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Aussie Ninja is wise on and off the street
Publisher: Capcom/THQ Australia
Wed, 5 July 2006
by: Australian Ninja
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Final Fight: Streetwise is a three dimensional beat 'em up in the style of the old arcade games. Except that instead of stages you have one continuos almost free roaming game world. Best thing I can say this early is that you won't fall in love with this game, but then it won't break your heart either. If you have any interest in smashing people in the face with baseball bats then read on and give this game a chance.
I'm going to yak on about some stuff related to fighting games, so if you just want the short of it, skip to the second half of the review for the usual deal. Otherwise read on fight fans.
The first night with this game I thought "lord save me, not another shitty 3-D beat em up." I'm a BIG fan of all the old 2-D beat 'em up games. Played them a lot. Spent my pocket money on them at the arcades. Finished them then keep playing them, you'd have to drag me away. In fact I'd still be playing them if they hadn't disappeared. Turtles in Time, Knights of the Round, Golden Axe, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs - I could go on all day. I liked them and their brethren a whole lot and I was freakishly good at playing them. Sammy's note: Good to see a man who likes to toot his own horn...that didn't sound right
So when I see the shame that is the modern 3-D versions of the old side scrolling beat em up genre - I generally look the other way and weep a silent tear while praying to the gaming gods not to let any more of these abominations appear on store shelves. It is my opinion that 99.999% of all 3-D beat 'em ups ever made are pure excrement. They get it so wrong on so many levels that I won't bore you with the details. There is one good one - known as the "Devil Within" and it stars Jin of Tekken fame. Now THAT is a game done right. I know it's a mini-game but that doesn't stop it from being the best game in its genre.
If you are going to make a sequel or a remake of an old classic there are a couple ways of going about it. One is to just royally fuck it up thus tarnishing a good name. Well, fortunately that didn't happen with Final fight, though some may say otherwise. The other things that could happen are creating a brilliant and worthy successor or a mediocre game that falls somewhere in the middle. Guess where Final Fight stands, or should I say sits? Mediocre at best and certainly not up to the standard of the original by a long shot.
If games like Aliens vs. Predator were at the peak of Capcom's arcade beat 'em ups then Final Fight was the foundation that A vs. P and all the others were built on. There may have been other games that did similar things such as the NES's River City Ransom - but not many were as influential and memorable as the original Final Fight.
 | | Fight Club joke goes here |
Back to Final Fight. I state my above case for all the people who give a damn about good fighters. Final Fight Streetwise looks like all the other rubbish updates and rehashes except that it is not. I played it the first night thinking it would suck. I truly wanted to hate this game. But I couldn't. It was clunky yet fun. It was lame but it still had cool moments. Best of all, it had lashings of the old ultra-violence. Obviously influenced by movies like Fight Club, Streetwise contains a seedy game world along with illegal pit-fights, mafia bosses, greasy goons, hoods, punks and lackeys.
It also contains a fair bit of cigarettes, alcohol and naughty words. The adult themes make sense in the context of the game. But sometimes Capcom try too hard to oversell the main character Kyle as a streetwise tough guy. One cut scene sees him sitting in alley after winning a brutal pit fight. He's unhappy, drinking and smoking and swearing all at the same time. I almost mistook him for an Irishman, except that an Irishman would have done the swearing, drinking and fighting all at the same time instead of sequentially. Yes, I've met people like that in real life but it was a little forced in this particular scene. Kyle is pushed too hard as being 'cool and edgy.' So much that at times it's just lame and other times laugh out loud funny. But despite this I still had some respect for the character even if he had none for himself.
The main game sees Kyle searching for his brother. His brother goes by the name of Cody, as in the blonde haired fighter and guest star in SF:Zero 3
Guy [the ninja] and Haggar [the ex-mayor and ex-pro-wrestler] make guest appearances in the game and both look pretty sweet.
The hood, little Italy, Chinatown and The Pier make up the 'stages' of the game. I say 'stages' because Streetwise is basically free roaming but you still have to unlock the areas one at a time. There are side missions and mini-games: darts, slide puzzles, killing rats by squishing them with your shoe - seriously. Most of which are okay. Collecting money can be used to buy weapons and health, music tracks, fight moves/combos and bigger health bar etc.
The combos are cool and there are some sweet moves that can be used only in pit fights. The purchased combos can be used anywhere, but the counter hits can only used in the pit fights.
 | | They refused to tell him how to get, how to get to Seaseme Street |
Most of the time you will be wandering the streets looking for info, doing side missions, buying stuff and fighting boss fights. Pit fights are only optional side missions.
My favourite move was the nose break counter. Parrying a strike, Kyle retaliates with a bloody and horrifyingly beautiful smash to the opponent's nose and a shower of blood results. It was an impressive move and [surprise] I've seen it happen to someone in the schoolyard when I was a kid. So I'm saying it looked realistic which was cool.
Final Fight's music is suitably urban. While running around the game world you can stop in a record store to buy new music. Tired of that old track? Then lay down some cash for some phat new beats. A fair selection of enjoyable hip-hop is featured in the game. A total of 30 or so music tracks are in the game. Mostly hip-hop with a handful of heavy metal from Slipknot and others. I thoroughly enjoyed the music and often cranked up the volume while playing.
The city looks dirty and depressing. Run down, drab looking streets and buildings create a bleak atmosphere. Kyle looks rough, as a real street fighter would. The people on the street range from businessmen to gangsters to ugly prostitutes and homeless people in alleyways. The character models are clean and functional. The whole game has that muddy, muted colour look the Resident Evil series uses.
Voice acting is really good, most of the time. Some lines are so lame you don't know whether it was intentional [being like a bad action movie] or just poorly acted. No matter, the characters are interesting and have plenty of personality and attitude to spare.
Interesting boss fights, nice smooth combat mechanics, and quality music, bonus unlockable game: 'original final fight,' lots of attitude, plays well, easy game overall except impossibly hard final boss. About ten hours worth to finish, when completed you can start over keeping all your acquired stats [new game+]. I enjoyed it, have a go.
by: Australian Ninja
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Has all the appearance of being crap but in reality is surprisingly enjoyable to play. | |
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