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This is a game where you have to hit people repeatedly and hard. But don't worry, it's all in a good cause. Y'see, the Mayor's daughter has been kidnapped by this gang called the Mad Gears, so the Mayor (who obviously believes in ruling at street level) sets out to rescue her, along with his two chums (of whom one just happens to be the daughter's lover and the other is her, um, friend).

But how? By sitting down and having a rational conversation with the adversaries? Of course not. By duffing up everyone they meet on the street. You get to play any of the three characters - Gy, Cody or Haggar.

The game is played across 19 backgrounds, such as the street, the subway, a park (including the toilets - yeuch!) and, oddly, a boxing ring into which you just happen to wander. The low-lifes come in all shapes and sizes, but mostly big and ugly ones - escpe for the incredibly athletic, but decidedly antisocial, women you meet. Along the way you can pick up pipes, knives and bits of food that have been carelessly left lying about, and use them in indescribable ways on your opponents.

This is the sort of game which prompts comments like, "Look at the sprites on that!" And indeed they are rather large. Not too badly animated, either. They move very smoothly and, though there aren't a huge number of animation frames, the sprites' bigness makes up for this. Partly. Unfortunately, the backgrounds don't really match up to the design of the sprites. They're a bit amateurish and spoil the atmos.

There's not a whole lot you can say about games like these. They either do their jobs well or badly, and this one happens to do it rather well. The only slight flaw is the difficulty level. It's all too easy to play through most of the game on your second or third go.

So, the plot wouldn't tax the brain of an anteater and the action is as repetitive as - well, as being hit on the head a lot. But what's there is good fun. And in the end, Brian, that's all that matters.

1. Different style of game to Pit-Fighter - this is much better.
2. Sprites are big, in a large sort of way, much more so than those in the likes of Barbarian.
3. Easier than virtually any other beat-'em-up, such as Golden Axe or IK+.