Because of this, local co-op ends up working better, even if you have to share a screen. It’s not uncommon to see your partner seemingly striking at thin air, while entire groups of enemies simply vanish and die right in front of you. Co-op sees you and a friend battling through the swathes of familiar enemies together, and while the presence of another player can bring some much needed variety, there are numerous connectivity issues to contend with. Outside of poorly realised boss battles and the drudgery of beating down peons, Ken’s Rage 2 does offer some multiplayer modes. It can help to apply scrolls – stat boosting items – to your character, but the difference is still negligible. You’ll always appear to be doing the same damage no matter how high your strength is, and your health bar will always seem to be chipped away by grunts no matter how much you’ve bolstered your defence. The system does allow for a slightly customised experience, but sadly, levelling up doesn’t appear to give your character any significant advantage in combat.

Repeatedly using different types of attacks allocates experience to different stats, and a quick look at your character’s information screen will show which area you’ve been focusing on. When it comes to levelling up your favourite burly death-dealer, Ken’s Rage 2 employs a system that adapts according to your own play style. The variety of fighting styles on show does keep each character feeling fresh, even if the controls are almost identical for each one. The franchise’s main protagonist, Kenshiro, is particularly skilled in making enemies explode from the inside out, while others deliver lightning fast paralyzing blows and wield weapons. That said, there are only 22 to pick from, which is less than you’d expect when it comes to a Koei game.Īs is the case in Fist of the North Star, most warriors in Ken’s Rage 2 are disciplined in a deadly martial art. Personalities that were inexplicably missing from the original appear here, and each fighter sports their own unique moveset and style. On the point of the characters, Ken’s Rage 2 marks a large improvement on the original game’s roster. And there is quite a lot to take in, especially since Legend Mode can be completed multiple times with different unlockable characters, the story changing based on their perspective. Even for newcomers, the tale is told in and understandable but not overwhelming manner. It works surprisingly well characters are quickly developed and plot details are conveyed in bite-sized chunks. And, in recognition of said manga, most cutscenes take place in comic book form, with Japanese dialogue spoken over pictures of in-game character models. But in Ken’s Rage 2, the plot is retold at a good pace and includes all of the main narrative points from the original manga. When it comes to games based upon a licensed franchise, the story usually doesn’t make the transitional jump all too well.

Legend Mode itself tells the story of Fist of the North Star with impressive accuracy.

Rage 2 multiplayer