Everyone remembers Double Dragon, the two-player side scrolling beat-em-up that had companions using their mad martial arts skills to beat up evil gangs. But while Technos Japan was busy doing crazy things with their sequels (Backward attack buttons? Evil mummies?), Capcom revolutionized the genre with Final Fight. While Double Dragon didn't have much in the way of depth, Final Fight made things simpler. There's only two buttons - an attack and a jump. There's a special move activated by pressing both at the same time, which will clear out surrounding enemies but deplete from your health. You'll occasionally stumble upon some pipes or knives to maim things with, but for the most part, that's it. Stunningly, this simplicity actually worked, especially give the large characters and tight controls.
Final Fight was initially going to be a sequel to the original Street Fighter (yes, the really awful one), dubbed "Street Fighter '89", but since the one-on-one gameplay had been abandoned, Capcom decided to give it a whole new name and start a whole new series.
Final Fight tells the story of a little berg named Metro City. Metro City, it seems, is pretty much the worst place on the face of the planet, since it's always overrun by a gang of ruthless thugs known as Mad Gear. Thankfully, the mayor happens to be a musclebound Street Fighter named Haggar who doesn't know the meaning of the word "caucus" but does know how to smash things real good. While Haggar is pretty much the star of the series, he's joined several other compatriots throughout the series, including average joe Cody and ninja-in-training Guy. The other games including a variety of other forgettable characters, but that's because most people tend to not remember the SNES-exclusive titles Final Fight 2 and 3 - which is a shame, since Final Fight 3 is one of the best of its kind.
So yes, perhaps us gamers have grown a bit pretentious recently. The Final Fights are pretty daft, but I know I have an innate human urge to walk forward and smash things without prejudice, and these games are still some of the best ways to go about doing that. So if you're ready to zone out for a bit and just cause mayhem by mashing the attack button, they're all still plenty of fun.
Final Fight (Arcade)
Final Fight (Arcade)
Final Fight (Arcade)
Final Fight (Sega CD)
Final Fight - Arcade / Playstation 2 / Xbox / PSP (1989)
Arcade Flyer
Final Fight Computer Cover
Final Fight (Arcade)
Follow the harrowing, heart-breaking tale as three street brawlers (muscular mayor Haggar, ninja/karate fellow Guy and average joe Cody) as they kill punks and discover the true
meaning of love. Well, that last part is very false, but there's lots of smashing going on.
Haggar's daughter Jessica has been kidnapped, and her boyfriend Cody (and his friend Guy) tags on for the ride.
All of the home ports have been compromised in various minor ways, so this is still the purest experience. The most noticeable difference is that the arcade version has TONS of enemies on the screens at the same time. It's also very skimpy on lives - one credit only gets you two, and they go fast.In fact, in order to suck more quarters out of the player, the continue screen had
your character tied up to a piece of dynamite about to explode. If you wanted to save his digital life, you had a plunk more change in the machine. It's an interesting way to elicit pity in a gamer, though it's not nearly as nasty as the buzzsaw from the arcade version of Ninja Gaiden.
There were several ports to various consoles, listed below. However, the only arcade-perfect versions are the emulations featured on the Capcom Classics collections for the PS2, Xbox, and PSP. The version featured in Final Fight Streetwise is poorly emulated and not worth bothering with.
The initial port of Final Fight - and probably the most popular - is also incredibly butchered. A quick look at the pictures and you'll think that it's a spot-on conversion of the original, and you'd almost be right. While some of the animation has been cut, it does look quite good. And it actually plays just as well, although it oddly enough adds additional stopping points in each stage, where you must clear all of the enemies to proceed.
It's hard to say what the biggest problem is, but one that takes the cake is that only Cody and Haggar are playable, completely cutting out Guy. Capcom took this to heart and actually released a version called Final Fight Guy, which was exactly the same - except Guy took the place of Cody. It was released in America only through Blockbuster outlets. That's not even the beginning of the issues. Two player mode is gone entirely, eliminating one of the biggest draws of the game. The fourth stage, the factory level where you fight Rolento, is gone entirely. Some of the bosses' names have been changed ("Damnd" became "Thrasher" and "Sodom" became "Katana") and other little bits of censorship are noted throughout - whiskey is no longer available as a bonus item, and all of the female enemies are changed to males. Little things, like the transitions between screens (like your character bashing down a door or being captured by Andore and tossed into the ring) were deleted entirely. Animations frames were removed quite liberally as well, making the game feel a bit less smooth. While the SNES Final Fight was one of the first games for the system and perhaps Capcom couldn't fit all it wanted to with limited technology and time, but it's still incredibly slipshod compared to the ports that came after it.
Far and away the most amusing part of Final Fight are the bonus rounds, where you smash some sap's car - a nifty feature
that made a return in the Street Fighter 2 games. Once you finish demolishing it, some random bad guy runs out and screams, in a goofily digitized voice, "Oh My Car!". This was meant to be "Oh My God!" in the original arcade version, but again, was censored by Nintendo.
Final Fight (SNES)
Final Fight (SNES)
Final Fight CD - Sega CD (1993)
American Sega CD Cover
Japanese Mega CD Cover
Final Fight CD
The Sega CD port of Final Fight - actually done by Sega - is actually the closest to the arcade version in gameplay. It has all of the stuff that was deleted from the SNES version, plus an additional time attack mode that challenges you to beat up as much thugs as you can (on an all-new background) in a certain amount of time. The intro has been slightly extended to
show some of the enemies of the game, and both the intro and ending are fully voiced (the actor playing Haggar in
the English version sounds quite bored with his job.) The music has also been entirely remixed to take advantage of the
CD audio. The only downfall with this edition is that the graphic quality had to be sacrificed so it would work with the
Sega CD's measly 64 color pallette, so it's a bit grainy when compared to other games on the system. There's still some of the same minor name changes, but otherwise this is one of the best ways to go.
The home versions have slightly extended intros where you see Jessica tied up - and she's only wearing a bra in the Japanese Mega CD one, where she's in a dress in the SNES/Super Famicom/Sega CD versions. The SNES version also slightly changes the dialogue to make it sound less like she'll be raped if Haggar doesn't give into Mad Gear's demands. This scene is cut entirely out of the "World" arcade version, featuring only a close-up up Damnd and loud shriek coming from the TV.
Mega CD
Final Fight One - Gameboy Advance (2001)
GBA Cover
Final Fight One (GBA)
Final Fight One (GBA)
In the spirit of resurrecting a bunch of its old titles for the Gameboy Advance, they actually did a good service to Final Fight One. Practically all of the things that the SNES did wrong have been fixed - all three characters are playable, there's a two player mode (though you need two cartridges), the scene transitions are back and all of the levels are intact. There's also a handy save feature inbetween levels, as well as several bonus features. Beat enough bad guys, and you'll unlock several different bonuses, including different colors, the ability to play as Cody and Guy using their (much superior) Street Fighter Alpha versions, and a rapid punch ability that makes your character hammer bad guys at an insane rate. There are still some weird issues - there are now awkwardly translated dialogue scenes, but they all use terrible artwork compared to Shinkiro's SNK-style artwork on the cover. The music has been significantly cut back, and the American version STILL has the female enemies cut out.
Final Fight One (GBA)
Screenshot Comparisons
Arcade
SNES
Sega CD
GBA
Mighty Final Fight - NES / Gameboy Advance (1993)
NES Cover
Super Famicom Cover
Mighty Final Fight
In 1991, the Super Nintendo had arrived, and the regular NES was rather quickly forgotten by
most publishers. Not content in forgetting their loyal audience, Capcom created a completely new, special version of the series, known as Mighty Final Fight. The midgetdy super-deformed character designs worked fairly well on the technically limited NES (despite some flicker) and actually played almost exactly like it's older brother.
Mighty Final Fight actually lets you play as all three primary characters, although it's still only one player. Weapons are no longer available, but you gain experience when you beat enemies, leading to a longer life bar. And in a idea later stolen by Final Fight One for the GBA, you actually converse with bosses before battle, often in a rather humorous manner. Cryptically, this is the only version on a Nintendo platform where the female enemies were left unaltered. While it's not the best beat-em-up on the NES - that title still goes to River City Ransom - it's still quite good. This was featured on the GBA title Capcom Classics Mini-Mix, released in 2006. It's a straight emulation with no enhancements.
Mighty Final Fight
Mighty Final Fight
Final Fight 2 - Super Nintendo (1993)
SNES Cover
Famicom Cover
Final Fight 2
Capcom felt fit to give a SNES-only sequel to Final Fight, especially given that their home port of the original was less than adequate. Final Fight 2 not only reinstates the two player game but also gives you three characters to choose from - Haggar, the hero from the original; Maki, the sexy Mai Shiranui ripoff; and Carlos, who carries around a sword but never actually uses it except during special attacks. Maki and Carlos look cool, but they don't play any much different than Guy and Cody (respectively.)
Other than this, the game is pretty much the same as the original, the biggest difference being that you now visit locations throughout the world. And you get slightly different enemies to beat up, featuring the same stuff-yet-tight game mechanics. Still fun, but in comparison to Sega's ripoff series Streets of Rage (which was coming out around the same time), it feels a bit thin.
This is more like it - Final Fight 3 (dubbed Final Fight Tough in Japan) is another SNES sequel that, this time, actually improves on the formula. Haggar and Guy are back, now with sexy cop Lucia and some spiky haired fellow named Dean who can electrocute people for some reason.
It's the usual "walk right, smash stuff" formula, but given a kick in the arse - for the first time, you can not only dash but execute running attacks. Not only does this make the game play faster, but it's also a lot smoother as well. The graphics themselves have gotten an overhaul, and while the music selection is slim, the first level song is awesome. There's also special moves that can be executed with Street Fighter-style motions, and a power bar that lets you unleash super moves when charged up. There's even a few alternate levels and secret rooms to find - in short, this is one of the best side-scrolling beat-em-ups you'll ever find. This was one of Capcom's last SNES releases, and while it's rather hard to find in America, that's nothing compared to Japan, where copies of Final Fight Tough seems to be extremely rare.
