Brawler fans will want to check out Backstreet Warriors for the Pico 8. If you rocked Streets of Rage or Final Fight then you are going to be right at home with Backstreet Brawlers. Two buttons are enough to contain all the action here as contextual moves are in play giving you far more moves than you might expect.
Brawling in Pixelated Style
If you are unfamiliar with the Pico 8 it is a virtual machine designed with the limitations of the late 80s hardware. Think of it as somewhere between the 8-Bit Nintendo and 16-Bit Sega Genesis – it is that magical, non-existent 12-Bit gray area of sorts.
It is incredibly tough to describe exactly where the Pico 8 was aiming as it has more power than the NES but less than the Genesis. Hence the 12-Bit reference.
That means games are pixelated quite a bit but run smoothly with additional frames of animation and smooth scrolling.
Backstreet Warriors is pretty much a short, single, level affair pitting you against wave after wave of enemies. Not necessarily time attack as the timer never came into play for me (I died long before my time ran out).
No Guts No Glory
Backstreet Warriors is all about taking down the bad guys. They will team up, they will seemingly cheat, but you can continue.
What I really like about Backstreet Warriors is how it gets around the 2-button limitation of the Pico 8. Contextual moves work well and provide a bit of graphics flare that adds to the cinematic styling of the fights. Slow motion kicks in at the right time when performing a strong attack for instance.
There is a tally counter in the bottom right side of the screen so you know how many enemies are left. Once you lay down the last enemy for good you win and get to see the credits.
Fans of Final Fight and Streets of Rage will want to [check out the Backstreet Warriors itch.io page], you can play in your browser or download for your computer.