If I were reductive, I would say that Spike Out is a somehow more shallow version of the Tekken Force mode they throw in random Tekken games. If I'm not reductive, Spike Out is a relatively crunchy beat 'em up with great sound design, trying its best to figure out how to be a 3D beat 'em up in 1998. When you get the timing down to properly air juggle someone, it does feel pretty nice, and the fact that Spike carries a child on his back the entire time that Mega Kangaskhan's himself off of you to help with fighting is really quite fun. However, as the game lacks any sort of defensive utility, and the game's solution to difficulty is "throw a bunch of dudes at you in a 3D space where you can only effectively counter in one direction", the game boils down to less of any sort of skill and more a war of attrition. There is some delightful ham to be had here, and the part where I beat all of The Undertaker's acolytes, only for a giant heaven stage to open up and a fancy heaven man with a rapier said "welcome to Hell" despite clearly being in heaven was cool, but the title is ultimately coasting on its crunchy arcade feel more than anything. It lacks the nuance of something like Streets of Rage 2 or Final Fight wherein skill with positioning or defensive options open up a world of optimization, but it's a neat enough relic if you just like mashing out a satisfying-feeling six string that combos into a double hit launcher.