The latest SEGA Forever classic is here, and it’s the beloved beat-’em-up Streets of Rage 2. The first game is already on the service, and this sequel is bigger and better in every way. There’s a larger and more balanced cast of characters, more enemy types, more levels, tighter action, and slightly more detailed graphics in some regards. The game boasts the same enhancements as the rest of the SEGA Forever lineup, and can be played for free with ads, or ad-free with an in-app purchase of $1.99. Along with the ability to save anywhere and anytime or even rewind time to reverse mistakes, you can switch characters or nab a few extra lives at any time by watching a video ad, and the game’s controls have been optimized for touch screens. You can also play it in forced 4:3 aspect ratio, or at a pixel perfect resolution that’s scaled up precisely from its native running resolution.
For those who haven’t tried out this game or any others in the series yet, Streets of Rage 2 is a side-scrolling beat-’em-up in which you choose one of four characters and try to make it to the end boss and bring peace to the city, all with a limited number of lives. Your four characters run the gamut from a bulging hunk of slow muscle to fast and technical teen Skate, and each character has their own movement patterns, moves and health-using special attacks.
The SEGA Forever collection includes a large number of classic games from Sega’s history, all the way up to the Dreamcast era when the gaming giant finally exited the hardware market. Each of these games is a perfect emulation of the original, with a few added features, that’s been tweaked to run just as well as a native Android game, even on slower or weaker phones that may have some issues with emulation. Naturally, this is also a good way for those who are averse to emulation for technical or moral reasons to experience some of SEGA’s greatest classics without having to hunt down classic systems at flea markets or in potentially unreliable online marketplaces.
