One of the more successful Mortal Kombat-inspired fighting games, Brutal: Paws of Fury is an innovative game that features cartoon animals doing kung-fu moves. With names like Foxy Roxy, Kung Fu Bunny, and Psycho Kitten, the game has a great sense of humor that fans of Earthworm Jim will enjoy. Each character that you can control (12 in all) has 6 different attacks, not to mention several combos and special attacks. The graphics are excellent, and the animals are large and very well animated. Compared to the console versions (e.g. for Super Nintendo and SEGA Genesis), this PC port is inferior due to the disappointing lack of a kung-fu "belt system" (i.e. advancement in rank) and the great CD soundtrack and fun video cutscenes/clips present in the SEGA CD version. Still, this is a fun, innovative, and immensely playable game that remains a lot of fun many years later. For the "definitive" version, though, you should hunt for the SEGA CD version instead. If you like the game, be sure to also check out Brutal: Paws of Fury Remix, an excellent fan-made remake/update on this site. Two thumbs up, way up! Reviewed by: Underdogs |