Following up the original Shock Troopers was always going to be a tall task, one that I question the value of even attempting. 2nd Squad is, unsurprisingly, not as good as the original, but is still a fairly solid little run-and-gunner that's held back by a few unfortunate choices.

The roster of characters and levels is heavily stripped back. You can now select between a more varied yet condensed squad of characters, each of which feel more unique to play when compared to its predecessor's lineup. This is actually one area where I think 2nd Squad is perhaps better off than the original, as the smaller and more thoughtfully designed squad makes each character feel more robust and fun to play as.

On the other hand, the smaller number of levels I think is more to the game's detriment. There are now a total of only 7 levels with the player only going through 5 during any one playthrough. The change in the art direction is also not great, but it was 1998 and by this point you just had to put 3D objects in your arcade game. I'm not entirely against meshing 3D and 2D, but I just don't think it comes together well here. The visual style of 2nd Squad feels noticeably aged compared to the first Shock Troopers.

It's not like 2nd Squad is a bad game, it's just that Shock Troopers is so good it's hard to not feel like its sequel is a step down.