Riot Zone

Everyone knows that Genesis had Streets of Rage and Snes had Final Fight, but what most people probably didn't know is that the other 16-bit console had it's own beat-em-up franchise. Well actually it's not much a franchise, being only one game and all, but since it's the only such game like this on the platform it deserves recognition. Unfortunately, it only comes off as Final Fight's underdeveloped cousin.
The first thing you'll probably notice if you play Riot Zone is its interesting sound effects. Anytime you hit an enemy or they hit you, you hear a completely unorthodox noise. The best way to describe it would be to say it sounds like someone hitting a hammer against a piece of sheet metal. Not very realistic when you consider that mutilating one's face doesn't ring like thunder. It sets a tone that the developers released a less than polished product. Maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself here though. Before you can arrive at the gameplay segment of Riot Zone, you will most likely be struck with a feeling of déjà vu. The introduction of the story has a city overrun with thugs. To make matters worse, the main character's girlfriend has been kidnapped by these hoods. Obviously the soon to be hero isn't going to stand for this, so he and his best friend decide to take matters in their own hands, beat down style. Genius. The game gives you the option to control either of these two original characters. The boyfriend and finesse fighter Hawk, or his best buddy Tony, the slow muscle. {cough}Cody and Haggar{cough} Excuse me. And once the action pops off, all the usual suspects make their appearances. Yes, the skinny punks, the ridiculously fat guys, the scantly clad girls, oh and of course the ninjas, they're are all here with one common goal in mind, get mowed down by you several hundred times throughout the course of the game. And the designers even decided to get really clever in the naming of their characters, the lard balls that run at you with their bellies are named Fats. Irony of this magnitude couldn't possibly have been planned.