Spikeout: Battle Street

"A simple game"

Overview:
Spike out: battle street is one in the line of “old school beat em up's” like Final fight, Streets of rage and a newer title as the Bouncer. Only this time it's a 3D adventure with a comic like look, just like in the arcades. Clearly there is a place for this kind of gameplay again and I'm hopeful that there will be more like it. By righting this I hope to give you a good impression, for I was very enthusiastic when I first played it, but playing it longer somehow made me a bit of a critic.

Story 6/10
Same old, same old… revenge, power and gang fight scenario. Weak as it is, it always works for me!

Graphics 6/10
Like I said it has an old style arcade look; simple colours, easy background and low detail make it easy to watch. Using al this simplicity makes the character details very poor, even the animation movies lack detail. This makes the game look cheap. Overall graphics are not bad, but I guess you'll have to get used to it… assuming you don't expect Ninja Gaiden style looks.

Sound 6/10
With easy looks… comes easy sound; bumping 90's beats and a very bad voiceovers makes this game enjoyable, but not exciting. There is been no effort of putting theatre-like tunes in the game, everything is based on simple and fast gameplay.

Gameplay 7/10
I'm sorry but I have to say that with the beat ‘em up standards of today, they had to put more effort in this game. There is no depth! Not in the moves. Not in the characters. They did not bring this game to the new generation of gameplay and left many things unchallenged. In the game there are many objects you can use in you're fight but there is no real interaction with the person and his weapon. They expect of you to constantly replay the game but with the limited moves like punch and kick and a simple “special” makes it annoying. There are plusses; the possibility to unlock many playable characters eases the pain. The story option for single player is hard, if you fool around you die! And dying takes you far back in the level. Multiplayer/Online is the keyword for this game, making it much more enjoyable, like the option for a 4 person rumble or the cooperative battle.

Controls 6/10
The controls are simple; punch, kick, special and additional is the sweep and homing attack. You also have a function like jump (and jump attack) but don't get you're hopes up, it brings no additional depth in the game. You are capable of doing simple combo's and a characterised melee special attack. The special moves are mostly simple, so you don't have to expect a bone cracking screen flashing death move ‘like experience.

Overall 6/10
If a game has simple controls and graphics, the game usually excels in fast and enjoyable gameplay. I'm sorry to say that I didn't feel any real magic, fighting my way trough the levels. But I still had fun playing with friends and hope that the developers stick with this beat em up genre and make it happen!! My advice is (again;-) SIMPLE: for what's you're money is worth PLEASE RENT BEFORE YOU BUY, even you old school beat em up rumble fans.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 03/30/05