Franko - The Crazy Revenge

Year 1996, Polish developer World Software, and a beat 'em up that I first saw back then on a pirate CD with two hundred games. Franko stared at me from the cover like someone who'd punch their own grandmother across a table. I was sold.

Franko: The Crazy Revenge is a Polish B-tier beat 'em up for DOS. You play as a muscular street fighter who sets out to deal with a gang that did him wrong. You don't need a complicated excuse — the gang came, beat him up, you need to get revenge. The story is an excuse, not an ambition, and that's fine. That's how it worked with Final Fight or Streets of Rage, just with a much smaller budget.

Gameplay is straightforward: you go left to right, punch everything that moves, occasionally pick up a weapon from the ground. Controls are responsive, the combat system is simple but sufficient to keep you entertained long enough. What the game lacks is variety — enemies start repeating quickly and the routes are monotonous. On the other hand, the graphics for 1996 and a Polish indie title look surprisingly acceptable, the environment has a grim street character that suits the genre.

We remember it mainly because it came from Eastern Europe at a time when the gaming scene there was still finding its voice. World Software wasn't Bullfrog or Apogee, but they made a functional game in a genre dominated by consoles — and that on PC in DOS, where similar titles were scarce. Today you can see the seams: the game length is short, difficulty is uneven, and replay value is virtually zero. But as a time capsule of Central European game development in the nineties, it has an inexplicable charm.

If Streets of Rage alone wasn't enough and you once wanted to know what the Poles did with beat 'em ups — here's your answer. In a browser via DOSBox you'll get through it in an afternoon, won't regret the time spent, and close the tab with a nostalgic smile. That's a pretty solid result for a game like this.