"In the jump from 16 bit to 32 bit, this games somewhere in the middle!"

Nekketsu Oyako, or Hot blooded family, as it's name means in English, is a 2D scrolling beat'em'up from Techno Soft for the Sega Saturn, it was released in early 1995.
It plays just like a clone of Final Fight or Streets of Rage, two popular scrolling beat'em'ups from the 16 bit era.

Graphics

The look of this game is hardly 32 bit, it looks far more 16 bit, the graphics look like they could be handled on the SNES!! although they are well animated and colorful, as you'd expect for the Saturn, and even when numerous sprites appear on the screen the graphics and animation stay intact. Overall nice and colorful with decent animation but more at home on a 16 bit system than the 32 bit Saturn.

Sound

Nothing to really say here, your basic scrolling fighter style BGM's with the usual grunts'n'groans FX, not so bad but hardly the type of sound we've come to expect from CD based game systems.

Game play

If you grew up playing the Mega Drive or SNES or hung out in Arcades in the late 80's to early 90's you'll be very familar to the game play of a 2D scrolling beat'em'up.
You choose one of three characters in Nekketsu Oyako, they include a teenage boy and girl, and their Father, they each have the own style of attack as well as their strengths and weaknesses, the girl is quick and speedy, the Father is slow but strong, and the boy is kind of average in all areas, basically the same character situation as Final Fight.
Once you have your chosen character you hit the streets of Neo Tokyo and beat on the bad guys in your way! using the standard control style, ie, punch,kick,jump, and special attack, occupy the buttons, defeat all the enemies on the stage, then tackle the boss then move onto the next. Of course there are some power ups to collect, from food to boast your energy, the Father can pick up beer but the kids cannot, to weapons to dish out more deadly attacks, to even Saturns themselves, to gain points! again basically the same as every other game in this genre.
The game play is totally not original and the difficulty medium, so a couple of hours solid play should see you to the end! it has a 2 player mode which adds some replay value, but the game does'nt support the Saturns memory RAM, so no game saves,scores, or hidden extras, just points more to the fact this game belongs on a 16 bitter!
Serious old school gamers might enjoy this throwback alternative to FF or SoR, but those who don't, won't!

Overall

You'd be better off buying D&D Collection or Warriors of Fate II than this if you want some 2D scrolling beat'em'up action on your Saturn, this game is well outdated even for the Saturn and it's not easy to find,although cheap, it was only released in Japan so collectors of real hardcore old schoolers may enjoy it and should look out for it!

A rare type of game for the Saturn that should have been left in the 16 bit days, fun for those who remember that era and want a trip down memory lane!

Total score 6/10

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 03/09/03, Updated 03/09/03