This hip-hop-fueled fighter pits player against ruthless street fighters for control of the underground in New York.
Gameplay
The original game was primarily a wrestling game, but the new one offers five different fighting styles to choose from.
Additionally, Def Jam Fight for NY emphasizes the use of the game's various environments and the surrounding crowd in order to inflict damage. When fighters throw their opponents against barriers, they can inflict massive damage by slamming them into a wall or ramming a door or gate in their face, or using other features of the environment.
When a fighter is thrown into the crowd or gets too close, the crowd will push him back into combat, sometimes holding him and leaving him vulnerable. It is common for onlookers to carry weapons, and they will offer them to fighters, or even attack fighters if they are held by someone nearby.
The fighter's Charisma stat affects how quickly momentum is gained by performing moves, countering, and taunting the opponent. As with other stats, it varies from fighter to fighter. Created fighters can set their own charisma with a combination of clothes, tattoos, and jewelry; the more expensive, the better. With a good set of clothes, extensive tattoos, or jewelry, a fighter can fill their momentum meter in just a few moves if they wear the right clothes, have extensive tattoos, or wear extensive jewelry.
As soon as the momentum meter reaches full, the fighter can activate it, which results in a Blazin' Taunt. This state allows the fighter to unleash a powerful and brutal attack, known as a Blazin' Move. Creating a character in the game allows you to learn every Blazin' Move in the game, but you can only use four of them at once.
Despite the game's emphasis on mixed fighting styles, a character can only be knocked out by submission holds or by losing the health bar of a specific body part.
A unique health bar is used in the game to achieve Knock Out. In health, there are two bars: the first represents a fighter's ability to fight and consciousness (Displayed as an opaque light green), while the second represents the fighter's physical wellness (Displayed as a semitransparent dark green). As a fighter's consciousness falls with every hit, so does his/her physical health. Whenever a fighter does not lose health, their consciousness meter will recover to their maximum level of physical wellness. When a fighter's consciousness is lowered to a very low point, the entire health bar will turn red. This indicates the fighter is in danger of being knocked out. A powerful hit, Blazin' Moves, and environmental moves are all necessary to knock out an opponent in danger. For example, you can slam your opponent into a wall or do a double team move with a crowd member, or use a weapon (such as a pipe, bottle, wooden bat, shovel, etc.). While an opponent's physical wellness remains high, it is possible to knock them out by beating them down. In a fight, physical wellness eventually falls so low that when a fighter's consciousness recovers to the physical limit, it is still too low to turn green. Fighters are constantly in danger of being knocked out in this situation, which is sometimes referred to as permanent danger.
Additionally, each fighting style has a unique way to knock out opponents in danger: streetfighters can attack with a strong punch; wrestlers can perform a powerful grapple; kickboxers can complete a kick-combo; submission experts can force the enemy into submission with grapples; and martial artists can perform flying attacks.
Story Mode
Story mode tells the story of an unknown fighter fighting through the New York Underground, created by the player. As a reward for winning matches, the player receives cash, which can be used to purchase clothes from famous clothing lines such as Reebok, Phat Farm, Air Jordan, and even rapper Sean Comb's clothing line, Sean John, among many others. As well as clothes, the fighter can get haircuts, tattoos, and jewelry from Jacob "The Jeweler" Arabo, and Development points that can be used at the local gym, run by Henry Rollins, for upgrading the character's skills, or to purchase and set up new Blazin' Moves and up to two additional fighting styles.
Winning matches unlocks the fighters defeated, as well as their Blazin' Moves and jewelry. The jewelry of Sean Paul, Crack (Fat Joe), Xzibit, Crazy Legs, Lil' Flip, Def Jam Records, Roc-a-fella Records, State Property, and many others can be worn by created characters (except for the medallions worn by Flava Flav and Modify it like Ghostface Killah's Sun God Plate Gold and Diamond piece). Players can use the fighters in Battle Mode, while they can purchase and use their moves and jewelry.
Battle Mode
A versus mode of the game, Battle Mode allows up to four players to fight simultaneously.
A one-on-one match between two fighters.
2 on 2 - A fight between two fighters that ends when both are knocked out or are submitted.
'Free for All' matches involve three or four fighters, each for themselves.
The cage itself can be used to attack the opponent in a cage match. Venue: Club Murder.
A ring-out match is won by throwing your opponent through the gap in the wooden barriers lining the ring, or by knocking them out. Main venue: Dragon House.
Fighting in a burning building causes immediate damage to fighters. Flaming debris can fall from the ceiling and be used as weapons. Main venue: Red Hook Tire Co.
The fight can end by totaling the opponent's car. The arena is divided into two SUVs, and fighters can use each other to mess them up. In order to total the opponent's car, smash it three times (Player 1 - Black Cadillac Escalade) (Player 2 - Silver/Gray Hummer). Main Venue: Gun Hill Garage.
Fight in a subway terminal. A train will pass at regular intervals, and fighters can be thrown or knocked off the platform. No matter how much health an opponent has, throwing them into the path of a moving train takes them out of the fight instantly. Both fighters will receive a double KO if they both are hit by the train. Main Venue: 125 Street Station.
A four-story drop awaits the person slammed through a large window on one side of the arena during Window Match. In the cutscene that follows, they can be seen being smashed through the middle window, regardless of which window they are smashed through. Main Venue: Crow's Office.