No More Heroes 2: Things to Do in Santa Destroy When You're Bored

Travis Touchdown is back in the upcoming No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, the sequel to No More Heroes released on the Wii in 2008. Three years have passed for Travis since the events of the first game, and for reasons that aren't entirely clear (at least in the beginning of the game), Touchdown has lost his status as the world's number one assassin, as well as his memory of exactly how that happened. As in the original, your goal will be to fight your way to the top of the assassin's ranks by taking down the world's best--meaning a bunch of insane boss fights against over-the-top characters that could seemingly only come from the mind of the game's executive producer Suda 51.

Need some examples? The very first battle you fight, which also serves as a reminder of the combat controls in the game, is against a tattooed Cloud Strife look-alike. Later on in the game, you'll go up against a burly freak wearing a doll's mask and wielding a combination flamethrower/battle axe. If you saw Suda 51's recent appearance on Today On the Spot, you saw Touchdown's battle against a football-playing assassin and his posse of scantily clad clone cheerleaders; a fight that somehow turned into a giant mech battle among the streets of Santa Destroy where the game takes place. The thing is, there's more to do in Desperate Struggle than fight an endless string of boss battles.

After all, Travis needs his downtime as much as he needs to earn some cash on the side. Here, then, is a list of things you can do in Santa Destroy when you're bored (or, at least, not slashing a ranked homicidal maniac to death with your beam katana).

Make Jeane Lean
Jeane is Travis' pet cat, and since the original game, Jeane has gained some weight. As a responsible owner, it's up to you to help Jeane lose that weight by keeping her active with minigames that have her chasing, jumping, or getting a massage. In other words: KITTY PARTY!

Earn Your Keep
Want some new duds for Travis? Looking to buy some gourmet food for Jeane? You're going to need cash. As in the original No More Heroes, you can participate in plenty of side jobs in Desperate Struggle. But this time around, many of those side jobs are played out in 8-bit-style minigames, some of which are more fun than others. Highlights for us include an exterminator minigame that's one-part Pac-Man, one-part Dig Dug; a pizza delivery game that plays a bit like Pole Position; and a hamburger-cooking game that is just as preposterous as it sounds.

Bizarre Jerry 5
Travis is just like you and me; after a hard day's work, he likes to plop down in front of the tube and play some video games. His game of choice: Bizarre Jerry 5, an anime shoot-'em-up featuring cartoon ladies wearing very little and firing preposterous numbers of magic anime bullets at enemies that are distinctly floral in design. In other words, it's your typical Japanese arcade game. You'll get a brief glimpse at the Bizarre Jerry 5 intro video (as well as a few other Desperate Struggle idiosyncrasies) in this next movie:

Technical Wrestling
There are only two things Travis loves as much as killing: women and wrestling. When he's not ogling girls, Travis is picking up new wrestling moves from magazines he finds strewn around Santa Destroy. Any move you learn, you can use against dazed enemies as a finisher, which helps when you're going up against the game's lower-level enemies. Speaking of which…

Trim the Fat
In order to get to the fights against giant mechs and flamethrower-toting nut jobs, you'll have to wade through tons of minions. Desperate Struggle puts less emphasis than its predecessor on carving through wave after wave of cronies (at least in the game's early goings). On the other hand, some of these jerks are very, very fat and carry dangerous weapons, like axes and chainsaws. All of which makes putting a beam katana through their guts that much more satisfying. Check it out:

So there's your quick and dirty guide for things to do when you aren't working your way up the list to become the world's number one killer. You'll get your chance to try out all of these when No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle for the Nintendo Wii is released on January 26.