64th Street: A Detective Story. C.P. Brain (1991) Arcade

May 28, 2018 By Van Rockingham

My search for new games takes me high and low and occasionally I stumble on something that piques my interest. 64th Street was one of those.

You know why? It started with a number and we didn’t have any reviews for games that are a number. (Dammit, I forgot about 1942)

Gameplay

64th Street is a generic Beat ‘Em Up, there is no way to disguise it. You walk right (occasionally left) and punch things to death. But you know what? It is actually really fun. The movelist is limited to punch and kick, with a back attack when pressing both together, but there is the tiniest modicum of depth in that if you hammer special while doing a punch “combo” you’ll throw in a flaming uppercut type move.

But what makes the game stand out to me is that when you grapple an enemy and throw them, you can choose to throw them at the wall. Do this, and you’ll WRECK UP THE PLACE. Windows will smash, pipes will burst and walls will break. It isn’t the most efficient use of your time, but you will find a number of extra items from said smashed window. So it encourages a little exploration/investigation. As well as looking cool as balls.

LET’S WRECK UP THE PLACE!

Story

Standard Beat’Em Up fair, some evil dude has kidnapped some broad off a “mid-aged rich man”, you take on the role of Rick Anderson a Private Detective or his protégé a reformed street tough named Allen Tombs. I mean look at him, his surname is Tombs, he has to be a badass… I think.

Anyway, the Mid-Aged Rich Man approaches Rick, and pays you to find his daughter from the evil corporation known as the Legacy Organization.

The story is presented with huge blocks of text.

Difficulty

64th Street is both easy and mildly difficult. Most bosses if they hit you will whomp off 25% of your health, which isn’t too bad compared to many games. But there is no recovery time. Get knock down and if the boss has entered a loop just sit back and wait for the sweet embrace of death for it will be soon. That said, there is a slight bug with almost all bosses…

You can just stand there wildly punching the air and eventually the boss will walk into your punch and take a fairly large combo of damage from your mighty fists. Some bosses have attacks to get round this, but all bosses have a cheese that doesn’t take you long to figure out. The reality is I died most on levels from regular dudes. See, 64th Street is another game where the enemy will gang-rape you, if you’re not on top of the man management by forcing them to line up one-by-one, they will molest you from either side until you’re dead. Luckily when you die all enemies on screen fall over so you don’t get that “thing” where you’ll piss through an entire credit due to terrible programming.

Fuck this guy

Graphics

It looks alright-ish. 64th Street is nowhere near as pretty to look at as any of the Capcom or Konami games of the era, but it looks alright. The Characters are a strange mix of well defined and slightly ill defined. I know that is a paradox, but it is true.

DoDlooDoDoDoDloooooooo.- Sound Effect optional.
The transition screens are a bit annoying

Conclusion

I am not going to pretend 64th Street is some odyssey everyone needs to play, it is a shortish Beat ‘Em Up that lacks depth or characters. But it is fun, and that is always the most important thing. But it is mindless fun that doesn’t try that hard.

Wrecking up the place was never so much fun.

Pros: Wrecking up the place. Well paced for a Beat ‘Em Up

Cons: Music is pretty crap, Graphics are odd, can be a cheese fest