A disappointment compared to the first game. The single-player is more accessible thanks to the addition of a CPU helper, but the co-op suffers as a result. Player 1 is locked to Pocky and is the only one that has a swing attack, can collect health/powerups (of which there is one type now), or lose lives, while player 2 is one of seven friends that cannot do any of those things (bar one who has a swing attack). There are also two pretty middling shmup stages that are single-player only. This makes player 1 the only one with a proper challenge, but that challenge is dialled down by the fact that player 2 can aggressively take hits/deal damage without much consequence. The first game's co-op -- two more or less equally strong and difficult characters -- would've been more enjoyable here.

Speaking of difficulty, there's generally less of it in Pocky & Rocky 2. Part of it is due to the boss/level design and unbalanced second player, as well as the removal of the slide move, which helped raise the skill ceiling and speed of the previous game. The new partner throw and magic move (with its many combinations) are welcome additions, but I wish they were introduced in addition instead of in replacement of the original's satisfying slide and super attack.

Pocky & Rocky 2 still does a lot of right. The music, character designs, and pixel art are all great. Having seven unique additional characters to try is really sweet, and the variety of level locales and obstacles is decent (but not as great as the first game). I just wish parts of the game didn't feel like a step back in so many regards.

I swear whenever I see Pocky and Rocky being brought up it's always Pocky and Rocky 2 that's talked about. But looking at other reviews and from feedback I've gotten, it sounds like the first is actually the more revered. I don't know. Part of the problem of playing games like I do is that titles like this that are so short they can be completed in an afternoon, and thus played back-to-back with other games in the series, end up blending together in my mind. Pocky and Rocky 1 and 2 might as well be two halves of the same game, at least that's how my brain has been conditioned at this point.

Unfortunately, this also makes it a little difficult for me to say which I like more, as Pocky and Rocky 2 is really just more Pocky and Rocky. The larger roster of characters is fun to play around with and adds some extra replay value over the first, though, but on the other hand I feel like I enjoyed some of the bosses and later levels of the original more than the sequel. As far as I'm concerned, no one is more right or wrong in their preference between these two games, as they feature the same adorable charm, great character designs, and gameplay.

This is of course my way of justifying that I have no favorite and stand for nothing.

I haven't played the Pocky & Rocky games for a while, so I opted to replay them this week and TBH, unpopular opinion as it is, I think I just vastly prefer P&R2 to 1?

Sure, the slide is gone, but on the flipside the enemies aren't generally as lightning swift anymore. They tend to have more telegraphed attacks as well, such as the lightning demons who can be dodged in advance once the player figures out where their magic spawn from. This is remarkably forgiving for endgame bosses, actually.

In fact, the whole game could be described as easier than 1. The player can collect more charms and bunny ears for extra hit points all across the board. The shop system really helps, with it even being an early game that gave out guides in-game much like Forgotten World. The partner attacks deal massive damage to bosses, especially Rocky's if timed properly for each boss.

As somebody who tends to prefer harder games, I should in theory prefer P&R1. However, the consequences of the system changes here means the player can be more aggressive until the last level which makes the end's methodical pacing more like a cool change of pace. I find that pacing change to be really cool. The other thing is, frankly, co-op games are almost always harder in multiplayer for the resource splitting alone, to say nothing of other factors P&R1 suffers from like screen scrolling issues in multiplayer. Of course, P&R1 tried to band-aid this with the solution each player would collect a different type of powerup, but health pickups are still split, not to mention the screen scroll with the aggressive enemies and stage hazards makes it very easy to lose lives and need to continue off the other player's stock. I respect the effort to accommodate the multiplayer mode, but it's simply not something that will be reasonable to finish for most players. Contrast that to Pocky & Rocky 2 which I finished with a partner who never played the game before in only 2 sittings, especially helped by the new password system. Hell, it's one of the only arcadey co-op games I can think of that's actually easier in multiplayer, since player 2 can make full use of elements like homing attacks.

I guess to tldr it, this is the definitive Pocky & Rocky game to me. I love the shops, partner system, new enemies, visuals, and so forth. I respect 1 and had fun challenging myself to beat it for a playthrough or 2, but I really enjoy 2's flow and could see myself coming back to it again.

A slight improvement, maybe. There's more emphasis on partners and such this time around, and there are more of them too. The weapons issue from the first game is pretty much nonexistent here, and overall I thought this one was slightly easier. They're pretty neck and neck though, honestly. I much prefer the movement in the original, seeing as there's no sliding and such here.

You'd think this was the definitive one to play but despite the improvements it feels about the same when all's said and done. Not to say either are bad, quite the opposite in fact. Maybe try both if you're interested, though 2 is my personal preference by a small margin.