Final Fight is one of those series that had so much going for it. For some reason, the franchise failed when the transition of gaming went from 16-Bit to 32-Bit. Competition such as Double Dragon and Streets of Rage series felt this mishap also. Originally, Final Fight was to be a sequel to, the fairly popular, Street Fighter game that hit two years prior. Eventually, Final Fight was given its own style (thanks to the success of Double Dragon in arcades). When Nintendo launched the Super Nintendo (SNES) it was a very much ballyhooed fact that Capcom was bringing Final Fight. It helped that this was an exclusive for the SNES.

The first Final Fight story

Final Fight tells the story of Metro City which is under attack by the Mad Gear Gang. The mayor of Metro City, Mike Haggar, is at a loss as to handle the onslaught. At least till he receives a call detailing his daughter has been kidnapped. At that point, it is time to take matters into his own hands, along with friend Cody. In the arcade, and just about every other version, Guy is available as well. What follows is similar to what Jim Ross, former WWE/WCW announcer would call a “slobber knocking good time”.

Home ports have problems

The SNES version is not perfect, there were plenty of edits, downright censorship. That stuff got in the way of the feel of the original arcade game. Some, such as the lack of a two player mode, are technical and can be forgiven, somewhat. Blame it on lack of experience that Capcom had with the new Nintendo hardware. Other changes like changing Roxy and Poison to similarly looking guys, removing references to God and alcohol were made too. It was to be that way though, gamers knew what they were getting into when purchasing a Super Nintendo. Nintendo was not exactly wishy washy on this with the NES. There were a few games did slip through with quite questionable content in the 8-Bit realm.

Close but no cigar

What players got with Final Fight on the Super Nintendo was a choice between Haggar and Cody. Cody lead to a slightly harder game. The game that was missing at least one level from the arcade as well. The graphics were close to the arcade though. For most of us at that time, that was what mattered. This was not “close” like Rygar or Trojan but close like Super Mario Bros. The drop in detail was hardly noticeable considering the edits that Capcom had to do to satisfy Nintendo requirements.

Final Fight fans can do better

In the end, the Super Nintendo version of Final Fight is amicable but there are better ports out there. Two years later the Sega CD version of Final Fight was released. The Sega CD version featured all of the levels, characters, no censorship over the arcade game. There was even a time attack mode among other updates. What the Sega CD version lacked was well, color.

More stuff in other versions

The Game Boy Advance version is the SNES Final Fight Guy with plus mode. There are additional characters, all of the levels, and less censorship (we still lose Roxy and Poison here). There is even an expanded story line for this version. The GBA version is not the perfect port but it is great for on the go (if you have a PSP/PS2/Xbox get Capcom Classics Collection for the true arcade game)

Final Fight has hit various computers including the Sharp X68000 (discussed in our second issue), Mega/Sega-CD, Game Boy Advance, iOS and various consoles through compilations and digital re-releases.

Like Final Fight, check out our coverage of similar games here on RGM.

Grab your copy off eBay or Amazon and just enjoy.

Carl Williams

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