Bad Street Brawler (NES) Playthrough
330A playthrough of Mattel's 1989 beat 'em up for the NES, Bad Street Brawler.
Bad Street Brawler is an awkward, simple, and hilariously ugly game, but it's a whole lot more entertaining than it might look at first glance.
It's a port of Bop'n Wrestle (Street Hassle), a PC/Commodore 64 game by Beam that was released in 1987, and it was one of only two NES games designed specifically to be played with the Power Glove.
You play as Duke Davis, who, according to the manual, is a "former punk rocker and the world's coolest martial arts vigilante" and "a lean, mean, thug-trashing machine" who has returned to his hometown to clean up the streets.
There are fifteen stages to work through, and in each you are given three moves that you can use against the bad guys, ranging from simple punches and kicks to pro-wrestling moves like pile drivers, along with a few really bizarre ones like the "ear twist" and the "stooge hit."
You can gain bonus points by grabbing the weapons dropped by enemies, and make sure you keep an eye out for the trench coat flasher - he will often leave you a health boost, but on occasion he'll drop a bomb instead.
My favorite thing about Bad Street Brawler is how tacky and ridiculous it is. Duke looks like a senior citizen that has spent way too much time at Venice Beach (he reminds me a lot of Super Macho Man from Punch-Out!!) as he shuffles about fighting dogs, gorillas, yetis, and girls on skateboards. Still, I can't help but respect anyone that's willing to be seen in public dressed like that. He is an unmistakable product of the 80s.
I had a lot of fun with Bad Street Brawler. The gameplay doesn't have a lot of depth and it's not particularly difficult, but it does demand a bit of time spent getting to know it. The moves are easy to pull off, and I appreciated being able to try them out at the beginning of each stage. I'm sure that this feature would've been especially useful to anyone daring enough to use the Power Glove.
It's a wonderfully strange, short-lived bit of arcade-style fun that's worth tossing in the NES for an afternoon. They certainly don't make them like this anymore!
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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