Producer: Melbourne House
Retail Price: £7.95
Author: Beam Software
It's not easy being a superhero. You stand out in a crowd, attract attention to yourself and have to beat off admirers. Underwear Man is one such crusader - but unfortunately he takes things a bit too seriously and attacks anyone that comes near him.
The player takes control of UM and battles hordes of weird and wonderful characters, individually at first, and then in groups on higher levels. UM isn't exactly defenceless, and has an array of simple kicks and punches, and some special moves, including the deadly ear tweak!
At the top of the screen are two energy bars. The first denotes UM's energy level and remains on screen throughout the game, while the second appears only when an opponent draws near. As the combat ensues, both bars diminish according to contact made between the two parties. Should UM's energy disappear completely, he loses one of this three lives.
Lost energy is replenished by catching the winged hearts that are periodically released by a midget in a trench coat. Care should be taken, however, since on higher levels this character also rolls out bombs, and unless UM swiftly tosses it off screen he loses another life. It's certainly all go in Melbourne these days...
COMMENTS
Joysticks: Sinclair, Kempston, Cursor
Graphics: large and cleverly animated graphics with effective backgrounds
Sound: more bash and blow effects
Street Hassle boasts some lovely cartoon-style graphics and has plenty of playability to back them up. It also has a great sense of humour, making it far more fun than regular combat games. The characters are great, such as the old granny who attacks you with her umbrella and the vicious little dog which comes flying at you - but the best has just got to be the huge gorilla who throws bananas as well as powerful punches. If you enjoy beat 'em ups and have a good sense of humour - go for Street Hassle.
PAUL [76%]
Another beat 'em up hits the street! Street Hassle is a really bad influence to all those impressionable young people out there. Head butting little old grannies, kneeing blind men and exploding overweight people are all in this game (how corrupting!). The graphics are excellently drawn, and the animation is detailed and smooth. The only drawback is the multiload which forces you to waft around. Still, Street Hassle is worth a look - if you can stand the hassle of going down the street to buy it.
NICK [77%]
Street Hassle is a really wicked game! The graphics are highly amusing, and the gameplay has more depth than most of the beat 'em ups I've played. The main element is humour, with penty of laughs as the hero battles a series of whacky characters with his arsenal of even whackier moves! A brilliant laugh, slightly lacking staying power, but fun nonetheless.
MIKE [73%]
Mastertronic Plus
£2.99 (rerelease)
Oh wow, I remember reviewing this when it first came out in 1987: I loved it then and it's still a great game now. You play the hero who's got it into his head that everybody walking around the streets is an enemy. So what do you do with enemies? You beat them up! Old grannies, blind men, dogs and the odd gorilla all get the bunch of fives treatment in Street Hassle.
There are various moves you can practice on your enemies: the usual kicks and punches of all beat 'em up games are included, but there are extra ones - like a tickle to use on the dog! You shouldn't feel bad pulverising grannies though, because they all give as good as they get by hitting you with their umbrellas.
What really makes Street Hassle fun is when the characters shout and scream at you in speech bubbles while you hit them. Grannies for example shout 'BRUTE!' just before they pop off.
All the characters in Street Hassle are detailed, and the hero looks especially cool in his dark shades. It may seem easy beating up the people, but believe me, it's exactly the opposite. The grans get harder as you progress, and the blind men have got a wicked swipe on their white sticks!
All beat 'em up fans will enjoy Street Hassle. Still a great game three years on.
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