Technos truly was the king of the brawler genre in the 8-bit era, as it's indisputable that some of the company's efforts from that age have gone on to become true classics -- Double Dragon and River City Ransom chief among them. This attempt by the developer to transition its success into the SNES age just fell flat, though, as Capcom's Final Fight and SEGA's Streets of Rage became the new flagships for the beat-'em-up genre moving into the '90s. Since both of those games (and several of their sequels) are already available here on the Virtual Console, along with those 8-bit Technos classics, there are just way too many better brawler options to choose from to waste your money on this long-forgotten relic. Stay away, and spend your eight bucks elsewhere.
Presentation - 5.0
Graphics - 5.0
Sound - 7.0
Gameplay - 4.0
Lasting Appeal - 4.0
Overall -
Much of The Combatribes feels antiquated by even 1993's standards.
RunDLC writes: "There's no shortage of quality beat-em-ups on the Wii Shop Channel. River City Ransom delivers goofy gut-punching goodness ("Baaaarrrrfff!"), Sega's Streets of Rage games are undeniably good and Double Dragon for the NES offers a fun chunk of nostalgia. That said, we're trying to figure out who would enjoy a game like The Combatribes. It comes up short in so many areas that we can't even recommend it as an impulse buy."
Nintendo Life writes: "There was a time when Technos ruled the beat-'em-up genre of fighting games during the 8-bit era with their Double Dragon and River City Ransom titles, but sadly the 16-bit generation wasn't as kind to the company. Once Capcom's Final Fight hit the scene, there was little room left for any other beat-'em-up, not even a port of their popular The Combatribes arcade game for the Super Nintendo. In fact, Capcom's brawler releases on the Super Nintendo system quickly became the new standard by which all beat 'em up titles were judged and The Combatribes just didn't measure up."
