Remember that awesome Claymation MTV show Celebrity Deathmatch in which well-known entertainment personalities stepped into a wrestling ring and beat the living hell out of each other, leaving their rival in a bloody and barely recognizable state? Celebrity Street Fight PRO brings that gladiatorial spirit back, except this time, instead of watching your favorite celebrity personalities duke it out, you get to be the one generously handing out the beatings. And just like the TV show, there are various power-ups, weapons, and abilities, as well as a nice selection of celebrity fighters to choose from. Unfortunately, any other similarities end there.
You see, what made the TV show so gut-wrenchingly gripping was the unnecessary but refreshing level of brutality, something that was truly revolutionary for its time. The excessive amounts of blood, exaggerated physical injuries, impalements, decapitations, and gruesome fatalities would make even fans of Mortal Kombat X squirm. Sadly, all if not most of these things are missing from Celebrity Street Fight PRO, which makes what could have been an amazing distraction a disappointing “should have, could have been”.
Don’t get me wrong, the game is quite fun and it definitely has its merits but after playing it for a while this feeling of there being something missing starts to swell up in your gut. I get it, with a rating of T for Teen there is only so much blood and profanity that can be injected into the pulsating veins of this flashy brawler and once again, to be fair, it does have a lot going for it despite its safe rating. The soundtrack is great, there is a nice blend of hip-hop and electronic dance music that works perfectly as a backdrop to the fighting and the graphics are charming. The stylized fighters look exactly like their celebrity counterparts and there special moves fit nicely with their personalities. A fireball coming out of Timothy De La Ghetto’s crotch? Sounds legit. There is also a great selection of celebrities to play as, though don’t expect to fight any A-listers right away. I’m apparently a bit out of touch with the times, because I only recognized a handful of “faces” when I first started playing, Mark Cuban (Shark Tank) and Timothy De La Ghetto being two that I immediately recognized. The rest of the cast I had to look up or read through their in app bios to figure out who the hell they were. That is when I realized that the majority of these characters are all social media stars: think VINE, YouTube, Twitter, etc. Nothing wrong with that but if you’re itching to lob grenades at Samuel Jackson or swing a lightsaber at Jennifer Lawrence than this may not be the game for you but there are a few A-listers you can eventually take swings at. The last fight for the bronze title, for instance, ends with Miley Cyrus.
Playing the game is very straightforward. You pick a celebrity and fight for the bronze, silver and gold belts. Each belt level contains a series of increasingly difficult fights you must win before advancing. These fights start off against social media stars and end with a title bout against an A-list celebrity. Fights grant you credit on your International Street Credit card which you can use to purchase weapons and lives. If you have the PRO version of the app, purchasing lives is not necessarily as you get an unlimited amount. When you first start playing you get one free opportunity to use the Special Move for your character, after that you have to pay. While extremely powerful, at $2 a pop, it may not feel worth it. Though as you advance and find the computer AI laying down the smack, don’t be surprised if you give in and make that purchase. You will probably still lose but hey, at least you got to see The Situation fire the lasers out of his ripped abs. Occasionally you can get free weapons and items by blowing up the Twitter page of the celebrity you’re playing as to tell them how much ass you’re kicking as their doppelganger.
Unfortunately, aside from the Special Movie, there is not a huge difference between the celebrities you play as. They all move, block, punch, jump, run, kick and throw the exact same way. And the controls are downright awful at times. This becomes more and more apparent as you fight against increasingly skilled opponents. You cannot run and do anything else at the same time. Want to do a flying front kick? Dream on. This makes for a clumsy, frustrating experience where the computer AI is able to knock you back and forth across the screen while you’re unable to land a single hit. Your opponents also have an unlimited amount of weapons and the ability to use their Special Move multiple times a round which further increases the difficulty.
Dedicate enough time to Celebrity Street Fight PRO and the fame you so desire will be well within your grasp. It may not quite live up to your expectations but there is enough entertainment value here to make giving it a try worth it. Whether you’re striving to make it to the top of the leaderboard or just reveling in the satisfaction of smacking around people with more money than you will ever have, you’re bound to find something enjoyable.
Is it Hardcore?
Solid.
Celebrity Street Fight PRO isn’t even close to being on the same level as the immensely popular TV inspiration from whence it came, but there is still enough here to draw you in. Now if only you could brawl against other real-life players…