Renegade is a game of fisticuffs against the various gangs terrorizing the city. You don't know what city; or even the names of the gangs, but they attack you on sight, so there is no quarter given or expected.  You are the lone man who takes it upon himself to clean up the streets. Wearing your finest brown pants and vest, you start clobbering gang members until you face off with their boss, mano-a-mano. The fighting controls take a bit getting used to, as you can kick or punch, but the buttons actually choose which side you are attacking. And attack one can, with jump kicks, grab attacks, even sitting and punching a baddie in the face, quite a bit of moves! You can do a behind attack while facing the opposite direction just by pushing a button - and I think this is one of the first games to feature such a move.


Each of the gangs is detailed differently, and use different weapons. Sadly, these weapons cannot be picked up. The graphics for each gang are fairly good, you can see facial features, especially funny when you stun them and they stand there with mouth agape. The weapons also get a pass, the chain the biker gang uses looks like a chain, but the backgrounds, while fairly detailed, are a little lackluster with a lot of open space. This is especially true in level 4 with its large mostly empty rooms. 

There are different songs that play throughout it, from a down and dirty rockabilly theme to a motorcycle chase track. There are some good effect noises; such as when you knock an opponent down, the crunch as you jump kick their nose, and a noise is displayed when an enemy dies - although its hard to define if its a death cry or some odd tone. Regardless, you will appreciate it as your enemies fall.

Renegade is a pretty fun game, but is pretty short, all things said. The enemies do keep coming and try to bait you, or  trying to sneak behind or gang up. The balance of the aggressive AI and defensive AI is well done, the battles are the entire game and they are done well. Each enemy killed will send another on screen, until you've killed the whole posse. What I also like is the use of the different stages in defeating foes. You can throw enemies (or knock them back) off ledges or even off a pier! It removes them without a lot of fighting and is key for speed runs. Be careful when trying to set up for such attacks you are not knocked off!

The story I think is the weakest part of the game. You just start the game fists blazing, and all you get for beating a stage is a cryptic Mr. K telling you you're not ready to face him.  You find out he's the last boss later, but at the beginning - who is Mr. K? Even the bosses you fight, they all have names and taunts, but you won't hear them unless that boss defeats you. It would add more to the story to hear them first before you tackle their stage. Strangely, this was not done. 
The difficulty really boils down to several key things: Getting used to the left-right fighting controls, the difficulty of some of the bosses, and the bizarre challenge of the last stage. The last boss uses a really cheap attack, but I would love to hear the game's explanation for why you might find yourself starting the game over if you take the wrong path. The last stage is so strange, it just doesn't make sense.

All in all, Renegade is a fun throwback fighter from yesteryear that has little depth, secrets, and may not make a lot of sense, but it has satisfying combat, just like a brawler worth its salt would have.