Far better to watch this video instead, if you want to know what the Lizzies were about. However, you should still give Street Brawl a go if only for the sheer amusement of stealing a Lizzie's whip and then turning it on her.

Which, I guess, it the opposite of women's lib. But still hilarious.

You've got the Baseball Furies, the Lizzies and more neon pieces of clothing than you could shake a crowbar at. Seriously, did something happen in 1975 to inspire these strange, strange interpretations of society? Like how you justify calling yourself "The Punks," while flitting around subway stations on roller skates?

What Is It?
The Warriors: Street Brawl is a side-scrolling 2D brawler where players take the role of one of four Warriors who don't immediately die in the film – Ajax and Mercy are unlockable characters.

What We Saw
I played through the demo level and a Lizzie level as Cowboy.

How Far Along Is It?
The game is available on Xbox Live Arcade September 23.

What Needs Improvement?
Gosh It's Dark In Here: The whole movie takes place at night, so I realize things need to be dark. But the Warriors all wear pretty much the same outfit and the camera is too far away to make out individual features. So it would be helpful to have a little more like – or maybe a little more color on the character models – to keep your Warrior straight from other Warriors.

Not A Lot Of Variety: Every gang attacks you in almost the same way – the only variation being the weapons. It gets a little dull, but then, I guess that's how The Warriors must've felt during their long trek back to Coney Island.

What Should Stay The Same?
Decent Combat System: Street Brawl is supposed to be the kind of game where you can just sit back and button mash – but there's also a tiny bit of complexity to the combos and the AI difficulty that keeps it from being dull. There's also a "rage" meter you can build up and activate to do more damage during save brawls. Remember to use that block button!

Crack That Whip! There's a variety to the weapons even outside of what I remember seeing in the film. You've got bats, knives, even a whip you can take off a Lizzie enemy. The whip might be a little overpowered, actually, but it was marvelously entertaining to use on a horde of neon-clad Lizzies.

Final Thoughts
Honestly, you're not going to get much out of The Warriors unless you like the movie – and if that's the case, you might find yourself comparing Street Brawl to the Rockstar video game that came out in 2005. The comparison, sadly, won't be favorable. But if you're looking for a brawler to blow off steam with and maybe a mental trip back to the strangeness that is the late 70s, The Warriors: Street Brawl just might be your ticket.

P.S. You know what would be awesome? A game where you play as that chick Ajax tries to jump in the park.

MTV Multiplayer has first details on the upcoming four-player brawler, which looks to be in the vein of classic Capcom and Konami side-scrolling beat 'em ups like Final Fight or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This take on 30 year old classic The Warriors will come to XBLA courtesy of developers CTXM, responsible for previous downloadable games Heavy Weapon and Feeding Frenzy.

No Rockstar Games is not involved, but everything from The Warriors movie looks to be intact, including gangs like the Baseball Furies and Hi-Hats. If you're feeling uneasy about the lack of involvement from Rockstar, who turned in an excellent beat 'em up last time, perhaps the first trailer of the game in action will put you at ease.

The Warriors is slated for a "mid-summer" release, according to MTV.

‘The Warriors' Returns To Video Games This Summer On Xbox 360 [MTV Multiplayer]

The Warriors [Amazon]

• Ghost Rider (PS2, PSP, GBA) He of the flaming skull rides in to your heart and your PS2.
• The Warriors (PSP)
  Can you dig it?
• Wii Play (WII)
  A collection of casual games including billiards, air hockey, tank battles, table tennis rally, Mii poses and a cow-riding race. Comes bundled with a Wii remote!
• Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (PSP)
  No matter what they tell you, bigger is better.
• Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar (PC)
  The expansion pack for Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords laser blasts it's way to your PC.
• Test Drive Unlimited (PC)
  Racing reinvented. Or so they tell me.
• Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure (PSP)
  Use a magical drill to bore your way into this cutsey-poo action RPG.
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (PSP)
  Viva la Rainbow Six! Viva la PSP! Viva Las Vegas!
• Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner (PSP)
  Become a Jewel Summoner and fight The Abomination.
• Dreamlords (PC)
  Another MMO enters the ring.
• Chulip (PS2)
  Kiss the girls, but don't make them cry.
• Disney's Kim Possible: Global Gemini (DS)
  Disney's teen spy in an all new DS adventure.

Rockstar Games seems to be pulling out all the stops for their new advertising campaign for The Warriors on PSP. Andrew Yoon at PSP Fanboy found this bit of Warriors graffiti applied to the sidewalk near his home in New York City. Certainly using graffiti to promote a game is nothing new, Epic Games did it for Gears of War and Sony got in hot water for their vandalistic (yes I just made that word up) promotion of the PSP. But, is this really a good way to sell a game or system? It certainly puts the name out there, but are you really going to go out and buy a game just because you saw it's logo spray painted on the side of the local Moose Lodge? Flynn De Marco

Rockstar using graffiti to promote The Warriors

We were supposed to run by Rockstar a few weeks back when all of us were in town for that gathering in New York City, but things didn't work out.

The Rockstar guys were going to let us check out their upcoming release of The Warriors for the PSP. While I liked the PS2 game, I wasn't overly excited about the game hitting the portable so much later. But then they pointed out that the game was going to be selling for $20-ish and would have tons of multiplayer, local and wifi, features. I haven't checked it out still, so I'm not sure what the features are, but it's certainly grabbed my attention. Brian Crecente

The Film:
A battle on the streets of New York. The armies of the night number 60,000 strong, and tonight they're all after The Warriors— a street gang wrongly accused of killing a rival gang leader. The Warriors must make their way from one end of New York to their turf on the other side of the city. All that stands between The Warriors and their survival are 20 miles and thousands of street gang members. The army of gangs owns the streets and there's no turning back, they must fight for their lives and learn the meaning of loyalty as danger and uncertainty emerge from the city night.

The Game:
Rockstar Games proudly presents The Warriors for the PSP. Based on the 1979 Paramount Pictures cult classic movie and developed by Rockstar Leeds in conjunction with Rockstar Toronto, The Warriors expands the stylized cinematic journey of the film into a gritty interactive experience set in 1970s New York.

Authentic New York environments were reproduced in great detail to maintain the sense of style and atmosphere of The Warriors film.

Play multiple game modes such as: Story Mode, Rumble Mode, Armies of the Night Mode, Coney Missions.

Unlike the console versions, The Armies of the Night mode will come unlock and will be playable

All game modes will have Wi-Fi Co-Op capabilities

Play as each of the nine Warriors throughout the game—Cleon, Ajax, Swan, Snow, Cochise, Cowboy, Rembrandt, Vermin and Fox. Each will serve as the leader of different missions in the game.

Three different fighting styles include: Street Fighting, Brawler, and Kung Fu.

Deep fighting system includes diving and tackling, reversals, tandem attacks with other Warriors, beating opponents while pinning them on the ground, dragging and throwing enemies into fences and walls, finishing them off with a stomp while they're trying to crawl away, using grab attacks to cause serious damage, and much more.

Rage mode allows you the ability to do new massively powerful moves that will clear the area and cause tremendous damage.

There will be varying degrees of progressive damage in the game, like facial lacerations and bloody clothing. Warriors can be cured by taking Flash.

The environments will be littered with objects that can be used as weapons against such as wood planks with nails, bricks, pipes, boxes, garbage bags, televisions, and more. There will also be multidimensional objects, such as bottles, which can be broken, then used as a stabbing weapon.

Giving more freedom to the user than any other brawler before it, The Warriors can steal car stereos, mug pedestrians and loot stores to make money. They can also use spray paint to throw up the classic Warriors "W" over rival gang tags.

Full gang control allows the player to select War Chief commands, some of which include having your gang move quickly, hold up, or trash everything in sight.

A variety of different gameplay mechanics allow the player to approach the levels however they choose-play it as a straight up brawler, or incorporate stealth techniques.

Gangs from the game are pulled straight from the film, including the Gramercy Riffs, Turnbull AC's, and The Orphans.

Based on the 1979 Paramount Pictures film, directed by Walter Hill, adapted from the 1965 novel by Sol Yurick.

Coming to PSP on February 2007 Worldwide

Likewise, the DS, with a copy of Castlevania Portrait of Ruin sits waiting by the throne, itching for a fifteen minute sit-down play session.

Other than that, I've got a copy of The Warriors (the movie) waiting to see the inside of my PLAYSTATION 3. That about does it for me. What are you, the comment access enabled masses, planning on firing up this weekend? Michael McWhertor

Other than that, I may fire up some MAME and brush up on a few classic games in anticipation of our visit to Barcade next week. I'm ready to take on you Brooklyn based chumps in some old school arcade games, with shots of bourbon on the line. Kotaku pays! I also may re-familiarize myself with The Warriors in anticipation of something undisclosed and will probably hit up the local brick and mortars for a Wii.

So what's up, gaming weekend warriors? What electronic burdens will you shoulder during your scheduled down time? Let us know in the comments. Michael McWhertor

Before Rockstar did that big PR push for their Warriors game last year, I had never heard of the movie. I went out and rented the special edition DVD and found a new favorite flick.

The game was fun for the few minutes I played, and the fact that there was a pickup co-op more was a huge bonus. Somehow, it became one of these games I always intended to pick up and never did, more the fool me.

CVG reports that a Warriors port will be making it to PSP around Xmas time. Gordon Hall, president of Rockstar Leeds, says:

The PSP system allows us to deliver the experience in an entirely different way, while staying very faithful to the original source material.

So no details yet on what's getting mutilated and how badly, but if it's got a co-op mode I'm there. Eliza Gauger

The Warriors on PSP this Christmas [Computer and Video Games]

Take-Two Interactive is this month's whipping boy. Trundling along on the heels of the Hot Coffee subpoena and the resulting stock flaccidity, a bad-tempered little lawsuit from Roger Hill, who played gang leader "Cyrus" in the movie's "The Warriors," the precursor to Take-Two recent game of the same name. Says Gamasutra:

Roger Hill, who played gang leader Cyrus in the original 1979 movie, has filed a suit demanding $250,000 and a court order barring the use of his likeness, according to a New York Daily News report. The suit maintains that Take-Two and Rockstar have generated at least $37 million in revenue from the game.

He further states that they attempted to involve him in the game from the beginning, offering to pay for his name and voice, but that he declined. This is possibly what prompted the "extended universe"-free demise of the Cyrus character in the beginning of the game, which is the catalyst for the gang war that follows.

Take-Two retorts that the company "has a valid third-party license for the rights to use Roger Hill's likeness and the character of Cyrus in The Warriors video game and related marketing materials".

Hill is apparently out of the acting business and working at a Manhattan business college's library, where students knowingly keep books past their due dates in an attempt to provoke one of his marvelous lectures. If he's in a good mood, he'll even get out the robe. Eliza Gauger

More here [Gamasutra]
Excellent little rundown about the movie here [Fringe Underground]

Newsweek is all over Rockstar like a teenager in love. The love is chronicled in a piece that looks at the rise of Rockstar Games.' I don't think anyone would argue that Rockstar is doing great things as an entity, but the article cites the use of the Warriors intellectual property and staging the recently released title as a prequel as a marking point for the company's success. That's a bit shortsighted. Why not point to their creation of dynamic, changing cities with the GTA series as the launchpad for their success rather than their revival of a '70s cult flick?

If the video game companies of the world were a bunch of teenagers, Rockstar would be the Fonz. I was more of a Richie guy, myself.

Why Rockstar is Leader of the Pack [Newsweek]

Just landed a copy of The Warriors in the mail and it came with a pretty nifty piece of marketing schwag. When I tore open the package a can of R9A4D interior/exterior paint fell out onto my lap. I shook it, it rattled.

Hmm, huffing? Am I supposed to snort up a nose-full of red-tinted vapors before playing the game? Maybe a bit of graffiti? Tag my neighborhood with some "Come Out and Play" art?

I popped the lid, the spray nozzle shot off. Looking into the gaping hole I see a metal ball bearing resting on top of a green plastic-wrapped cylinder. I pry open the bottom of the can and tug out the cylinder, tear the plastic and unfold.

Sweet, T-shirt, though I might need to give it a wee bit of an ironing.

Oh, I'll check out the game and get back to ya.

Apparently Rockstar can release games that don't get them into hot water, and with The Warriors they are doing just that. Using a film IP from a quarter of a century ago, Rockstar crafted an interesting, action-packed beat 'em up. It's like Double Dragon, but not horrible. The scores aren't in yet, but when they are, that's where they'll be.

When some of the guys behind Halo left to form Wideload, my interest was piqued. When I played through the demo of Stubbs the Zombie at E3, the game was shaping up nicely. It retains the grainy look of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and some humor while your anti-heroic zombie noshes on brains. Keep checking back for scores.

The Warriors hit the streets today and The New York Times has an interview with the brothers behind Rockstar to talk about it. The Houser brothers describe the game's brawls as Double Dragon with more power and tout the game's ability to have mass rumbles that you can interact with. For Seth Schiesel's part, he seems impressed, saying that the game manages to be both simple to pick up and deep enough to keep you around playing. The story goes on to touch on the brother's background, how they came to found Rockstar and why they are so good at turning American culture into gaming mayhem.

The Gangs of New York [NYT]

The Rockstar folks dropped me a line yesterday about a couple of cool contests they've whipped up to celebrate the upcoming release of The Warriors.

To enter the first, hop on over to Spike TV to watch The Warriors trailer and answer some trivia questions. Two finalists will be selected to travel to New York City with three buddies for a weekend to compete against each other in The Warriors video game.

for the first contest, Rockstar teamed up with Spike TV for the "Can You Dig It?!" contest. simply click on the link below and watch The Warriors trailer and answer the trivia questions to win. Then, two finalist gang leaders with three friends each travel to NYC for a weekend and compete against each other in The Warriors video game.

The winning gang gets an extended stay in the city, including a private tour of Coney Island, and Central Park, hotel accommodations and a three day subway pass for unlimited use of the NYC Subway system (bats not included.) They also win an Xbox, PS2, JVC 1000W 5.1-Channel Home Theater System with Progressive-Scan DVD/CD/MP3 Player, Philips 50" Widescreen Digital-Cable-Ready Plasma HDTV with Dual HDMI Inputs, Sony VAIO TV-PC Desktop with Intel Pentium 4 Processor 550, a copy of The Warriors video game and other delicious Warriors swag.

Rockstar's second contest is with Adidas. To enter head over to the adidas site and answer some trivia questions. Prizes for that contest include, limited edition The Warriors/adidas classic trefoil t-shirts, limited edition The Warriors/adidas classic trefoil track tops, The Warriors - The Ultimate Director's Cut DVD, and a bevy of other Warriors swag like hoodies, T-shirts and hats.

Can you dig it?

Spike TV contest and Adidas contest [Official contest sites]

I just heard that Paramount Home Video is releasing a director s cut of The Warriors around the same time the video game from Rockstar hits stores. The Warriors: Ultimate Director s Cut includes a new intro and reworked transitions with a comic book feel.

Remember, there are no coincidences, only marketing ploys.

The Warriors: Ultimate Director's Cut [Digitally Obsessed]

It somehow slipped my mind Monday to point out that the official site for The Warriors has launched. The site has a bunch of screen shots and four short videos showing actual game play. The videos mostly highlight a savage form of street fighting that s backed-up with some very meaty sound effects.

You get to the videos by cruising to the turf of different gangs with a small map at the bottom of the screen. So far, you can check out Coney Island, home of The Warriors; Prince Street land of the mime-like Hi Hats; East Broadway hunting ground of the Savage Huns and East 110th Street, the Hurricanes barrio.

I don t know about you, but I can t wait to put my foot up the ass of some Hi Hats. I hated those guys with their white facepaint, red lipstick and oh-so-fancy top hats. Shit, they wore suspenders. How does a gang survive New York wearing suspenders? And what about the Baseball Furies? Maybe, back then everyone in New York wore make-up.

The Warriors [Official Site]

GameBiz has some exclusive video interviews up with the producer of The Warriors. The video includes some new game play footage. The game will be set three months prior to the events in the movie and culminate in the events of the film.

Players will take on the role of one of the members of The Warriors who will have to recruit new members, tag, steal, rumble and general make a nuisance of themselves.

Check out the video and make sure you read the write-up, this is starting to sound like a great game.

The Warriors Exclusive [Game Biz]