Developer: SNK Publisher: Treco Release: 06/91 Genre: Action
When it comes to fighting games everyone remembers Street Fighter 2 as the progenitor of the genre as we know it. But prior to contrary belief there were other games before it. We just do not talk about them because they were routinely awful. SNK’s Street Smart is a completely forgettable game for many, many reasons. It is rare to see a game that fails in almost every category spectacularly yet here we are.
Street Smart is a port of the SNK arcade game of the same name. The names and general gameplay are the same but the Sega edition sports a few features over its arcade brethren. These are suppose to give the game depth. Instead they are implemented poorly and make little difference overall. With the excision of the arcade’s cool coop mode it just does not stack up. The saying goes you cannot polish a turd and it certainly applies here.
At least it lives up to its title. The game takes place on the mean streets across America. As one of two apparent street fighting specialists you take on an assortment of foes in an ever escalating round of fights. After each fight you win a cash prize in your pursuit of fortune and fame. New to this version is a gambling system in which you can place a bet on who will win the match, even betting against yourself! Why you would do so is a mystery in my opinion but I digress.
Some consider Street Smart a beat em up due to its belt scroll playing field. But mechanically it is a fighting game and a poor one at that. Imagine a fighting game with no special moves and you have an idea what you are in for. Your only attacks are a punch, kick, and a jump kick. The jump kick in particular barely ever works; I’ve landed it once or twice and I can truthfully say they were happy accidents. That leaves basic brawling for the entire match and it grows old fast. Even by beat em up standards this is piss poor. Compared to other fighting games it is downright shameful.
With such a simple move set every bout devolves into a repetitive slug fest. The developers try to add some depth by inputting a stat system. After every fight you receive points to distribute in health, power, and defense. Honestly outside of a longer life bar you will barely notice any difference. It would be better if you could ignore it but considering your first opponent dwarfs your hero in every category by a significant margin it is necessary. If the system were implemented better maybe it could shore up the lacking gameplay. Instead it is another in a long line of half assed features.
At first Street Smart seems brutally difficult. Every character has a speed, range, and power advantage and it takes everything to get a good hit in thanks to the awful hit detection. However the AI is dumb and easily exploited. Once you kick them you can walk forward slightly and continue kicking to keep them in a loop and rinse and repeat. It gets tricky when you fight two enemies simultaneously but that is the only rough patch. I easily completed the game in under ten minutes with this strategy and had no desire to go back and try something else.
The money awarded after each fight is mostly superfluous for most of the game. But it does have an impact on the ending you receive. There are three endings with some being hilarious. If you gamble away your winnings and eek by with the bare minimum you’re hero is homeless with nothing but a bag for clothes. Finish with some cash and you can at least afford a nice car and a girl to go with it. But if you are truly a master and scrooge you will have a nice mansion and four women wanting a piece of that action. Yes it is not enough to entice players in to playing the game more than once. But at least it is something.
In Closing
Street Smart is footnote on the road to respectable fighting games. The bones of what could have been a decent title are there. But the sloppy execution and lacking gameplay seal the deal. For some god forsaken reason Street Smart is continually re-released. There sure as hell isn’t any one asking for it. Leave this as a distant memory.
