Bloody Roar 2

About Bloody Roar 2

Bloody Roar 2 (1998) is Raizing's beast-transforming 3D fighter, adding cinematic Beast Drive super attacks as shapeshifting zoanthropes confront a militant supremacist group.

Bloody Roar 2 in Depth

Five years after the first game, the zoanthropes who fought the fallen Tylon Corporation have returned to peaceful lives. But with their existence now public, hostility between humans and zoanthropes grows, giving rise to the Zoanthrope Liberation Front, which preaches zoanthrope supremacy and threatens humans and non-member zoanthropes alike. Meanwhile Alan Gado, known for promoting understanding between the two, becomes a fugitive. Rebels take on the ZLF and discover that its leader Shenlong is a puppet of Hajime Busuzima, who poses as his right-hand man; Busuzima escapes, but the ZLF is disbanded, and Gado asks the rebels to build a movement for reconciliation.

As in the first game, every character can transform into a beast form that unlocks new attacks, recovers some lost health and is generally faster or stronger. The sequel adds Beast Drives, super attacks that trigger a cut-scene and deal heavy damage, each unique to its character. Eleven fighters are playable, seven of them new. Bakuryu is a mole ninja once used as a weapon by Tylon and adopted by Yugo as his brother Kenji. Uriko, the first game's brainwashed final boss, can no longer fully transform because of the experiments. Stun is a former Tylon scientist turned into a man-made insect zoanthrope by Busuzima, and Shina is Gado's adopted daughter, a leopard and mercenary.

Making Bloody Roar 2

Raizing developed it and Hudson Soft published it in arcades in 1998 as the second Bloody Roar. The PlayStation version received mixed but broadly favourable reviews. Next Generation called it "a visually pretty and fun-to-play fighting game with just enough to set it apart from the rest of the 'me too' titles" despite minor balance issues, GamePro "a welcome addition to any fighter's library", and IGN said that what it lacked in originality it made up for "in a deep combo-laden fighting system, exquisite graphics, and layers of gameplay modes". GameRevolution was cooler, calling it fine "for a try or two and nothing more".