Solving mysteries with their fists
- RICK: PRIVATE DETECTIVE3rd October 1939 file no. 238 -Case of the Rich Man's Kidnapped Daughter.
64th Street: A Detective Story is an arcade Beat 'em Up game released by Jaleco in 1991.
Set in the late 1930s, an Ace detective and private eye, Rick and his partner, Allen, is hired late one night to investigate the kidnapping of a billionaire's daughter. After an impromptu deduction from Rick leads their investigation to the wharfs, the two detectives uncovers the operations of a crime syndicate called the Legacy Group planning to take over the free world.
Holy She... boygan! This looks like a trope list for Rick and Allen!
- Anachronism Stew: The game is allegedly set in 1939, but the mooks harassing you are dressed up as punks from the 1980s. There are also pirate enemies and futuristic (if rather steampunk) robot minions.
- Bat Deduction: In the opening intro, the expert detective Rick somehow managed to deduce the kidnappers' hideout by reading through various job ads packaged with the criminals' ransom note, spelling it out to his amazed protégé Allen. It... Makes As Much Sense In Context.Rick: Read these job classifieds very carefully. Notice the similarities between the sentences in the ads and the sentences we saw in the letters from the kidnappers last night?Allen: Holy sh...eboygan. Really?
- Combat Cue Stick: The Legacy's leader and Final Boss is fought in his personal pool table room, where he'll grab a cue stick and use it to smash your face in. You can relieve him of his weapon and use it back on him though.
- Cool Airship: The final stage is set in the Legacy Group's airship base, with the billionaire's kidnapped daughter imprisoned on the deck. It's up to Rick and Allen to infiltrate the ship and retrieve her. Once you defeat the final boss, she finds you, though she's still quite grateful to see the heroes.
- Dual Boss: The third boss sees you fighting two metalworkers whose main attack is to spam a variation of Rick's special move.
- If you're playing on higher difficulties, the first and second bosses BECOME dual-boss encounters.
- Extendable Arms: The robot boss can extend his fists to punch the player from a distance. All three of them do this, including the two fought in the blimp alongside the final boss as a Wolfpack Boss.
- Grievous Harm with a Body: During gameplay, Rick and Allen can grab mooks and fling them into other mooks, knocking over large number of enemies in an instant. It's a good way to get out of a bad fix now and then.
- Hardboiled Detective: Rick, the player 1 character, is supposed to be depicted as such (with his sidekick Allen as The Watson), though the detective work is all done in the backstory, since the entire game have the players punching their way through stuff.
- Kung Fu-Proof Boss: The robots are too heavy to throw and will simply crash down on top of Rick and Allen if they try it. You're still able to pummel the crap out of them in a grapple, though, so you can still do some damage that way.
- Never Bareheaded: Allen, the player 2 character, keeps his hat on regardless the amount of enemies he beats up or him getting repeatedly punched in the face.
- Pipe Pain: Pipes are a secondary melee weapon dropped by mooks, which Rick and Allen can collect for kicking ass. They're better in range than fists or wrenches and can smash the skulls of mooks with ease, with Rick doing additional damage with it.
- The Place: The title refers to the address where Rick and Allen set up their detective agency.
- Recurring Boss: Three of the earlier bosses show up again in later levels, in one case flanking their superior. The second and third bosses reappear in the fifth stage (thankfully, the third boss doesn't have his buddy around this time), and later two copies of the robot must be fought alongside the Final Boss, the Legacy Corporation's leader (though if you're careful, you can draw each enemy out on their own).
- Rewarding Vandalism: You can throw enemies into the background, and smashing it up is a great source of items. In fact, in terms of raw damage, it hurts more than your typical side-throw, though it likely won't knock as many enemies down.
- Seadog Peg Leg: The second boss is a pirate captain with a peg-leg, and surprisingly fast on his feet despite his predicament. Later on there are lesser pirate enemies, including a Degraded Boss of the aforementioned pirate captain, all of them sporting similar peg legs. They can actually use their pegs to spin around and attack.
- Wolverine Claws: Several hunchbacked, eye-patched enemies with only one hand have curved blades attached to their wrists, which they'll use to slash at you.
- Wrench Whack: Wrenches are the first weapon Rick and Allen can collect for smashing enemies. Allen can combo a few hits together with them. The final boss's pool cue works the same way.
