I. New Characters, New Moves: An Interview with Ayano Koshiro on Streets of Rage 2’s Development
—Thank you for joining us today for this interview. To begin, could you describe your role in the development of Streets of Rage 2?
Koshiro: My role? I would probably say Chief Graphic Designer. In today’s terms, it might be closer to “art direction”—defining the overall visual style of the game. I was also responsible for character designs. Crucially, I conceived all the special moves and attacks, at least in their initial, rough form.
—Oh, you were involved in designing the moves and attacks as well? Did the planning team provide any general guidelines for that?
Koshiro: Actually, no, I came up with them first. The head planner was responsible for setting the actual damage parameters, but I outlined the approximate strength of each attack. You know, something like, “jump attack deals 1 damage, straight jab 2, heavy jab 3,” and so on. For Max and Sammy, being entirely new characters in Streets of Rage 2, I consulted with my brother, Yuzo Koshiro, about their design.
—So, you designed Max and Sammy completely from scratch?
Koshiro: Yes, that’s right.
—It seems quite unusual that the planners weren’t involved in that initial design phase…
Koshiro: Well, that’s just how things were done back then!
—Indeed, graphic design was prioritized, and visual impact was heavily emphasized.
Koshiro: Yes, that’s true. However, we also aimed for a specific combat flow. My brother and I were huge fans of Street Fighter II—so much so that we bought an arcade cabinet and installed it in the Ancient office. We admired the fighting mechanics in SFII, and between us, a shared vision for the combat in Streets of Rage 2 emerged: two jabs, followed by a straight punch, then a powerful hit that sends enemies flying! That kind of satisfying flow was essential for Streets of Rage 2.
We were constantly asking ourselves, “What would make the sequel fun and exciting?” We had Axel, the standard fighter, and Blaze, the agile, speedy character. But then there was Adam from the first Streets of Rage… and Adam didn’t really have a distinct specialty… (laughs). So, he was out. (laughs)
—Ah, so you were the one responsible for Adam’s absence in Streets of Rage 2?
Koshiro: Yes, that was me. (laughs) I don’t recall the exact conversation, but of course, I sought Sega’s approval first.
—But it was your suggestion to remove Adam?
Koshiro: Hmm… I’m not entirely sure if it was solely my idea. It was probably more of a simultaneous realization, like, “We don’t really need Adam, do we?” “Nope!”
—That way, you could introduce characters with more distinct playstyles compared to Axel and Blaze in Streets of Rage 2.
Koshiro: Exactly, right. Since the workload would be roughly the same, we thought, why not add someone completely new? Plus, with a sequel, you always want to bring something fresh and innovative, right? The character sprites in Streets of Rage 2 were going to be larger, so we wanted them to have more varied attacks and movements. Creating brand new characters was just a faster route to achieve that.
So, Adam had to be set aside. However, we did include him in the storyline. We thought, since he’s not present anymore, perhaps Axel and Blaze need to rescue him?
From there, the concept of his younger brother, Sammy, emerged. He was envisioned as the super-maneuverable, tricky character. Mastering him would require some skill. We designed him as a character that experienced players of Streets of Rage 2 would want to try out.
As for Max… he’s the power-style character. My brother Yuzo is a big fan of throw-based characters – those characters that are challenging to use, but when you land a hit, it’s devastating, often ending fights in a single blow.
This roster felt like a good balance to us: two standard-style characters and two with unique quirks, making Streets of Rage 2 more diverse.
Once we had decided on the direction for each character in Streets of Rage 2, their movesets came naturally. Axel and Blaze were straightforward, so that was smooth. We envisioned flashy, colorful moves for Sammy. Since Max was the throw-style character, we leaned into pro-wrestling moves for him.
I created a move index for each character, filling it in move by move. Nearly all of their moves were my creation. I had to think of ways to diversify their movesets, drawing inspiration and nuances from the popular versus fighting games of the time.
—There’s a specific move where you hold down the kick button and then release it to perform a quick double kick in Streets of Rage 2. Did you come up with that one too?
Koshiro: Yes, that kind of thing often emerged from casual conversations with the development team. Someone would then code it on the spot, and if we liked it, we just went with it. (laughs)
Back then, if you had an idea you wanted to test, you just added it. This iterative process made developing Streets of Rage 2 very dynamic.
—Streets of Rage 2 features a large and memorable cast of characters, both playable and enemies. Who are your personal favorites, or the most memorable for you from Streets of Rage 2?
Koshiro: Hmm, who indeed? We created so many characters for Streets of Rage 2, it’s hard to recall them all now. I do remember that during the development of the first Streets of Rage, Sega expressed concerns about depicting females being hit in the game for the overseas market. This wasn’t an issue this time around for Streets of Rage 2. However, I do remember them censoring Mr. X’s image in the final scene. I believe they removed the cigarette he was smoking.
Also, though perhaps not directly related to Streets of Rage 2, anything connected to religion was consistently flagged as problematic. If a window frame even remotely resembled a crucifix, for instance, we’d be asked to avoid having enemies fight in front of it.
Our enemy designs for Streets of Rage 2 began with their movement patterns. Then, we would introduce different enemy types—tricky ones, tougher ones with more health—to create variety in the enemy encounters.
—And did you have a favorite enemy type in Streets of Rage 2?
Koshiro: Hmm, maybe the kung fu enemies near the end of Streets of Rage 2? The black-clad ones with incredibly strong attacks, they’re almost like rivals for the player characters. Everyone was reading manga from Weekly Shounen Champion back then. We were into Baki and Kakugo no Susume, fighting manga like that. That genre had a significant influence on Streets of Rage 2… there are quite a few manga references within the game.
II. Working at Ancient: The Development Environment of Streets of Rage 2
—But weren’t the schedules and deadlines incredibly tight for Streets of Rage 2? I heard you only had about half a year to work on it?
Koshiro: Yes, but I believe the initial planning phase took less than a week. I think we started Streets of Rage 2 right around the time the first Streets of Rage was completed… so yes, half a year? Something in that range.
—This was Ancient’s first game for the Megadrive, though, wasn’t it? I imagine getting to grips with the technical aspects must have been very challenging within that timeframe for Streets of Rage 2.
Koshiro: Yes, it worked out okay, thankfully. Probably due to the exceptionally talented programmers we had. (laughs)
—Did they have prior experience with the Megadrive?
Koshiro: No, I believe it was their first time. The programmers who were skilled back then were exceptionally skilled. Many of the external subcontractors who assisted us were also very talented. Ucchi-san (Kataru Uchimura, the main planner at Ancient from the beginning, who later created Story of Thor, Vatlva, and others) also joined the team around that time. Although I don’t think he was a正式 Ancient employee yet.
Essentially, I handled the art design and planning for Streets of Rage 2, but the actual implementation and coding were entrusted to others.
—It sounds like you were both Designer and Planner for Streets of Rage 2.
Koshiro: Yes, perhaps so. I also handled much of the communication with Sega, attending meetings, acting as a liaison, and so on.
During the development of Streets of Rage 2, it felt like half my time was spent obsessing over versus fighting games, and the other half was dedicated to actually making Streets of Rage 2. The gaming landscape was changing, and versus fighting games were becoming hugely popular. I really wanted to incorporate those elements into Streets of Rage 2. I wanted it to have that rich variety.
I really pushed to include an expanded versus mode in Streets of Rage 2, but we ran out of time and couldn’t make it happen. I wanted to ensure there was more variety in the character movesets to support such a mode in Streets of Rage 2.
—Without a varied moveset, a versus mode wouldn’t have been very engaging, indeed.
Koshiro: Yes, I think so too.
—How many employees did Ancient have back then during the development of Streets of Rage 2?
Koshiro: Hmm, good question. Permanent employees? Probably just myself, my brother, one programmer, and maybe one other person, I think?
We eventually added a few more designers, but beyond that, it was mostly external staff, perhaps around 10 people in total on the Streets of Rage 2 development. It was 20 years ago, so my memory is a bit hazy, but probably something like that.
—What was the biggest challenge you set for yourself with Streets of Rage 2?
Koshiro: Definitely integrating those versus fighting game elements into Streets of Rage 2. Also, in Super Famicom games, you saw these incredibly creative and elaborate stages. I wondered, how much stage variety could we pack into Streets of Rage 2? I knew that would be a critical factor in its success.
We also introduced diagonal scrolling in Streets of Rage 2. I knew I wanted to create something truly impressive for that first stage to showcase this new feature.
—I see. What did you come up with for the first stage? I’m trying to picture stage 1 of Streets of Rage 2…
Koshiro: We ultimately decided against a major trap or stage gimmick for the first level, as it’s the opening stage and might be too overwhelming for new players. Instead, we placed that diagonal scrolling section shortly after the start, to surprise players early on in Streets of Rage 2.
The second stage features the motorcycle section, the third stage is set on a pirate ship, and the fourth stage has an alien theme. The stage progression was heavily influenced by the Contra series. Each stage in Contra is like, “whoaa!!”, giving a sense of backstory to the game. It’s not explicitly stated in words, but I think you get a sense of it just through the stage progression in Streets of Rage 2, similar to Contra.
—Yes, I didn’t realize this until I saw your planning documents and concept art for Streets of Rage 2, but there was supposed to be a narrative to the events within the stages! In areas where you were ambushed by enemies, you even wrote notes like “it’s a trap!” I didn’t pick up on any of that while playing. (laughs)
Koshiro: Yes, I know, right? (laughs) Streets of Rage 2 was filled with details like that, references to things my friends and I were passionate about back then. Remember the enemy, Jack? The one with the knife. His palette swap is called Beano. Those names, Jack and Beano, came from this soybean candy we all loved. (laughs)
—That’s absurd. (laughs) Did you also include staff names in Streets of Rage 2?
Koshiro: Yes. We did that in Story of Thor as well, it’s become something of a tradition. You’ll usually find our names hidden somewhere within our games.
It would often start with everyone sitting around, asking, “Okay, who do you want to be?” In Story of Thor, one of the programmers wanted the mouse character to be named after him, and he dedicated extra time and effort to that character. (laughs)
III. Changes from Streets of Rage to Streets of Rage 2
—There are also several elements that were removed from the first Streets of Rage in Streets of Rage 2. Which of these changes were you involved in? Let’s start with the missing pepper spray!
Koshiro: Ah! Why did we remove it? Maybe because it was annoying to use? (laughs)
—Yes, I suppose it wasn’t very effective in Streets of Rage.
Koshiro: We might have just run out of memory space in Streets of Rage 2? What with the steel pipe, the bat, the knife, and the bottle already included…
—I liked the bottle, especially the way you could break it in Streets of Rage.
Koshiro: Yes, it had two distinct attack methods: first, an overhand strike, and then, once broken, a stabbing motion. The steel pipe also had multiple hitboxes—it could hit behind you when you brandished it overhead in Streets of Rage.
—Oh yes! Who came up with that detail for the weapons in Streets of Rage 2?
Koshiro: That was something we just figured out as we developed Streets of Rage 2. Someone would add the data, and then we’d playtest it. We’d add something, test it, and then readjust… that kind of iterative process. We all participated in it, and it went really smoothly. It was a quick and really fun way to work on Streets of Rage 2.
We’d all gather around the computer, and someone would suggest, “How about putting the hitbox over there?” Then we’d just directly add it in the editor. (laughs) With the sound effects added, it was hilarious. We’d be like, “This is it!” (laughs)
—What about the special attack from the first Streets of Rage, with the patrol car and the bazooka? Why was that removed in Streets of Rage 2?
Koshiro: We had to remove that since we were using diagonal scrolling in Streets of Rage 2. In exchange, we provided a dedicated button for each character’s unique special attacks.
—I’m guessing you would have removed the patrol car attack anyway, even without diagonal scrolling, right?
Koshiro: Yes, probably. While it was a standout feature in the first Streets of Rage, we needed a different way to escape from tight situations in Streets of Rage 2.
—I see. But the new special moves aren’t quite as flashy as the patrol car, don’t you think?
Koshiro: Yes, but I believe being able to strategize and decide how to use your special attack is more engaging. Like in a STG (shoo
