Not the Streets of Rage I was looking for…
Mad Streets is the kind of game that makes you crack a smile all while punching someone in the face, It’s a physics-based party game meshed with a brawler that feels like an evolution to the genre with a deeper system that allows skilled players to direct their blows for face-crunching KO animations that wouldn’t look out of place in MMA highlights.
Mad Streets is essentially a button mashing mini game where you fight in different locations like a locker room or the woods with multiple people and compete to see how many you can defeat in a set time. The problem is that you feel like you’re never in full control of your fighter and attacks lack any real finesse, plus half the time I didn’t even know if I was even hitting anyone. It doesn’t help that after about 5 minutes you’ll have seen pretty much everything the game has to offer.
Even when I knew I hit people properly, I felt no power in the actual attack, so it wasn’t satisfying at all. It might be fun for a bit with other people with the ridiculous physics of the fighters, but it wears thin incredibly quickly. There’s just no substance to the game and I honestly can’t see myself going back to it. The visuals are the only saving grace and even then they aren’t as impressive as other brawlers out there. The physics are goofy and amusing for a bit, but that’s it.
The Verdict
Mad Streets is a brawler with silly physics and no substance. It wears thin quickly and isn’t nearly worth the price of admission.