When thinking about why this game failed, it's easy to look at the terrible AI (it's possible to stunlock enemies with flying kicks even on the highest difficulty), the weird special move inputs (some of these special moves are even harder to do than specials in the original Street Fighter), or the wonky gamefeel (I have nothing to say about this - you really have to feel it for yourself).

But I think the biggest problem with Brutal: Paws of Fury is that it didn't really know exactly what it wanted to be, so it just threw a bunch of stuff at the wall and served us what stuck. The characters have a bunch of punny names (Dali Llama and Tai Cheetah are two of the reasons why this game didn't score lower) and the graphics are cutesy, so why does the main story take itself so seriously? And in trying to come up with a gimmick to spice the game up, they made the player start the story mode with no special moves at all (not even a taunt!) and have to grind for them, turning a bland game experience even blander.

It's a shame because the premise is actually quite cool and could have made for a nice 'cult-favorite' type of game if it had a bit more content and played just a little better.