Absolutely, I've beaten Streets of Rage 2 more than any game ever, I bet I've beaten it 150 time since I got it back in 1993. So, about 8 times a year since then.
My favorite thing to do is to activate the super hard mode (give myself 9 lives, though, because it gets HARD) with the cheat mode and go to level 7 and play that INSANE elevator level. It gets so ridiculous; the regular thugs have stars because they have so much life. Also, enemies/bosses show up (with weird colors; like, "why is that guy's skin green now?!") that never would have showd up if not in that mode.
All in all, I prefer Streets of Rage 3 in every way -- the music is way more awesome (despite being "abrasive".. it really exploited the Genesis sound chip for all it was worth, the songs were actually really really long and complex -- brilliant!); you gert to play as Shiva, Roo, and Ash in the Japanese version.. all the special moves, when you get the star and use a 6-button controller.. plus the weapons have special moves! Like you can do a special move with a sword when playing as Axel. So badass! Also, I love the elevator level on this one, too (elevator levels are always my favorite) cuz you can just throw EVERYONE off, haha.
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