Play Mean Streets Online

Game Overview

Mean Streets is that weird, moody MS-DOS detective game that somehow mixed pixelated shootouts with FMV cutscenes before anyone really knew what to do with either. You play as Tex—picture a trenchcoat-wearing slab of beef who talks like he gargles whiskey—nosing around a neon-drenched city full of people who absolutely want to kill you.

The first ten minutes go like this: you bumble through some genuinely confusing dialogue choices (why does the bartender keep calling you "toaster"?), get jumped in an alley because you clicked on the wrong trash can, and then sit through this grainy video of a guy smoking a cigarette like it's the most profound thing ever. It's janky, but in that way where you can tell the developers were throwing every cool idea they had at the wall.

What saves it is the atmosphere. The synth soundtrack slaps, the noir dialogue is so chewy it's almost parody, and there's something weirdly satisfying about solving cases when half the clues look like they were drawn in MS Paint. Just don't expect modern hand-holding—this thing will let you walk into a gang war with two bullets and a hunch.

It's less a game you "win" and more one you survive while soaking up that sweet, clunky cyberpunk vibe.

Each game uses different controls, most DOS games use the keyboard arrows. Some will use the mouse , "Alt" ,"Enter" and "Space bar".