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02-16-2006, 01:46 PM
Final Fight Streetwise Hands-On (Xbox)
By: Dale Nardozzi - "Legba"
February 15th, 2006The Final Fight franchise began back in the arcade’s heyday and is still loved retro-style by MAME freaks the world over. Well, put away your emulators, as there’s a brand new way to enjoy one of the best scrolling fighter franchises ever made.

Final Fight Streetwise is set within the Final Fight uni, and in a similar timeframe as the original coin-op classic. We’ve secured some hands-on time with the latest Final Fight Streetwise build, so it’s time for an update. You brought your brass knuckles, didn’t you?



History in the making?

If you don’t remember the original FF title upon which Final Fight Streetwise was based, allow us to refresh your geriatric memory. Cody, Guy, And Haggar- AKA the good guys- roam the streets of Metro City looking to pick fights with the resident trash. A street gang known as Mad Gear (pretty cool name for ’89) has taken Haggar’s daughter hostage. Why is the young Jessica important? Well, the hugeness that is Haggar also happens to be the Mayor of Metro.

Each character had various strengths and weaknesses, which were directly tied into their move sets. Throws and wielding weapons were major parts of the combat system, and naturally, the stronger (yet slower) players could heave and wield the big stuff. Moves were also directly tied to each player; Haggar with his wrestling style moves, Cody armed with traditional boxing skills, and Guy flexing Jeet Kun Do-style martial arts mastery. Fighting style reined supreme in Final Fight…unless of course a lead pipe was handy- yep, hardware won out every time.

How's that knuckle sandwhich?


Final Fight coin-op was a simple game that came with a lot of elegance. The sprites were deftly manipulated, the combat was deep for the day, and Metro City was perfectly rot with enemies that you had to beat out of disgust, no matter how low the quarter supply got.

Capcom is attempting to capture the same amount of magic as its inspiration with Final Fight Streetwise, but this is no easy task. First off, we’re talking console, not quickie coin-op, which throws a monkey wrench into the whole “beat in an hour with enough quarters” game design philosophy. Secondly, Final Fight Streetwise is following in big…check that- HUGE footsteps, which is always hard for any consumable medium. Did The Beatles make great records after The White Album? Of course. But the grandeur of the project overshadowed follow-up efforts for many consumers I the subconscious. Final Fight Streetwise needs to be a really good console game to overcome its popular big brother if it plans to stand a chance.


Find out what it means to me

So, how is Final Fight Streetwise equipped to rep the FF franchise on the Xbox? Simple. With hot and heavy combat- just like its grand dad- updated of course for the new millennium. The side-scrolling style of the original game has been scrapped in favor of the completely roamable universe. The gameplay in Final Fight Streetwise is non-linear too, which works better with the third-person combat genre, at least for console software.

Your job is to completely explore the streets of Final Fight Streetwise playing as Kyle Travers: the tough brother of original character Cody Travers. Kyle is an accomplished pit fighter, so he knows how to get by on his fists and feet. But Final Fight Streetwise will demand that gamers interact with both environments and characters in order to unravel the story; fighting alone won’t get you by this time around.

nteracting and exploring are means of building “Respect”, which is a central part of the entire gameplay. Respect is the ticket to unlocking new missions, character power-ups, special weapons, and even gang support from A.I. controlled characters recruited by the Kylester. Go into a conversation with a bystander with high respect, and watch the chump quiver at your very presence. But go into the same conversation as a nobody, and odds are you’ll be battling before the end of the dialogue. Respect is earned through intense fighting and your amount of cash. Tension and Cash work hand-in-hand at building respect, so look to kick ass and look for loose change at every opportunity that you get. Hmmm, I guess Tony Montana was right- money….power….respect.



Fight Night

Final Fight Streetwise is more than just jibber-jabber with NPC’s and looking for cash. At the heart of this new adventure is fighting, and you will be doing lots of it in various styles and disciplines.

Punching and kicking comprise a large part of the fighting action. All hand-to-hand moves originate from light, heavy, and grab attacks. Simple combo entries allow for special maneuvers that do loads of damage. For instance, three quick taps of the Light Attack button will throw, in succession, a left jab, a right cross, and a left straight punch. Varying the three button combo entries from light to heavy will vary the speed and power of the action. Utilizing the grab function in these combos mixes things up even more, as it’s possible to grab the head of an opponent and tenderize their face with a swift knee. You can also perform any of these moves as a counter attack by pulling the right trigger and exercising proper timing.

Wanna dance?


A combo fighting style of hand-to-hand and weapon attacks is possible by finding useful objects in the environments. Bats, knives, pistols, grenades, machine guns, and the ever-deadly katana can complement any hand-to-hand style you choose to master. The coin-op classic 2x4 and steel pipe make triumphant returns to weapon combat in Final Fight Streetwise as well. Don’t forget- fighting with Tension and having some cash will allow new moves and character upgrades that will enhance weapon and hand-to-hand fighting skill and power immensely.

Since Kyle is an accomplished pit fighter, he has been trained well enough to enter an Instinct mode which greatly enhances his abilities. Pulling the right stick will enter Kyle into Instinct, which increases the damage inflicted on every attack. The aforementioned counter-attack moves are also enhanced when Instinct is active. Special slow-motion parries and evades that really throw an enemy off kilter.


The Outlook

If you’re into the third-person fighting/combat genre, then Final Fight Streetwise is deserving of a good, hard look. The mixture of free-roaming exploration and multi-tiered hand-to-hand/weapon fighting works well here. The respect system and how it ties into the NPC interaction is what separates Final Fight Streetwise from the rest of the field. The story is Americanized, and is a bit overdone at times (think Fight Club, but it seems to fit the over-the-top nature of the entire production.

Technically the game is where it needs to be, and the graphics get by (they probably won’t get much better), so it’s on to the final touches in this unique Xbox title. Look for more on Final Fight Streetwise as its projected February 28th street date nears.
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