SpikeOut: Battle Street is a Xbox exclusive entry in the SpikeOut series. It is the only home console entry in the series.
Plot[]
It's been ten years since Team Spike saved Diesel Town from being under the control of the Team Inferno. In that time Spike Jr has become a teenager. He is called back to Diesel Town by Linda. Upon arriving, Linda explains that the island is in danger once again from Michael and the newly reformed "Team Neo Inferno" with Diesel Town being their prime target.
Spike Jr asks about his dad, Spike, White and Tenshin, but Linda states they've all mysteriously gone missing and have been for some time. She requests Spike Jr help her find Spike and the others. Spike Jr refuses but promises to help clear up Diesel Town in the absence of his father.
Gameplay[]
The game has both a single player story mode and a Battle Street mode that allows four players to work co-operatively to clear areas. The game was able to use Xbox Live to enjoy a co-operative online experience.
Characters can perform punches and kicks, but holding kick down will fill up a charge meter in the center of the screen. Unleashing the kick when the meter is fully charged will allow each character to perform a unique strong attack. However holding the charge button for too long will burn out the meter.
After beating enemies in an area, an arrow like in Crazy Taxi will point the player to the direction of the gate that they must break to progress.
Special attacks can be performed by pressing all attacks at once. A total of five specials can be saved up and are indicated by lightning bolts underneath the health bar. Characters perform different special attacks depending on whether they have an enemy grabbed or not.
Like in Streets of Rage, items and weapons can be picked up and used against the enemy, although it reduces the characters ability to sprint, regardless of the type of item held.
Losing all your health will result in a gameover, as it has only one life system, and players will be kicked out to the chapter select.
Characters[]
Team NeoSpike:[]
- Spike Jr: The lead protagonist and son of Spike. He was five years old when he entered the fight with his father against Team Inferno. He's got a kind heart but often pretends like he doesn't care about those around him, masking his true feelings towards others. Having watched and mimicked his father's fighting style, he's picked up some boxing techniques. In his father's absence he accepted the task to protect Diesel Town.
- Min Hua: A chinese overseas student who has a crush on Spike Jr and follows him to Diesel Town. She's one of the few who see's through Spike Jr's facade, although she she berates him for not keeping his promise of taking her to an amusement park. Whilst she appears to be fragile, she's capable of using powerful Bajiquan techniques.
- Jackal: A street fighter who lives in Diesel Town. Years ago he made a name for himself fighting anyone who would challenge him and being known as the toughest street punk. His little brother, Fox, looked up to him and decided to follow in his footsteps, something that would end up seeing Fox murdered by Neo Inferno's Void. Now Jackal is seeking revenge.
- Fiona: Codename: ARKFANG. An elite undercover agent who is talented in both unarmed capoeira and weapon based combat. She has been given an assignment to assassinate Spike, and is temporarily working alongside Team Neo Inferno to get the job done when she accidentally came across Spike Jr and the other members of NeoSpike who slowly changed her opinion. Realising that Spike wasn't the threat to the island she originally was lead to believe she becomes a member of NeoSpike.
Team Spike[]
- Spike: The leader of the team and Spike Jr's father, Spike is a taciturn man who finds interpersonal relationships difficult. A former heavy weight boxer, Spike lead the charge to turf out Team Inferno ten years ago. Now he's gone missing, Team Neo Inferno want him dead and the other members of his squad are looking for him.
- White: A former military man, wise cracker and the closest thing Spike has to a best friend, White has been furiously fighting against Team Neo Inferno in Diesel Town whilst trying to find what happened to Spike. Whilst light hearted, he still struggles to get along with his team mate Tenshin. He bumps into Fiona who tries to keep him talking to find out information on Spike.
- Linda: A woman from a wealthy family, Linda has made a name for herself as the queen of Diesel Town, managing to survive the rough streets of thuggish men. She is the most tactical member of Team Spike and manages to keep a cool head no matter the situation. She contacts Jr to help her locate Spike and the others and keep Diesel Town safe. She later meets Min Hua and tells her to keep herself safe.
- Tenshin: As reticent as Spike, but with a far more explosive anger when pushed too far. Tenshin absolutely despises White as a person, although begrudingly acknowledges his ability as a team mate. Tenshin comes across Jackal fairly early on and nearly gets into a fight with him, but both realise they're not enemies and have a very similar goal of locating a man admist the chaos. Tenshin is looking for Spike, whilst Jackal is searching for his brother's killer.
Trivia[]
- Despite this being the only console game in the series, very little context of the characters is given in the story mode which confused players who played Battle Street as their first entry.
- Min Hua utilises Akira Yuki's moves from Virtua Fighter 2 using a far simpler button input system.
- Astro Mall contains a huge Sonic the Hedgehog statue, a Sonic murial up the walls and various items scattered around such as Binsbein from Space Harrier.
