One of the 1st beat side-scrolling beat em up's I can remember playing, very like a primative Double Dragon type, Target Renegade (TR) offered to me at the time, a very realistic street-fighting situation. Looking back, the violence was more like the choreography in Michael Jackson's 'Bad', with the thugs dressed accordingly.
You play as Mr. K, and as such are tasked with ridding the streets of thugs and work your way up toward the leader, Sabu's base. The game throws you straight into the action just as Mr.
K is mugged/assaulted rather inconveniently in the early hours in a subway station.
While obviously rather basic, the graphics still convey the gritty city atmosphere. Subways, docks, streets, bars and buildings... all recognizable and familiar. The characters have typically cartoonish faces and are all willing to attack the hell out of you with no hesitation whatsoever. All in all it could be said that their attitude was rather horrendously geared towards violence.
The tunes in TR sound unusual. There just seems to be something about them, almost like something from an action scene based in a disco movie like Jackie Chan would do, just as he's being furtively eyed by the thugs as they get into position about to attack him from all sides at once. You
always feel like they're building you up towards some sort of violent explosion! Sound-effect wise, you had "hit" sounds, not unlike those in Double Dragon but a bit more 'retro'.
This is no different from other games of this genre when it comes to the basics; fighting street toughs and whatnot. Each level has Mr. K battle against a horde of toughs in a "scene" and then enter through a door of some description and scrap with more crims. Eventually, a room will pit you against the stage boss who is stronger. Beat him and a mugshot in a blank screen will pop up with Mr. K's immortal words, "You ain't tough enough for me!" All good stuff. If you happen to lose to a boss he runs his mouth off and talks trash and you start over from wherever.
There was also a 2-player mode, but you have to hotseat like in Double Dragon.
The thugs can get pretty vicious. You tend to find that the action can really escalate fast. The scumbags will literally swarm all over you and if you pause for a second, or make a slight error on the higher difficulty settings, they'll be on you like white on rice and you'll find yourself back at the 'Game Over' screen.
