FINAL FIGHT
Original Release: Capcom, 1989, Arcade
Other Releases: SNES (1990), Assorted computers (1991), X68000 (1992), Sega CD (1993), GBA (2001), PS2/Xbox (in Capcom Classics Collection, 2005), PSP (in Capcom Classics Collection Remixed, 2006), Wii (2007), PS3/Xbox 360 (2010), iOS (2011), Wii U (2013), PC (in Capcom Beat Em Up Bundle, 2018)
Arguably the most influential overall entry in the genre, Final Fight broke a stagnant period of two years following the beat-em-up's basic template set by Double Dragon
Final Fight (Arcade, Capcom, 1989)
Where to Buy: eBay
How to Emulate: Arcade Emulation Guide
Review by: C. M0use
Double Dragon set the template for what a "beat em up" would be in 1987, but its sequels floundered and didn't really end up pushing the genre forward ... the next big development came when Capcom jumped in with their own take in 1989. Along with TMNT and Golden Axe that year, Final Fight added better visual appeal and smoothed out the rough edges of Double Dragon's gameplay, kinda comparable to the improvements they would make moving from Street Fighter to Street Fighter 2.
The series is also canon as part of the Street Fighter universe, and its characters have increasingly been blended in with those games beginning as early as the Street Fighter Alpha series of the mid-90s. In Metro City, Mayor Mike Haggar gets a shock one day when the amazingly well-funded Mad Gears gang kidnaps his daughter Jessica as a means of leverage over him. He decides the best course of action is slowly punching and slamming them all to death, and Jessica's boyfriend Cody and random ninjer Guy agree with this strategic assessment and join in.
As with Golden Axe, though there are three playable characters there were only two slots at the cabinet so you simply picked the one you wanted (rather than the TMNT style of one particular character assigned to each physical position). As with the other big hits of 1989 the game introduced significant differences in the playable characters beyond their appearance, but it's the most pronounced here: they all have substantially different move sets, movement speed, jumping ability and aerial attacks.
Though it impressed at the time with these new gameplay tweaks and its big sprites and general polish, I can't say it has aged all that well. It is highly repetitive, with an absolute pile of the same clone enemies to chew through; it's actually on the long side for an arcade beat-em-up, but that also works against it in this sense as it feels like a bunch of it is padding. Kudos to Capcom for giving different enemies different attack and defense patterns such that you can't just spam the basic punch all the way through, but each has one distinct approach that isn't hard to figure out. A lot of the fun in arcades was in seeing what detailed background would pop up next, something that has obviously lost its punch 35 years later.
If you've never been, Final Fight is still worth at least one playthrough (ideally with a friend) as both a genre pioneer and still one of the better-designed titles of its type even after all these years. But don't buy it expecting something you'll be able to play over and over, it's more like a "once every few years or decade" thing at best.
Comments
Post a Comment