Playstation Minis Review – Street Smart
Published By: SNK Playmore, Developed By: SNK Playmore, Genre: 2D Fighting, Release Date: Oct 18, 2011, Rating: E for Everyone, Systems: PsP, Playstation 3 (Minis)
Presentation – Street Smart was originally released in 1989 so it has the whole “Say No To Drugs” slogan stamped on the main start up screen. It screams nostalgia to me personally growing up in the 80′s. SNK was huge in the late 80′s and early 90′s for many of their fighting game franchises. Somehow Street Smart slipped my grasp. But that is ok now, i played through it as a Minis title via the Playstation 3.
Story – The story centers around two fighters entering a tournament. Their names are Karateka and Wrestler. Karateka is dead ringer for Ryu of Street Fighter fame and Wrestler just looks like a generic 80′s wrestler. Think The Ultimate Warrior. I have no idea why they entered the tournament. They seem like do gooders so i imagine its to help people in someway, shape or form. Hey its an old school fighting game. Don’t expect a whole lot from the story department. There really isn’t one in Street Smart. You do fight across America. From Florida to Chicago and even Los Angeles.
Visuals – If you ever seen a SNK 16-bit fighting game you seen Street Smart. The graphics are aged but there is something about 16-bit fighting games i always will enjoy from a visual standpoint. In every setting you fight in the background is filled with people cheering and booing. Each setting had a unique artstyle depicting various cities in USA. The characters looked ok from a visual standpoint. The animations were shot. When its all said and done, it is what it is, a 16-bit fighting game.
Sound – Rough around the edges is the only way to describe the audio. I don’t know how the audio transfer process goes from a PsP game to a Minis game. All i can tell you is that the sound is mumbled, fuzzy and has too much bass creating alote of distortion. It was neat to hear “congratulations” from the ring girl after each win, other than that, the sound wasn’t up to snuff.
Gameplay – The controls via Duel Skock 3: X-Kick, Circle-Jump, Square-Punch, Triangle-Credit. Street Smart has a super simple button layout. The problem is just that no apparent physics engine exists for the game. After playing a few of the contemporary fighting games it doesn’t matter how good the controls are in the older games when the physics aren’t there. I experienced delays and button lag every time. The controls just weren’t accurate. If i played this game in “89″ i probably wouldn’t be complaining. Despite the negatives Street Smart is fun to play. I even beat the game (thanks to the unlimited continues).
There are six bosses in all to beat. Each boss looked different and fought even more radical from the last. Some guys were big and super strong while others nimble and fast. Each boss takes alote of hits to bring down. When you weaken the boss he starts to flash different colors letting you know its time to finish him. I took out all of the bosses using throws, sweeping kicks, high kicks, mini hydoken punches and combos. This game is a button masher plain and simple. No need to plan a special move in Street Smart. At the end of the game you are rewarded trophies by a few lovely ladies at SNK Stadium. Then the credits rolled.
Replayability – Short short short! The game playing by yourself will last maybe 30 minutes to beat all of the bosses. If you think that its worth a few bucks to you so be it. However, i do not think its worth anything. Its just too short. There is no relplay value unless you have a friend to play co-op. Even then, you expect to keep playing a game over and over with the same bosses for a half hour a pop? Overall no real replay value for Street Smart.
Final Verdict – Its fun its nostagic and it harpens back to when SNK ruled the fighting game market. However this game is only a 30 minute ride and then it ends abruptly.
6.5/10
