Final Fight Streetwise was released in 2006 for the Playstation 2 and Xbox. The game was developed by Capcom Production Studio 8, who had previously developed Final Fight Revenge and the Maximo series. Streetwise is a 3D brawler which takes the series in a much darker direction than any previous game. It stars Kyle Travers, Cody's younger brother, in a new adventure set in Metro City. A few characters from the first game return to help him out as he tries to save his brother and get to the bottom of GLOW, a new drug which is sweeping the city and turning people into powerful monsters.

The game seemed doomed from the start. As soon as it was announced, reaction from the press and gamers was negative, even though they hadn't had a chance to play the game yet. Most people disliked the fact that Final Fight had gone all urban and Grand Theft Auto-like, with a "respect" feature in the game, characters swearing and weapons now including guns. The game also features dull and brown graphics, a far cry from the colorful scenes of the previous games.

When it was finally released, it was met with bad reviews and poor sales. The main complaints for Final Fight Streetwise were that the graphics were extremely dull, and it had a bad camera system. Other complaints include the unlockable version of original arcade Final Fight being of poor quality, the arcade mode being too difficult and the storyline going from standard street brawler to supernatural horror, with some people criticizing this by saying it turned the game into a Resident Evil clone.

Due to the poor sales, copies of the game are quite cheap. It saw a Playstation 2 and Xbox release in America and Europe (there was no Japanese release), and copies tend to go for $10 at the most these days. Despite what some reviewers say, Final Fight Streetwise isn't totally awful and at the low prices it now sells for, fans might want to check it out.