In the 16-bit era — the good ol’ days of the beat-’em-up game — games such as “Final Fight” and “The Streets of Rage 2” helped define the genre and are now considered classics.

Fast forward to 2005. In these times, the hot sellers are “Grand Theft Auto” and its clones. With game development costs going up, publisher Capcom has come up with a seemingly winning combination: Mix in one part “Grand Theft Auto” and another part “Final Fight,” and the end result is “Beatdown: Fists of Vengeance.”

Oh, how the ridiculous title fits — in an unintended way. Not only does this game “beat down” any warm feelings toward 16-bit beat-’em-ups, but it does so with its crushing “fists of vengeance.” Any and all good points of the beat-’em-up genre are ignored here.

Let’s start with the characters. Older games’ characters had soul. Remember cleaning up the streets as an overall-wearing, ex-wrestler mayor? Well, that’s no longer cool. “Beatdown” features five “badass” bouncers. All of them are laughable and asses, indeed. Most of the disdain for this game comes from the hollow and forced dialogue. Also, for some reason, the game just has to include an expletive in every other sentence.

The worst part of “Beatdown” is the crappy gameplay. The fighting aspect is the most important part of the beat-’em-up and it’s pretty much nonexistent in this game. In the past, different strategies were required to take out the enemies.

In “Beatdown,” the virtually identical enemies require nothing more than four punches, block and repeat. Weapons, which used to be the great equalizers, are still that, except this time, it equalizes the advantage for the enemies. The horrid lag time and pitiful reach render the weapons useless.

The “Grand Theft Auto” aspects are poorly implemented as well. Characters can be recruited into the gang, and two can be on-screen to help out the player. Unfortunately, helpers are dumb as bricks.

After awhile, it feels almost like a “Pokemon” game with the numbing mentality of “gotta catch ’em all!”

There is also a “danger level” with the police and the mob. There is no incentive, however, to try to lower this meter because there is hardly any penalty with a maxed-out meter. One can go through the whole game just ignoring the thing.

So is there anything that redeems “Beatdown”? Two things. The most thought-out aspect of the game is customizing character appearance.

There is a wealth of options available to alter a character’s appearance, including different shirts, pants, shoes, even haircuts. There is something definitely wrong when playing dress-up with a character is more fun than kicking ass with that same character.

The one other good part of the game is the massive replay incentives. Incentives is a good word for this since the game is such a bear to play. All five characters have their own storylines and there are plenty of unlockables. Really though, playing through once is a big enough chore; only the most hardcore completists will go through this game five times.

In the end, “Beatdown” is a game that will neither appeal to old-school beat-’em-up lovers or “Grand Theft Auto” fans. Let’s hope dearly Capcom has learned something from this mess and shows it in “Final Fight: Streetwise,” their upcoming beat-’em-up game.

Developer: Capcom

Platform: Playstation 2

Rating: Mature

Rating: 2 out of 5