Final Fight: Streetwise – XB – Preview

If you’re like me the recent collection of fighting games are just amazing
but there’s a place in my heart that still longs for the classic brawling games
of yesteryear like Double Dragon where you walk down the street beating
any thug that happens to cross your path.  Luckily for us Capcom is bringing us
Final Fight: Streetwise–a street fighting game that shows a lot of
promise.

Streetwise tells the tale of two close brothers Kyle and Cody Travers just
trying to survive the mean streets of Metro City.  One day Cody disappears
during a drug deal that goes down in the neighborhood and it’s up to Kyle to find
him.  The trouble is that Kyle has to go through an army of hitmen, drug dealers
and your basic scumbags that want nothing more than to just pummel you to
death.  Soon Metro City finds itself in a violent uprising and the few good
citizens have risen up to fight back.

The game adds plenty of fisticuff action where you have to be quick with the
fists.  One level pits Kyle up against a brutish brawler who calls himself
Handsome Bob in a seedy dive that looks straight out of the Fight Club movie.
Kyle can block punches, land solid jabs or put some muscle into his punch to
knock his opponent down.  He can also grab his opponent and throw him down to
the ground.

Weapons can also be picked up and Kyle can use things he finds scattered
throughout the environment like metal pipes and good old-fashioned lumber just
to name a few.  You can also use weapons enemies drop like knives and pistols.
And there are even some classic boss fight moments.  So far the boss fights seem
to be of brawling variety and judging by one of the bosses, a suave man in a
suit that packs quite a mean punch, they’re going to be tough to beat.

Visually, the game is also pretty impressive with enough character and
environmental details (no bruising, unfortunately, but the characters look good
in action).

While it successfully brings back the classic street fighting games of long
ago, there’s footage of mean zombie-like enemies attacking the main character so
expect some variety enemy-wise.   We can expect Final Fight: Streetwise to come
out for the PS2 as well and hopefully soon.

For All E3 2005 Previews