great graphics, with sprites that are larger and more detailed than the first game's. It can even handle several enemies on screen at once without slowdown.
 * 6) Like the first game the game contains good voice acting.
 * 7) A large variety of enemies to fight. Enemies even get smarter and nastier as the game progresses.
 * 8) The backgrounds in each level is very diverse from each other.
 * 9) Multiple difficulty settings to choose from, with Mania being truly intense.
 * 10) Along with it's predecessor it receive a game gear port.
 * 11) There are programs you can use to replace the characters with characters from other video games, therefore you can make your own Streets of Rage 2 rom hacks.
 * 12) It is somewhat challenging, but it is not frustrating.

Reception
Upon release, Streets of Rage 2 received wide critical acclaim, with scores above 90% from most video game magazines at the time.