Streets Of Rage 2 - Play Online Free

About Streets Of Rage 2

Set a year after the first game, Mr. X's syndicate rebuilds and takes Adam Hunter hostage, which is the excuse for eight side-scrolling stages: downtown streets, a bridge, an amusement park, a stadium, a ship, a jungle, a factory and finally the syndicate's stronghold. You pick from four brawlers and walk right, clearing each screen of thugs before the game lets you continue. Punches chain into combos, grabs turn into throws, and pipes, knives and bottles litter the ground.

Each character trades speed for power. Axel leans toward power while staying well-rounded, Blaze is the most balanced of the four, Max is slow but lands wrestling throws that gut a health bar, and Skate is the only one who can dash. The special attack clears space around you but shaves your own health, while the Blitz, done by tapping forward twice and then attacking, costs nothing and is the move worth learning first.

Why play Streets Of Rage 2

The sequel was built straight for the Mega Drive instead of being adapted from an arcade board, and it shows in the sprite size: the fighters are far larger than the first game's and animate through longer combo strings. Yuzo Koshiro wrote the soundtrack, with a handful of tracks from Motohiro Kawashima, pushing the FM sound chip toward house and hardcore techno with his own sound driver rather than Sega's standard tools — which is why the stage themes sound unlike most Mega Drive audio.

Tips for new players

The special attack drains your own health every time you use it, so lean on the Blitz — forward, forward, attack — which knocks enemies down for free.
Grabbed enemies can be thrown into the crowd behind them, damaging both bodies; it is the cheapest answer to being surrounded.
Getting knocked down makes you drop whatever you are carrying, and anything on the ground can be picked up and used against you by the next thug.
Mr. X fights from behind a machine gun and only stops to reload — close the distance during that pause rather than trading at range, and expect his bodyguard Shiva first.
Skate is fast enough to dash past a group but does the least damage; Max hits hardest and is far too slow to escape a pincer, so pick for the crowd you struggle with.

Platform

Sega Genesis

Released

1992

Genre

Beat 'em up

Publisher

Sega

Developer

Ancient (with Shout! Designworks, M.N.M Software and H.I.C.)

Players

1 player

Price

Free

Default Controls

You can play with keyboard, gamepad, or touch (on mobile). The default keyboard layout is below; remap any key inside the emulator settings.

↑↓←→D-Pad

ZA

XB

CC

EnterStart

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you perform the Blitz move in Streets of Rage 2?

Tap the direction you are facing twice to start moving forward, then press the attack button. Every character has a different Blitz — a lunging punch, a shoulder charge, a sliding kick — and unlike the special attack it does not cost any of your health.

What changed between Streets of Rage and Streets of Rage 2?

Adam is the hostage rather than a playable fighter, replaced by his younger brother Eddie 'Skate' Hunter and the wrestler Max Thunder. The police-car backup attack from the first game is gone, swapped for per-character special attacks and Blitz attacks, and both the sprites and the stage count grew.

Who composed the Streets of Rage 2 soundtrack?

Yuzo Koshiro, with a few tracks contributed by Motohiro Kawashima. The score draws on house, techno, hardcore techno and breakbeat, and Koshiro used a custom sound driver rather than Sega's standard tools, which is why the bass lines and percussion sound so different from other Mega Drive games.

Is Streets Of Rage 2 really free to play?

Yes. Every game on OldGames.Games is free to play in your browser. There are no downloads or hidden fees; a free account is required to play.

Can I save my progress?

Yes. The emulator supports save states — you can save the exact moment you're at and resume later from any device by signing into a free OldGames account.