In Praise Of Beat 'Em Ups

[Team Andromeda]

Street Of Rage II is my fav , But also loved Arabian Fight in the Arcades (that game looked sensational when it first came out) . Spike Out on the X-Box in 4 player mode was brilliant too

[Skull Commander]

After playing the Streets of Rage games, I have turned my attention to the Final Fight games. In this post I'm going to deal with the first game on Xbox Live Arcade, with other formats to follow.

First up we have the XBLA version, Final Fight Double Impact, presumably called so because of the odd inclusion on Magic Sword (which is decent, but I'm not going to talk about that here). What you get is the arcade version with various filters, online multiplayer and an optional remixed soundtrack which I have grown to love.

Final Fight is perhaps the most influential scrolling fighter in the genre, with much of the staples of the genre first seen in this game. Multiple characters to select from with differences in how they play, destructable objects that yield weapons, food pick ups and some huge multi part levels. It took the template of Double Dragon and injected it with steroids. I will never forget the first time I saw this game in the arcade. Huge characters, massive booming sound effects, and a gritty detailed gameworld. Even though it doesn't have the range of moves of later games in the genre, for it's time you still have a fair selection. Each charcter has basic attacks which can be comboed as well as two different jump attacks (one knock down and one to combo into), and a special attack which can help clear some space around the player, but at the expense of health.

The XBLA/Arcade version is characterised by some punishing difficulty. Only 2 lives are given, and enemies can take down a health bar in no time. It was designed as a coin muncher, and although it is possibile to 1cc it, I have NEVER got close to this. Also impressive is the amount of enemies the game can throw at you at once, and if you try and stray too far right on the screen, you may trigger more than you can handle. Another thing that Final Fight helped make a standard of the genre was enery bars for all enemies which the player could see, giving you an idea of how much punishment an enemy would soak up. Other games had done this for boss characters etc, but Final Fight was certainly the first I remember doing this as standard (although i'm willing to be corrected).

The game is also famous for introducing bonus rounds, a concept which would find it's way into Street Fighter 2 (which the Final Fight universe ties into throughout many links between the two series). Here you get the famous smashing up of the car (OH MY GOD!) and a rampage through some glass panels.

The XBLA version adds various challenges, like scoring a certain amount of points, and getting through a stage in a certain amount of time. These challenges unlock various artworks etc, and it' a nice touch.

Although Final Fight has been technically bettered throught the years, the original is still a classic, and it's influence is clear to see in a host of other game like Streets of Rage, Rival Turf, Burning Fight, and TMNT as well as Capcoms other brawlers such as Captain Commando, The Punnisher and Alien vs Predator etc.

[Skull Commander]

Onto the Snes Final Fight now. Traditionally this version is seen as butchered and a little sub standard, but I tend to see it differently. First of all the context has to be taken into account. It was at the start of the Snes' life span and Capcom obviously (along with other developers) did not know how to get the best out of the machine yet. People are always quick to criticise the lack of Guy as a selectable character and the missing level (the industrial one), as well as missing animations from the Arcade version and the lack of characters on screen at once, as well as the stripping out of a two player mode. All of these are fair comments, but what you have to remember is that at the time NOTHING like this had ever been seen on a home console. The graphics, while not as chunky as the arcade version were huge, colourful and detailed. The sound was great with some fantastic renditions of the arcade themes, and most importantly the feel of the game is spot on. The first time I sat and played this on the Snes it was everything I wanted it to be. I didn't care about the lack of Cody as I only ever picked Haggar. I didn't care about the lack of 2 player as I only had one pad. I didn't care about the slutty enemies being turned into punks. All I cared about that was I was playing a damn good version of Final Fight in my bedroom. This was the stuff of dreams.

Obviously on reflection it wasn't the Snes' power that was the issue here (Final Fight 2 had two player and three selectable characters), but I would guess it was just Capcom finding their feet, and considering the circumstances they delivered an arcade experience on a home console that no one had seen the like of before. One thing which I think was an improvment was that the difficulty was better tuned. You got more lives than the arcade version and limited continues, and the enemies hits didn't seem to take off as much energy. There was less enemies on screen, but it was still far from a walk in the park.


What WAS a poor move from Capcom was the release of Final Fight Guy. It was meant to try and make up for the features that were missing from the first game, but in reality just felt like a cynical cash in (which nowadays is sadly par for the course from Capcom).

[Skull Commander]

The final version of Final Fight I have put a lot of time into over the last few weeks is the Jap version of Final Fight One on the GBA. Obviously the Snes version is a good frame of reference for this title, but this time you get all three characters, two player mode (provided you have a link cable and second copy of the game), the missing level and a host of unlockables including the Alpha versions of Guy and Cody. There is also the addition of little story screens just before you fight a boss, and the ability to save your game.

The graphics look great on the small screen, but they do lack some detail which is more noticeable if you are playing through a GBA player on a bigger screen. The other thing that takes a major hit is the sound. While the effects are decent enough the music is pretty weedy and does not sound as good as the other versions. It's also not arcade perfect in that there are missing animations, and some details missing here and there (such as not so many destructable objects etc). The Westernised versions STILL don't have Poison and her/his/it's slutty mate, and there are still other examples of censorship througout the game.

Despite all this, it's still an amazing version, with the unlockables adding more incentive to put in multiple playthroughs, and I'm still amazed that I am effectivly playing the arcade game on a Gameboy Micro!

[Nu-Eclipse]

Excellent Final Fight retrospective, Skull Commander.

Personally I would give a special mention to the Japan-only Sharp X68000 version.



A moot point, considering the majority of western gamers would never have played it, but it is THE definitive port of Final Fight - effectively 1:1 arcade-perfect in all aspects (GFX, SFX, etc). Not least because the X68000 is/was believed to be the official development machine for all of Capcom's CPS-1 games, which would explain why the platform also received arcade-perfect ports of the SFII games and other Capcom CPS games like Daimakaimura and Strider.

Final Fight CD should've got a mention, too - if only because for a long time it was the closest thing western gamers got to an arcade-perfect port, even though it was actually Sega who developed the conversion.

[Skull Commander]

I have never played the Sharp version but I'm aware of it. As for the Mega CD Version I have owned it in the past (although not at the moment) and I really don't rate it. It looks far too washed out and I presonally prefer the feel of the versions mentioned above.

[Nu-Eclipse]

As for the Mega CD Version I have owned it in the past (although not at the moment) and I really don't rate it. It looks far too washed out and I presonally prefer the feel of the versions mentioned above.

That's fair enough. It hasn't aged well at all, to be fair. At the time, I hated the arranged soundtrack with a passion.

[Skull Commander]

After Final Fight Capcom decided to make a Snes exclusive Final Fight 2, perhaps as to make amends for their cut down conversions of the first game. The only returning character was Haggar, but joining the fight this time was two new fighters. Carlos and Maki. Carlos, rather stupidly, has a big sword but hardly ever uses it. In gameplay terms he is comparable to Cody. Maki fills in the vacancy left by Guy and is your usual weak but fast character.

This time the plot isn't to rescue Haggar's daughter, but instead Maki's sister and dad have been kidnapped by a regrouped Mad Gear, and instead of the action taking place in the various regions of Metro City the action is now worldwide. Levels include Hong Kong, Holland and England, although it must be noted none actually resemble anywhere in particular.

Gameplay is much like the first with a similar range of moves, with the main difference coming from certain sections of levels scrolling vertically, which is most likely a nod to Streets of Rage 2 which came out the year before this (see also enemies with electrified cattle prod type weapons). The graphics are decent enough in this game but they lack the chunky look of the first game and feel slightly more feeble. Oddly the look and style of the game reminds me a lot on Undercover Cops which was in arcades the year before this game was released. Whether that is intentional I don't know, but it certainly had a different feel from the first Final Fight.

For fans of Street Fighter 2 there are some cameos of sorts. One background sees Chun Li eating, and another looks like the scene from Guiles stage in SF2, but with the addition of the man himself (or a look-a-like). There also seems to be various nods towards Zangief in some enemy character design as well as the Spinning Piledriver now in Haggar's moveset.

Returning from the first Final Fight is Rolento, and some of the Andre The Giant type wrestler guys. Also returning (to the Western version) is censorship. Again we have two women enemies removed and also the first boss's cleaver is absent. The music also is different and the game really misses the classic themes.

It is a decent beat 'em up and I always enjoy playing it, but despite the addition of two player mode it never reaches the heights of the first game. As Final Fight's follow up it doesn't quite meet expectations, but as a solid beat 'em up in it's own right it stands proud.

[Skull Commander]

That's fair enough. It hasn't aged well at all, to be fair. At the time, I hated the arranged soundtrack with a passion.

I was never a fan of the arranged soundtrack and extra voice work either, and I really think considering the power of the Mega CD it should have looked a lot better.

[acidbearboy]

I played through Final Fight on XBLA over the weekend thanks to this thread. The arranged theme on the opening level is brilliant. The Snes version above didn't sound that great to be honest, but I just checked out the Mega CD version and quite liked it!

[Kit]

Think I'm going to have to pick up Final Fight again for the GBA; from what SC says, it sounds like a reasonably decent port.

Should mention Final Fight is the only arcade game I've ever completed - god knows how many 20p's I went through. I remember the final boss being a bit on the bizarre side.

[nakamura]

Wasn't the issue with the SFC version rom size regarding the missing levels and Guy?