It's too bad that this game kicks off with its infamous "WHEAR'S THAT WARRANT" line, because it's actually a perfectly acceptable brawler with an undeserved bad reputation. Yes, it's a shameless Final Fight clone, and no, it isn't as gritty as FF, nor does it feature characters and tunes as memorable as FF's. But it does control very well, and it boasts nice backgrounds and huge sprites (though the animation is pretty poor).
People cite the lack of "moves" as a major issue, but I don't particularly care about it, as I'm a button-masher for the most part when I play old-school beat 'em ups, and I find that hard-core fans who make claims of utilizing "strategy" are usually full of crap. It's rather odd that the designers didn't include canisters and the like to annihilate and weapons to pick up, but again, such elements typically play minor roles in brawlers: tossing the occasional knife or lugging around the occasional wrench never adds much in the way of "variety" for me.
Lack of a two-player mode is something that even I find fault with, however. (The omission comes off as especially egregious when the two heroes pledge to "go down fighting together" in the heartwarming opening cinema.) Also, the adventure drags a bit towards its conclusion. The developers did a decent job as far as early-stage enemy variation goes, but the the same few bums appear ad nauseam during later rounds. This is typical for a brawler, but even the tunes repeat themselves here.
It all leads up to a final boss that the designers had a nice idea for (but consider yourself warned that he and all of his cohorts are easy as cake to beat), and the final battle is accompanied by a quality tune, one that starts off with Metallica-esque riffs before hitting its stride with a catchy hook. Most of the tunes are pretty good, actually, although many of them are a little too laid back and upbeat if you ask me; I prefer Final Fight's urgent, gritty numbers. I must admit that I get pretty pumped up whenever I hear the track that plays during the opening cinema, however.
There's no way that Riot Zone deserves to be lumped in with the likes of Rival Turf and Captain America at the bottom of the old-school brawler heap. It's certainly a "biding time" sort of affair, and it isn't likely to engross you. If you're willing to accept that, you'll probably have a good time with it.
Someone forgot to tell these clods they're in a one-player game.
So, who will it be... Cody or mohawked Haggar?
The designers came up with some cool enemy and environment designs, but repetition does become a problem during the last few levels.
The Dragon Zone bosses aren't very difficult to track down...
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