Game profile
Streets of Rage 2
This Mega Drive brawler is regarded as one of the best beat em ups of its era and is playable today through Sega's Mega Drive classics collections on PC, consoles and Switch. Its legendary soundtrack and smooth two player co op brawling made it a genre role model.
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What kind of game this is
At its core this is Fighting / Action, set in the present day. Visually it is built on pixel art, and the overall tone stays somewhere between light and heavy. The structure is guided rather than open, so you are moved along instead of dropped into a map. It is built around short sessions, which makes it easy to pick up for half an hour.
The difficulty is moderate and fair, demanding attention without punishing you for it. Story exists mostly as background texture rather than a reason to keep going. Co-op is supported, so you can bring someone along. It is available broadly, on 5 platforms. It sits in the budget bracket.
What stands out
- Legendary synth soundtrack
- Smooth two player co op
- Classic beat em up gameplay
This fits you if
- you are after a proper adrenaline rush
- you want your skill measured against other people
- you usually have thirty to sixty minutes and want that to be enough
- you have someone to play with
- you are watching your budget
- you like a deliberate retro look over photorealism
Look elsewhere if
- you want something that lasts, this is over after 4 hours
- pixel art puts you off
- you specifically want an open world to roam
- you want a game that fills a whole evening in one go
How long is Streets of Rage 2?
About 4 hours in total. That is roughly 2 evening(s), so you can realistically finish it this week.
How the rating ranks
Critics settled on 88 out of 100, which puts it above 78 percent of the 1276 games here and at rank 273 overall. That is a strong score, comfortably above what most releases manage.
For comparison, Fighting averages 81 points across the database, so this one sits 7 points above its own genre. The figure rests on 205 collected ratings.
Released in 1992, which makes it 34 years old. A genuine classic, and worth checking how the version you buy holds up today.
The facts
- Release year
- 1992
- Genres
- Fighting, Action
- Playtime
- approx. 4 hrs.
- Difficulty
- Moderate, fair
- Story weight
- Background flavour
- Play with
- Solo, Co-op
- Setting
- Present day
- Visual style
- Pixel art
- Price bracket
- Budget
- Platforms
- PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, Mobile
- Critic rating
- 88 / 100
Direct comparison
| Genres | Release year | Playtime | Critic rating | Price bracket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Streets of Rage 2 | 1992 | approx. 4 hrs. | 88 | Budget |
| Screamer | 2026 | approx. 15 hrs. | 70 | Mid price |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge | 2022 | approx. 8 hrs. | 85 | Mid price |
| Invincible Vs. | 2026 | Endless game | 82 | Full price |
If you liked this, try these
- 70/100 Screamer Shared: Fighting, Action, Present day, longer
- 85/100 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge Shared: Fighting, Action, Present day, longer
- 82/100 Invincible Vs. Shared: Fighting, Action, Present day, longer
- 83/100 Streets of Rage 4 Shared: Fighting, Action, Present day, longer
- 86/100 Chivalry 2 Shared: Fighting, Action, longer
- 84/100 Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls Shared: Fighting, Action, longer