Pretty much this. SoR1 is a super solid beat-em-up and I'd argue underrated by most folks but SoR2 is just a better game. More dense mechanically, better soundtrack (though 1's is still great), better sound fx (love the impact sounds when Axel hits with his f+Special attack) better looking (technically) and is everything a sequel should be (enhancing what was great about the first game and removing/tweaking the stuff that wasn't so great).
The screen clearing mechanic takes way too long in the first game, the characters have more limited move sets (which can be totally fine in beat-em-ups but SoR2's additions make sooo much sense) and the flipping bitches can eat a dick.
Only thing SoR1 has that's better is Adam over Skate. Skate blows.
Obviously, these are more than valid points of view, I can only disagree but do find the argumentation interesting.
you know what I want to ask you is - do you not feel that with so much power now available to the selected characters, they are greatly overpowered with regards to the mostly very dumb opponents? I would eventually get tired of hitting people in SOR2 and feel that there was something slightly off about the hit boxes. I can't seem to feel that all that power is warranted - once the gloss wears tyhrough, it's just too much. I used to love to pull off many of these moves, but looking back - punch kick jump kick and grab can be enough.
just to bring back Final Fight for a second. the enemy - character challenge, especially when they ganged up and each followed their distinct routine - was in my opinion, perfect.
with SOR1 it was a Double Dragon approach. with SOR2 it was about overkill - a game which came out post Street Fighter 2 and capitalized on what that game did with fighting moves. but it was about fun, not serious technical challenge (not saying the game was easy, I do think it was overlong and stopped providing enough variation after a while).
and also the character design - back then was interesting and even cool - but it hasn't stood the test of time in my opinion - selectable characters look better for the most part in the first part than they do in the second.
as I say, it's just about points of view so I appreciate the mostly SOR2 support from those posting.
edit:
here's something nice for all you fans for SOR2, you may have seen it already:
http://www.soronline.net/sor2_bk2beta.htm
edit 2:
taken from wikipedia - anyone play this? sounds pretty awesome:
3D Streets of Rage 2 was developed by M2 as part of the 3D Classics series for the Nintendo 3DS. It was released on April 29, 2015 in Japan[1] and July 23, 2015 in North America, Europe and Australia.[2][3] In addition to being redesigned with the stereoscopic 3D effects of the 3DS, it features two new gameplay modes in Rage Relay and Casual Mode. Rage Relay allows the player to play through the game using all four characters in any chosen order, and will switch to the next in line each time they die. Casual Mode allows players to instantly defeat enemies, including bosses, by knocking them to the ground or using combos
