In producing Final Fight Streetwise, Capcom USA have undoubtedly taken the latter approach. The day-glo world of Metro City circa 1989 is all but forgotten and is replaced with dank and colourless back alleys that wouldn’t look out of place in the latest 'Eminem' pop promo. Although several characters from the original game make an appearance, the main focus is a suitably generic hero (in this case, Cody’s brother Kyle) progressing through generic locations fighting generic bad guys as generic hip-hop tunes blare away in the background.

While it’s true that the story in the original Final Fight was hardly stellar, the plotline featured here is truly laughable. Kyle is a small-time brawler who participates in illegal underground fights in order to pay his way through life. When his big brother Cody goes missing and a strange new drug hits the streets, Kyle decides to venture out and kick some serious ass. Not wanting to ruin the ‘gripping’ plotline, Kyle eventually discovers that Cody has become hooked on the drug and the side effects are somewhat unfortunate – it turns addicts into mindless zombies with superhuman strength and glowing eyes. There are several cutscenes to experience along the way and although they are executed with a certain degree of cinematic style, the dialogue is so painfully bad that any artistic aspirations the developers may have aspired to quickly evaporate as soon as a character opens their mouth. Kyle’s voice is especially irritating, which presents a sizeable problem as he provides narration for the length of the entire game. The dialogue is littered with needless swearing and clumsy ‘street slang’. GTA has a lot to answer for.

Graphically the game is nothing special. The usual ‘ghetto’ palette of greys, blacks and browns are all present and correct and as one would expect, look dull and lifeless. The characters are disappointing basic in design, crudely animated and display none of the inventive flair found in the original Final Fight cast. There are four ‘districts’ in Metro City and while there are notable differences between them, they are totally uninspiring and uninteresting, there is little to entice the player to explore them in full. However, FF:S could be the best-looking game of this generation and it’s unlikely anyone would notice this whilst playing, thanks to one of the most ridiculously erratic cameras yet witnessed. It cannot be trusted to present the player with an unhindered view of the action and this results in serious issues when Kyle is involved in a brawl with more than one assailant (which is 99% of the time). It’s handy then that when the view is obscured, simply mashing the joypad usually gets the player out of any tight spot they happen to find themselves in.

The battle system is actually quite good and everything controls pretty well. The process of unlocking new special moves is tiresome, but does give (slight) incentive for progress, and there are certainly plenty of fighting techniques to master. Some of the combos are visually impressive and the combat system is fluid enough to make their execution relatively satisfying. The sad thing is that no matter how many extravagant moves the player unlocks, randomly bashing the buttons usually gives far more consistent results. The average goon is about as intelligent as a Big Brother contestant and the game only becomes challenging when a boss is encountered, and even then this is largely down to the fact that they employ annoyingly cheap techniques. Kyle is able to counter certain moves and doing so triggers a (rather clichéd but undeniably cool) Matrix-style slow-motion effect, but this isn’t required to beat the average punk - the standard punch combos usually do the trick - and ends up being practically useless against the typically cheap bosses, which, as one would expect, is where they are most needed.

FF:S utilizes a ‘respect’ system, similar to that found in Lionhead’s RPG epic Fable. By performing certain missions Kyle is able to build up his reputation 'on the street'. Many of these objectives are optional side-quests. They add additional play time and a mild sense of freedom, but unfortunately the missions themselves are no more varied than those found in the main game and Kyle’s standing is only reflected in the reactions of the NPCs he happens to pass. Whether or not Kyle has the respect of the inhabitants of Metro City makes no difference to the actual outcome of the story, which is a shame as it could have elevated the game somewhat.

Like so many ‘me too’ games these days, FF:S offers unlockable ‘bonus’ content in an effort to sustain the player’s waning interest, including hip hop/hardcore rock music videos and an emulated version of the original arcade game. Even here, there are problems. To anyone who isn’t a fan of loud American music, the videos are going to seem more like a punishment than a reward and the version of the arcade game found here is a shambling, jerky mess, thus destroying any entertainment value one might have obtained from playing it. Why such a poorly emulated version was included when a 100% accurate port can be found on the recently released 'Classic Collections' on the PS2, Xbox and PSP is something that only Capcom themselves will be able to answer. Maybe they decided to botch the emulation as it was in danger of making the main game look worse by comparison? Whatever the reason, it's not recommended that anyone purchase this title in order to play the original Final Fight. The aforementioned collections present a better (and probably cheaper) option.

Ultimately FF:S was fighting a losing battle before it was even released. The franchise is so dear to so many that tampering with the formula was only going to end in tears. Capcom can’t be blamed for trying to acquire the vote of the GTA crowd – they are running a business after all - but recent failures in the genre (the Capcom-published Beatdown: Fists of Vengeance being the most notable) should have served as a valuable warning to the company. As it stands, FF:S isn’t the worst game you’ll ever play, but it certainly isn’t worth spending money on. Ironically for what is franchise update, this applies even more so to fans of the arcade original. After experiencing this piece of software the news that the forthcoming next-gen update of fantasy side-scroller Golden Axe will be handled by the same developer should strike fear into the hearts of Sega fanboys worldwide.