Capcom's return to the mean streets of Metro City is an adequate enough beat 'em up romp, but it's not without its own set of problems that really make the gameplay more difficult than it needs to be. The game is rated mature, and while Capcom may have gone a little overboard with the swearing and general adult situations, I don't think that's necessarily a negative - you can get as much content in one episode of The Sopranos, and the game is geared towards an audience that enjoys that kind of context.

The biggest problem with the game is that it doesn't work well enough as a beat 'em up because of the myriad of gameplay elements that don't mesh well together. And there are a few worth noting vigorously: the most notable is collision detection that throws a monkey wrench in the core of the fighting and some questionable design decisions that make fighting more of a frustration than fun and a save system that traps players in specific situations without any recourse for escape. But before we drive those points home, a little bit about the story and the other elements of the game that work well enough to make the game slightly below average (or at least playable - which equates to basically the same conclusions).

Final Fight Street Wise returns players to Metro City, a fictional metropolis filled with thugs, gangsters, violent punks and dangerous knife wielding psychos. The game series began its life in the arcades and saw two releases on the Sega Genesis, becoming a cult classic amongst fighting game fans. The game's main protagonists were Cody and Kyle Travers, two street smart fighters who took it upon themselves to save the city from an evil crime lord. Fast Forward to the present day. Cody, who apparently saw some rough times since Streets of Rage 2, ended up doing some time in prison. After getting out he reunited with his brother and is now coaching him in the local underground fight circuits. Things are going as good as once can expect from that scene, when a local gang leader of mysterious connections kidnaps Kyle's brother. That's when Kyle hits the streets in search of the kidnappers and finds out that maybe it wasn't a kidnapping at all and that there's some sort of new drug being sold on the street that turns its users into glow-eyed nut jobs. That's neither here nor there, but it'll be important later. So it's on to more fighting, more exploration and lots more fighting. And that's basically what Final Fight Street Wise is all about. Sure, there are a number of other things you can do, but the bulk of your gameplay is beating down hundreds of hoods of various shapes, sizes and stereotypes, and occasionally taking on a boss battle. As you move forward, you'll unlock new areas of the city, play a variety of mini-games, buy new moves, do simple side missions and fight in the underground fight clubs for street cred.

Now if this sounds like something you could enjoy, then there are just a few things to consider. There's a real problem with collision detection in this game, which makes it very hard to fight multiple enemies at a time. Sure, there's a button to focus on one enemy at a time but it's not very useful when you're fighting ten guys.. And this problem doesn't just affect fighting - interacting with characters and the world is made a tad bit more difficult. Talking to a character, or breaking a crate on the ground should be simple, but when your character doesn't "connect correctly to the world around him" it's not as easy. For instance, you'll have to line up just right with an NPC on the street to talk to them or you might have to move into the right position to break a crate or pick up an object. This would be fine in a simple adventure game, but in a game where timing is everything and every move is important it makes for very sloppy gameplay.

My second biggest complaint is how you save in the game. You have to actually quit to save, and the game doesn't always put you back where you left off. There's also a real problem in the game when you are in tough situations. The game does allow you unlimited continues in the main game, but instead of starting you off before a big fight, you find yourself stuck in the midst of it over and over again. That means that if you haven't prepared for it there's no turning back - you're stuck in the situation until you overcome it.

But Final Fight Street Wise isn't all bad if you can get by those things. There's lot of fighting to be had and there are a myriad of things to do. Besides the main storyline, there's a ton of mini-games, side missions and fight club challenges players can take on during missions. Players can buy extra tracks to play in the background from bands like Gizmatchi and Nappy Roots, take on mini-challenges like smashing a car for cash, or tinkering with slider puzzles to put together an image, battle fighters in the fight clubs in each district for cash and street cred, buy additional moves, extra life and "instinct" to bolster your character's power and take on simple side missions to earn some extra green and gain the respect of the street even further.

Outside of the main game there's also an arcade mode that's similar to the original game and it offers co-op play that is pretty decent. The game uses the same mechanics as the story-driven affair so it's not a perfect experience but it's still fun. There's also the original Final Fight game, which you can unlock by completing the first chapter in the game, but if you've played the enhanced version in the recently released Capcom collection then you'll be a bit disappointed. Still it's nice to see the original in any form.. There's also a Fear Factory video and some other cool stuff that you can unlock for fun.

In the end Final Fight Street Wise is a slightly below average game with some okay fighting action, a nice arcade mode if you're playing co-op and some adult situations that sometimes cross the line into the land of overkill. If not for the bad collision detection, Street Wise would have been a decent beat 'em up despite the storyline and the swearing. For those that are still not discouraged, I'd recommend a rental first before taking the purchasing plunge.