Urban Champion (3D Classics)
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3DS
| Urban Champion

Next up to the 3D classics plate on Nintendo 3DS is Urban Champion, following the pop-out exploits of Excitebike and Xevious.

You may have just screwed your face up at the mention of that name. Or maybe you're completely oblivious as to what this 1984 NES fighter is all about.

If you fall into the latter camp, you're honestly better off staying that way.

Urban Champion is genuinely entertaining for a good five minutes, which is roughly how long it takes to play a few rounds and realise that there really isn't much else to it.

The new 3D visuals add a definite wow factor, but this also fades out pretty sharpish. The game was pretty awful 27 years ago, and it's only gone downhill since.

Take to the streets

Let's get straight to the heart of the matter - you're a street thug looking to beat the crap out of other delinquents, one by one.

Your character can punch high and low, with standard and strong power. Enemies can block and fight back, but if you simply hammer the buttons a lot it's pretty much impossible to lose.

As you make progress, women will try to drop plant pots on your head from the windows above, and the police will sometimes arrive to break the brawl up. Nothing can deter your blue-haired fighter, however, and he'll keep on bashing until your fingers can take no more.

As a concept it's pretty dull, and you're expected to partake in the same fighting action over and over again, with no variation in fighters or environments.

You're given a grade based on how well you're doing, and a stamina count attempts to add a little drama, largely unsuccessfully.

Ur banned

Not everything about Urban Champion is terrible. The 3D effects are pretty neat, and the added depth brings the backdrops to life.

You can even jump into the options and change the camera angle so that you're nearly looking from behind your character. It's pretty nifty, although it left us wishing Nintendo had worked the effect into a more deserving title.

Even with a two-player mode thrown in for good measure, nothing can compel us to recommend Urban Champion.

Unfortunately, this is yet another silly eShop release that's making us wonder yet again whether Nintendo will ever take the digital space seriously.

Urban Champion (3D Classics)

The release of Urban Champion as a 3D Classic makes us wonder if Nintendo has gone stark raving mad
Score
Mike Rose
Mike Rose
An expert in the indie games scene, Mike comes to Pocket Gamer as our handheld gaming correspondent. He is the author of 250 Indie Games You Must Play.