By Kevin "Berserker" Hall

Player(s): 1-4
Extra Features: local multiplayer

Playing Streets of Fury is like taking a trip back to the local arcades of the early 90's. This action brawler uses a cast of real life actors much like Mortal Kombat's 1 - 3 for all main characters and enemies. The entire game has a real urban feel to it. The soundtrack is composed of many techno and upbeat themes. The most common enemy type in the game is dressed with a hoodie and bosses and other enemies are all palette swaps of the main characters. Do you remember the palette swap ninja's of Mortal Kombat? Streets of Fury goes even deeper with palette swap characters and enemies. There are 5 main characters and all enemies are palette swaps of those 5, so you'll be seeing a different color of the same character quite a bit.

Constant palette swap is fine however when the game offers a good variety of beat'em up gameplay. Each character feels unique with a good selection of combos and super attacks. Much like Mortal Kombat 3's emphasis on dial combos and juggling, Streets of Fury encourages the player to string together attacks and juggle an enemy as the enemy is knocked into the air with an attack. As the player attacks, a fury bar builds up on the bottom of the screen and a player can unleash a super attack after the meter builds up by one level.

Stringing together a series of attacks and then ending the sequence with one final super attack is the best way to approach each stage in Streets of Fury. Bosses have their own unique overpowered attacks but all of them have weaknesses that can be seen as the battle progresses. Normal enemies all have their own unique attacks and weaknesses as well.

The game allows a player to shift between three planes on the screen. A player can move into the background or foreground by tapping RT. Some attacks can knock an enemy into the background or foreground also. A character can dash by pressing in a direction and tapping the RT button. Both players and enemies can guard attacks, but guards can be broken by using an overhead attack for a ducking guard or a low attack for a standing guard, much like your average fighter.

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