Streets of Rage 2 - Release Versions and Ports

Release Versions and Ports

In Japan, and in Europe, Streets of Rage 2 uses Roman numerals (Bare Knuckle II, Streets of Rage II) and Blaze's up skirt jump kick sprites are intact. The Japanese version also shows Mr. X smoking a cigar, which was edited out of the EU/US version. The Japanese version gives Skate's first name as Sammy, but in the European and US versions, his name is Eddie. The European version gives Max's second name as Hatchett; the US and Japanese versions give it as Thunder.

• Beta Version via ROM Emulation, a beta version of the game's first level is playable. It is semi-complete with moves, areas, rain effect and all sound effects missing. The bar area is much shorter and without breakable tables and chairs, and the Electra mini-boss is missing, replaced by a Donovan sprite named Singer. Barbon, the level's boss is scrambled when performing certain moves and will respawn three times upon defeat. After that, the player is stuck in the Boss Area. Max Thunder uses a completely different sprite set, giving him a more gorilla-like appearance. Axel's special moves were also changed for the final, in this beta he uses two attacks similar to Sagat's Tiger Uppercut and Ryu and Ken's Hurricane Kick from Street Fighter II. It also features a different background music (this one named officially "Walking Bottom"), more similar to the tunes found within Streets of Rage.

• 8-bit Versions the Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear versions of Streets of Rage 2 are quite different from the Mega Drive original, and to each other, similar to the Master System/Game Gear version of Sonic the Hedgehog, they are, in truth, different games. As well different levels and the inferior graphics, Max Thunder is omitted from both. The Game Gear version does not show enemy names.

• Arcade Version An arcade version of Streets of Rage 2 was released onto Sega's Mega Drive based Mega-Play hardware. It uses a regular credit system. In this version, all 1-ups have been replaced by money bags, there is no in-game timer and the difficulty levels are one step above the Mega Drive version. Scoring is kept by number of KOs, instead of damage inflicted.

• Collections Streets of Rage 2 was collected in the Sega Smash Pack for Sega's final home console the Dreamcast. There is also a port of the game as well as the first and third games on the Japanese version of Sonic Gems Collection for the PS2 and Nintendo GameCube. The ports on Sonic Gems Collection are Genesis perfect and are the Japanese versions of the games (they are also available on GameTap). The game appears in Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. A Streets of Rage Collection was also added to Xbox Live Arcade, featuring all 3 Genesis games, as part of the Sega Vintage Collection, The M2 Version of the game releases on PlayStation Network to be announced

• Virtual Console On May 15, 2007, the game was released for Japan's Virtual Console, and then released on North America's Virtual Console on May 21, 2007. On June 1, 2007, it was released on Europe's Virtual Console.
• Xbox Live Arcade On August 29, 2007, Streets of Rage 2 was released on Xbox Live Arcade for the Microsoft Xbox 360 console. This version features filtered graphics and online co-operative play. It was later removed from the service in June 2012 and replaced with the Streets of Rage Collection.
• iOS The original game was released for iPhone and iPod touch in April 2011.
• PSN/PSN+ Streets of Rage 2 is also available for free download as part of Sony's "PSN+" Service, or for £3.99 on "PSN"
• Steam Streets of Rage 2 was published on Valve's Steam platform on 26 January 2011, both as stand-alone purchase and part of the SEGA Mega Drive Classics Pack 4.