The Worst 16-Bit Fighting Games Ever #7 - Brutal: Paws of Fury (Genesis)

WARNING: The content ahead is NSFW and contains images not suitable for minors.

Hi, I'm Rad Gravity, of Rad Gravity Retro. Today I will be joined by Mike "Macho" Haggar my IT guy and Blanka my play tester to talk to you about...wait, what are we talking about today?

What is he saying? I don't speak slobbering beast.

Oh fuck me. Fucking furries.

With the success of Street Fighter II, every company under the sun tried to cash-in on those arcade dollars by releasing their own 1 vs. 1 fighting games. Some companies, such as Konami, SNK, etc it all made sense for them to do so. They were already established greats in the arcade and home console scene. Others, well if you're biggest games are based on Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy -- what the hell were you thinking?

That's the case with GameTek, whom in 1994 pushed out Brutal: Paws of Fury; the game featured a full cast of anthropomorphic animals as selectable fighters each using a specific style of martial arts. Each had a clever name like Kung Fu Bunny, Ivan the Bear and Foxy Rox --

Right, fox boobs. Foxy Roxy was the female wank material for early 90s furries before they even knew what a furry was outside of foot fetish Maid Marian porn. The game saw releases on the Genesis (the one featured today), SNES, Amiga, Sega CD and DOS -- quite a lot of platforms when you think about it. GameTek really thought Brutal was going to be the next big thing in Street Fighting, and to be honest -- the advertising they put behind it worked. It was in every magazine, and it just looked completely different than any other fighter of the time. It was animals, fighting, that weren't Ninja Turtles!

Not to say it was the most innovative in story telling: Every four years on the uncharted Brutal Island, the world's toughest martial artists are invited to compete in the most gruelling tournament, aptly referred to as the Brutal Island Tournament. Only the winner of this tournament gains the privilege to challenge the Dali Llama, the greatest fighter in the world, for the coveted Belt of Heaven championship.

So, what did Brutal try and do differently? Well, it was pretty standard to be honest. The usual Street Fighter II inputs for control and special moves, but you actually gain special moves through the story mode upon defeating opponents. This is both kinda good, but mostly bad. Bad because you start off pretty weak, and getting through the opening fights is, dare I say it, brutal -- when you first start off.

Well it's my blog and I do what I want.

So on the plus side, it does give you something to work towards and passwords are used to store the information of moves learned. Why there was no true battery backup, I have no idea. Either way, it's an interesting idea, just poorly implemented. Especially when the AI is so...

...unforgiving. Even on the easiest setting my first foe, Tai Cheetah came at me like a, well a cheetah. Within 30 seconds I had my ass handed to me. This game will reach through your screen and try and punch you in the face, that's how hardcore these animals are. It doesn't help that the controls seem very laggy, and hit detection is almost non existent. One of the best parts about Street Fighter was when you hit an opponent, the sound and animation gave you the representation you needed to feel it. In Brutal, it's like two plastic shopping bags making love in the wind. God forbid you don't have a 6-button controller for your Genesis, as things play out even worse with the standard 3-button.

Other than that, everything is about as standard as it could be. You have 7 main characters to choose from (and a couple of others attainable through a code). That being said, the only interesting thing about them is that they are animals. The actual art feels more like a home brew MUGEN character, but the backgrounds are at least okay. Same goes for some of the animations -- not the actual in-game fighting animations, as no matter what power of button you push for the attacks, they all look the same. But on the menus there's some fluid animations of the fighters going on; was 1994 that technologically inhibited that we couldn't put those in game?

Okay, Haggar -- you cover the sound while I escort Blanka to his cat box.

NO LYING! HONEST REVIEW HERE!

Alright, back. I have seen things just now that I never want to see again -- much like Brutal and the rule34 community. See, Brutal's biggest claim to fame is giving us Foxy Roxy. Much like Krystal from Star Fox Adventures or Princess Peach, there is porn. Lots of it.

Keep it in your pants, big guy.

So other than furry porn, Brutal: Paws of Fury is an exceptionally bad fighting game. The premise had potential, look at Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (the SNES one, not the Genesis) and you'll see that anthro-fighters can be a thing; if done correctly. Heck, someone must have bought this damn game because a sequel was made on the 32X. The only thing that Brutal has done well? Giving teenage boys in the 90s uncomfortable erections.

...and green Amazon monsters.