Those of you that were around for Sega's Megadrive (AKA Genesis) will probably first think of Sonic at its mention, as the original Sonic The Hedgehog first debuted on this superb 16-bit console. However, Sonic was just one of the wealth of classic games available for the system - Golden Axe, Castle Of Illusion (Starring Mickey Mouse), Ecco The Dolphin, Rocket Knight Adventures… the list goes on. Amongst these games was what is still, to my mind, the finest scrolling beat 'em up series ever made - Streets Of Rage. Multiplayer side scrolling action where you and a buddy could team up and beat the living daylights out of a range of quirky and distinctive villains, travelling across a variety of colourful and interesting backdrops. What would happen if you took this winning formula and updated it for today's generation of consoles? Hopefully something a lot better than Beatdown: Fists Of Vengeance, because if this is as good as it gets then the genre is best left alone as a nostalgic trip into the games of yesteryear.

That's not to say that Beatdown is a terrible game, as it has a few neat features and might appeal to some gamers for a short time - however, the utterly uninspired implementation and presentation reduces a solid concept to a game that is mediocre at best. Traditionally this is the point where I go into the story and characters, but sadly the storyline is utterly contrived, cliché-ridden nonsense, while the characters, allies and enemies alike, are completely forgettable and pale when compared to any other beat 'em up game. To the game's credit you can play through as one of five friends who are separated at the start and each has their own storyline, although despite this the chapters and missions play out pretty much identically. Your crime lord boss sends the five of you on a mission that goes wrong and you end up on the run from your former gang and the law, fighting your way through many set pieces that the woefully inadequate excuse for a story throws in your path.

The first thing that will really strike you about this game is the graphics, which are ropey in the extreme and would hardly have impressed as a PS2 launch title, let alone by 2005's increasingly high standards. Stilted animation, limited detail on characters, awkward interaction between fighters, dull, samey backdrops and constant night, making for a very ugly and dingy feel to the whole game. Surely the designers could have thought up a more imaginative setting than this? Similarly the sound is mediocre - yes, the punches sound okay but the voice acting is bad and the script is criminally awful, with plenty of gratuitous swearing. The music is perhaps just about a redeeming feature, as there are a few catchy tunes playing the background that at least help to keep you awake.

As for the gameplay, there are a few redeeming features that add some much-needed depth to the proceedings. Your character's basic range of moves is pretty limited, with punches, kicks and throws combined with direction to produce the high/low kicks and different throw moves. It's nice that there are a number of combos on offer though and the moves do vary between playable characters, of which there is an incredible number - well over fifty in fact, but I'll come onto that shortly. You can learn new moves from time to time too, but overall there's not really enough here to keep the fighting particularly varied or interesting. This is where the features come in.

For starters, you can walk up to dozens of non-playable characters, talk to them and attack them if you so desire, entering random scraps whenever you like and nicking cash, items or weapons from defeated enemies. When you come across a playable character, of which there are many in each area of the game, you can attempt to negotiate with them. Negotiation options allow you to recruit someone to your team, attempt to rob them of their cash or interrogate them for information. Some characters will hand over their loyalty, money or info willingly, but most of the time you have to beat them up for co-operation - no bad thing in a beat 'em up game!

Each character has a pride meter, which is reduced by hurting or taunting a character, and when the meter is emptied you can grab them for a more forceful negotiation. At this point most characters will join your team if asked, give up their info or their cash, although you can only choose one of these options, so choose carefully. It's not always successful though, meaning that you have to finish the fight. If you're feeling particularly vicious, you can also select the Beatdown option, where you push the enemy to the ground, jump on top of them and literally beat them to death, either with your fists or a weapon such as a crowbar, with blood splattering all over the place. This is very brutal and quite shocking when you first see it - and be warned that once a character is dead, they stay dead and you can't recruit them to your team or use them for cash and info.

Once you've recruited someone to your side, you can call them up and meet them at any time, having up to three in your party (including your main character). This is very handy for versus battles, where it's just you against the enemy - because if you get beaten down, your next character takes over. Some of the tougher enemies will take all three of your party members to defeat, with beaten down party members heading to the hospital to be patched up - suffice to say that the city's hospital is kept pretty busy! Each playable character has their own move set (not wildly varying between characters but it's still an impressive achievement) and their own weapons or items that can be used in battle, such as pulling out a weapon or using an item to heal themselves, introducing a degree of strategy when choosing your companions for any particular mission. The size of the health bar and the character's ability to take the hits also play a factor - so choose wisely.

The size of the game is pretty impressive - there are dozens of characters to meet and recruit, a whole fifty side missions to take on (for a cash reward) whenever you want a break from the main story, plus many chapters to work through as the story unfolds. Generally these missions involve beating people up, but sometimes you have to defeat a certain number of gang members, interrogate bad guys for information on their boss, find items like drugs or documents, transport goods from one location to another (with plenty of scuffles along the way) or help allies take vengeance on their foes. The variety of objectives isn't too bad, considering that it all boils down in the end to just beating the crap out of loads of enemies.

There are two kinds of battles - the versus matches with tougher characters or free-for-alls, where you and your party members go up against a crowd of bad guys all at once. These latter matches are the more frequent ones that occur on the streets, when you run into cops or rival gang members, or simply pick a fight with a jogger for wearing that horrible yellow shell suit. Speaking of clothing, there's a wide range of clothes for you to customise the look of your character. It's not just for aesthetics either, as you soon become notorious and easy to recognise, meaning that fights become mandatory when you encounter enemies, as you're always spotted. Changing your appearance regularly reduces your notoriety, allowing you to choose whether to pick a fight or head straight to the next objective. You gain experience from versus matches that you can use to upgrade your character, although in a very limited fashion.

Sadly, the city area is very small; each location is very limited but despite their tiny size, there are still loading breaks between every area, with most key locations having buildings within them (bars, hotels, clothes shops, subway stations, construction sites, etc.) that you have to wait to load when you enter. Although the loading breaks aren't too long, they're so frequent that the gameplay is totally broken up because of this and you never really get into the gameplay because you're constantly having to move between areas, loading every single time. It really does have a big impact on things and I am at a complete loss to see why this is necessary - if GTA can do it without load times, then this processor-lite game certainly should be able to. These load breaks are the final nail in the coffin for the game, making it impossible to really get involved with.

The only thing that's surprising about Beatdown: Fists Of Vengeance is that the usually reliable and innovative Capcom have lent their name to it. Beatdown is a choppy, shallow and tedious experience, despite a few cool features being thrown into the mix. I daresay a few gamers will enjoy it to some degree, but it simply can't compete with action games like GTA or any of the current range of excellent fighting games. It looks horrible, sounds mediocre, the story is total nonsense and the fighting action is repetitive, limited and uninspired in the extreme. I'm also reviewing Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks at the moment and it does everything right that Beatdown gets wrong. In fact, I'm thankful to be taking a look at Shaolin Monks too, because it's far more the spiritual successor to Streets Of Rage than Beatdown could ever be, leaving me with hope that when Sega inevitably revive their classic series, they get it right and come up with a true classic. Meanwhile, if Sega wants to see how not to do it, then Beatdown is one game they should pay close attention to.

Reviewed by Geoff Holland for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).