Didn’t like this as much as the first. Enemies felt more restrictive in how you could approach them and a lot cheaper in how they attacked. Take the jet pack goons, for example. You have to wait until they’re at a specific altitude to air-kick them and even then the attack could miss for no discernible reason. Other enemies, including but not limited to knife-wielding punks, motorcycle riders, agile ninjas, the skull miniboss in level 3, and the boxer in level 5, encourage a passive playstyle where you wait for them to approach and then strike back. It gets especially tedious in the second half where they throw multiple enemies with giant healthbars at you.

The bosses were the biggest letdown. In the first game, they had distinct fighting styles that, with only a couple exceptions, could be learned and beaten without taking damage. Not so here. Either the fighting style is ripped straight from the original, or they constantly jump around in unpredictable patterns to land charge or grab attacks. There’s nothing as creative as the ninja twins, the chubby pyromaniac, or even the boomerang-wielding giant in the first level.

On a more positive note, the audiovisuals are excellent. The graphics and sound effects are a huge upgrade over the original and the music, while not super memorable to me, has great audio samples for a 16-bit game. The characters feel even more distinct. Max and Skate in particular feel powerful and agile, respectively. Each enemy having a unique name and visible healthbar are also nice touches.

Maybe I just haven’t found the right beat ‘em up for me. This was still more enjoyable than the entire Golden Axe trilogy. Maybe the third or fourth entries will be up my alley.