I spent a lot of time in arcades as a youngster and for me, Final Fight was one of my ‘bread and butter’ games. I remember going on some form of caravan holiday with my parents and whilst they went off to lounge on the beach, I would waltz down to the clubhouse arcade with the sole purpose of putting 50p into Final Fight and spending an hour or so kicking some arse. Oh, life was good.
I was quite shocked when I heard about Final Fight: Streetwise as from early screenshots it was ‘ gasp! – 3D! Could this really work as a Final Fight game’ I had my doubts. After playing this title it has dawned on me that Capcom have decided to totally mar the Final Fight name by releasing this poor excuse for a game. I’m not going to beat around the bush here and I’m not going to candy coat it, either. This game is terrible.
Streetwise starts out in an underground pit fighting-type situation, with you playing as Kyle – who you soon find out is Cody’s brother. You’re introduced to the awesomely clunky controls in a simple one on one underground fighting affair, where after a few seconds you notice how horribly basic the combat is. The story begins to unfold that Cody is coaching you through the ranks of the underground fighting scene to make some easy money, as he’s now ‘retired’ from the scene himself. After downing your opponent and getting paid, you agree to celebrate with the now rundown looking Cody at a local bar ‘ and this is where the main story unfolds. Basically it involves Cody being in with the wrong crowd and getting involved with a new drug on the streets known as ‘glow’. Riveted yet’
Graphically, Final Fight Streetwise isn’t anything to write home about – very run of the mill stuff – and could easily be a basic engine ripped off from any other similar action title on the PS2. Alongside the mediocre graphics, a few rap artists have loaned their name so that you can walk around town punching people in the face to some parental guidance-style explicit lyrics.
The game holds an 18 certificate, and this isn’t primarily down to the graphic violence, it’s more down to the language. Every single cut scene pushing along the story is laden with swearing, even in places where it really didn’t need to be used. Cody and Kyle really are potty mouths to the extreme and for some reason, the chaps at Capcom must have thought it would – for some reason – add some atmosphere to the sorry idea for a story. Alas, it does nothing more than make it all feel rather childish.
Going back to the 3D department mentioned earlier, for some reason somebody, somewhere within the development team had the insane idea of attempting to have Final Fight: Streetwise use a free-roaming system where you’re able to run about town, beating up on thugs and wandering into the odd doorway here and there. Can anybody say Grand Theft Auto‘ Anyway, within the town you can look for things to do whilst making your way through the incredibly tiresome main story. Along the way you’ll find that you pick up ‘quests’ from random bystanders, advising you that somebody stole their purse or something equally as groundbreaking which is then added to your in game notebook for you to keep track of. After completing the terribly basic quests, you’re normally rewarded with basic cash and you also get a ‘rep bonus’ which allows you to learn more advanced moves and all sorts of things like that, joy. I did actually have more fun picking up a knife or a baseball bat and beating innocent bystanders to death, rather than actually bothering to help them with their mundane tasks, though that only lasted a few minutes.
I think this game stooped to an all time low when I wandered into run down caf’. After speaking to the waitress, she advised that she had cockroach problems and asked for my assistance. I agreed, of course, being the helpful type (that or I was just dying to actually DO something in this game’) All of a sudden this very odd yokel type track rings out as a bunch of really shocking – fives times the size they should be – 2D cockroaches appear on the floor. The aim was to stamp on them – so as to stun them – and then kick them to death. I was actually in shock as this horribly implemented idea played out. I simply cannot believe how much of a low point this is for Final Fight, to involve kicking cockroaches off the floor. But this wasn’t the only low point, oh no. At one stage, I walked into a tattoo shop only to find I had to complete one of those odd puzzles where you have a bunch of numbers in a square and one space left to shuffle the pieces about in to order – but instead of numbers it was a tattoo design that I had to complete in order for a bonus.
Final Fight: Streetwise is a poor attempt at cash in on the Final Fight brand. A very poor storyline that never really goes anywhere, mediocre visuals and run of the mill hip-hop/rap tracks obviously used just to attempt to have some form of cool factor for the kids really doesn’t cut it here.
