Hot Streets (Game)

Hot Streets originally released in Japan as Tobio no barādo (トビオのバラード) is a 1984 beat 'em up and boxing video game developed and released by Namco in Japan and Bally Midway in North America, the game is an adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's manga The Ballad of Tobio, it follows Tobio Katsumoto (Tony in the American translation) an aspiring boxer as he goes from an unknown kid from the rough side of town to a boxing champion, The game follows the traditional beat 'em up format, with some portions taking place inside a boxing ring and others taking place in the back alleyways, as Tobio/Tony trains, fights gang members, and then fights in the boxing ring.

This was the very last Namco game released by Midway in the US before Namco switched to independent distribution in the states.

Localization
The team at Namco, knowing the Manga wasn't available outside of Japan and the Anime wouldn't air in the US until Fall 1984 and the only source available was Carl Andy's loose 1975 film adaptation, had to make changes to make it appeal more to an American audience, this included changing Tobio's name to Tony, change Japanese school clothing to more American attire such as Gakurans to Sorority jackets, the Mad Mask gang having a more contemporary look compared to their original greaser design, resembling more like gangs from The Warriors, some aspects was retained like Tobio's sweater and newsboy cap, blood and most importantly the boxing stages, with minor contemporary alterations.