Fallen City Brawl

I'm old enough to remember the fall of the scrolling brawler and it's great to see a fallen genre come back so strong, the simple arcade thrill of walking along and kicking someone in the teeth allowing for some pure arcade adrenalin. 

But since Fight'n'Rage popped onto my radar back in 2017, we have by all measures been very, very spoiled. Whether it's Capcom releasing classic fighters in excellent collections, the OG Double Dragon getting multiple new titles or new games for old IP's such as Turtles, Scott Pilgrim and Power Rangers (even Karate Kid!) or completely new ideas such as the aforementioned Fight'n'Rage, we've never had it so good. So how does EastAsiaSoft's Fallen City Brawl rank amongst the plethora of fisticuff offerings rank?

Well, the good news is that the game is actually very solid. The game has gone for some 90's accurate pixelated graphics, eschewing the higher-res pixel art of many of the titles I list above. The sprites are also Final Fight sized, so battles feel confined and menacing. It really does just load a screen, add fighters for you to mash and then scroll along to the next environment. In that sense it functionally feels very retro, sticking not only to fighting game conventions but also the classic way in which many were constructed. Extra points for using a floppy disk as the save icon - very nice!

Even the rain effects seem chunky, but it's lovely on-screen

You have a choice of four players, so of course I took the female character with the wrench. They might call her Natasha, but she's human Gadget from Rescue Rangers so far as I'm concerned. Your other options are copper Sgt Clay, special forces operative Ricco and man mountain Iron Jackson, a former Ignition Gear lieutenant betrayed by the evil gang whose thugs you'll be fighting throughout the game.

Your move set includes the ability to jump, punch, use your special attack (limited in number) and two super attacks - the first is just a case of pressing the two attack buttons together to unleash a powerful move, but build up enough power and you can unleash Riot mode, which makes you seriously overpowered for about 15 seconds. 

I'd liken the experience of playing Fallen City Brawl to discovering a new game in the arcade - at eight levels it's really quite brief and even on my first run I got to stage 4, but it's very more-ish. It's not complex or clever, but that's not the genre it belongs to. The bosses are pretty cheap, their attacks often negating yours and leaving little room for actually being attacked, but coin-guzzling classics are just built that way - I think if the game were actually fair with the big bad's at the end of each level, it would feel less authentic. The frustration is part of the charm. Where it could improve is in the hit detection, which seems a little off against jumping enemies or those in vehicles. It's nowhere near game-breaking, but could certainly use some attention in a patch. As it stands the game is PC only, but once it comes to consoles I'm sure it'll get a little extra polish that we can apply in a patch down the road.

The main cast are nicely designed but henchmen are pretty forgettable, as henchmen often are.

The game also offers multiplayer, which always doubles the fun with games like this. All those massive sprites clunking around can get confusing, especially with the detailed backgrounds and cash/coins/weapons dropping on the ground, but if you enjoy a chaotic fight, this delivers. 

But you have options in this genre and we need to know the rankings. Well, for a genuinely retro experience, this is a solid performer, and in terms of gameplay on par with classic Final Fight (with less memorable baddies, granted) and games from the period. It is somewhat outclassed by the modern revisions of the genre - it doesn't have the humour of the Shredder's Revenge game with our favourite turtles, which has more Easter eggs, nudges and winks for the audience. Nor is it as polished as Streets of Rage 4, which is probably the standard-setter in the modern age for complexity, graphical prowess and raw crunchiness of combat. But we're talking a touch under £13 for a genuinely enjoyable slice of fresh nostalgia that bravely isn't relying on an existing IP, and that's both admirable and a good price for what you're getting, considering it's not a collection of pre-existing games. All in, worth a punch.