Streets of Rage 2

When you grab the controller and hit start, those tones kick in. You know them. Anyone who's ever held a Mega Drive knows them. Streets of Rage 2 is what happens when Sega takes a beat-em-up from the arcade, throws money at it, and says: do it again, but do it right. It came out in 1992 and instantly became the standard by which every other console brawler was measured.

You walk down the street with a club, a knife, or your fists, fighting your way across the screen. Nothing complicated — move, hit, jump, special attack that drains your health but clears the screen. Four characters to choose from, each with different speed and strength. Axel's balanced, Blaze is fast, Max is brutally slow but packs a punch. Level after level, a few hidden things on the map, food that saves you, and every now and then you grab a weapon from a beaten enemy.

Here's the problem — and I should say it straight — the game is hard. Tough. No passwords, no save points mid-level. One wrong move, one mistimed decision, and you're done. The level design is also unpredictable at times. An enemy spawns exactly where you can't see him. He hits you before you can react. That's not great — it's simply hard, and sometimes frustrating. This game won't cut you slack.

But here's the thing. That very cunning design, that toughness, that need to repeat and repeat — that's the strength of Streets of Rage 2. The soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro plays on in your head forever. The animations are fluid. The guys hitting and falling have weight to them. When you finally beat the third level on your third try, that's a victory you feel in your hands. Not just a cleared checkpoint.

Today, with an emulator and save states, it plays completely different. You can take your time and get through it without the stress a kid in the '90s felt watching that Game Over screen. In that world, the game is one of the best of its kind — precise, cunning, relentless. We remember it because it got us, and we came back for more.