The game features several rappers, including
Lil' Kim,
Snoop Dogg,
Method Man & Redman,
Slick Rick,
Memphis Bleek,
Lil' Flip,
Scarface,
Ghostface Killah,
Fat Joe,
Mobb Deep,
Ice-T,
Xzibit,
Capone-N-Noreaga,
Ludacris,
Crazy Legs,
Busta Rhymes,
Bubba Sparxxx and
Sean Paul as well as the voices and likeness of other celebrities, such as
Henry Rollins,
Christopher Judge,
Carmen Electra,
Baby Chris,
Jacob Arabo and
Kimora Lee Simmons. The
gameplay is expanded from the original game, which was primarily a wrestling game. Fighters can choose one, two, or three of five fighting styles. The fighting styles are Streetfighting, Kickboxing, Martial Arts, Wrestling and Submissions. Additionally,
Def Jam Fight for NY emphasizes the use of the game's various environments and the surrounding crowd to cause damage. Tossing the opponent against barriers gives fighters an opportunity to inflict massive damage to their opponent by slamming them into the wall headfirst, ramming a door or gate in their face, or using other features of the environment. The crowd will shove a fighter back into combat if he is thrown into them or gets too close, sometimes holding a fighter and leaving them open to attack. Some spectators carry weapons, and will offer them to the fighters, or even attack a fighter if they are held by a nearby onlooker. Momentum is gained by successfully performing moves, countering, and taunting the opponent. The rate at which momentum is gained is affected by the fighter's Charisma stat, which like other stats varies between fighters. Created fighters can set their own charisma with a combination of clothes,
tattoos, and
jewelry; the more expensive, the better. A fighter with a good set of clothes, extensive tattoos, or laden with jewellery can often fill their momentum meter in just a few moves. When the momentum meter is full, a fighter can activate it, which results in a Blazin' Taunt. In this state, the fighter is said to be "Blazin", and can pull off a Blazin' Move, a powerful and brutal attack personalized for each character. A created character can learn every single Blazin' Move in the game, but can only have up to four usable at any one time. Though the game focuses on mixed fighting styles, the only way to win a fight is through Knock Out or Submission. A character can be made to submit by putting them into submission holds until the health bar of a single body part is depleted. Knock Out is achieved through a unique health bar used in the game. Health is composed of two bars, the first bar representing a fighter's consciousness and ability to fight (displayed as an opaque light green), while underneath it is the fighter's physical wellness bar (displayed as a semi transparent dark green). With every hit, a fighter's consciousness will fall quicker than their physical wellness. However, whenever a fighter is not losing health, their consciousness meter will recover up to the maximum current physical wellness. When a fighter's consciousness is lowered to a very low point, the entire health bar will turn red. This indicates that the fighter is in danger of being knocked out. Knocking out an opponent in danger requires the use of strong hits, Blazin' Moves, and environmental moves such as slamming an opponent into the wall, or achieving a double team move with a crowd member, or using a weapon (like a pipe, a bottle, a wooden bat, a shovel, etc.). It is possible to knock out an opponent by beating down their health while their physical wellness remains very high. As a fight wears on, physical wellness will eventually fall low enough that when a fighter's consciousness recovers to the physical limit, it is still too low to turn green. This is sometimes known as permanent danger, meaning a fighter is permanently in danger of being knocked out. 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 strong grapple; kickboxers can complete a kick-combo; submission experts can force the enemy to submit with grapples; and martial artists can perform flying attacks.
Story Mode The game's story mode follows the narrative of a player-created fighter, who is fighting his way through the New York Underground. Winning matches rewards the player with cash, which can be used in shops to buy clothes which include famous clothes lines such as
Reebok, Phat Farm,
Air Jordan,
Sean John and many other clothing lines. As well as clothes, the fighter can get haircuts, tattoos, and jewelry from
Jacob "The Jeweler" Arabo, as well as Development points, which can be used at the local gym, run by
Henry Rollins, to increase the character's skills, or to purchase and set up new Blazin' Moves and up to two additional fighting styles. Winning matches unlocks clubs and the fighters defeated, as well as their Blazin' Move, and often the jewelry they may wear. Created characters can have the jewelry of
Sean Paul, Crack (
Fat Joe),
Xzibit,
Crazy Legs,
Lil' Flip,
Def Jam Recordings,
Roc-A-Fella Records,
State Property, and many others (except for some particular signature pieces such as the medallions worn by
Flavor Flav or modify it like
Ghostface Killah's Sun God Plate Gold and Diamond piece), the fighters may be used in Battle Mode, while their moves and jewelry may be purchased and used by the player.
Characters The game features 69 playable characters, including real-life
hip hop artists signed to
Def Jam at the time, as well as original characters and the player-created fighter. ==Story==