Super FamiComplete #6: Final Fight (Redux)

 

Title: Final Fight

Release Date: 12/21/90 (JP) 8/13/91 (US)

Developer: Capcom

Publisher: Capcom

When I first started this blog, every game seemed to be better than the last (minus Populous); and this game was certainly the peak of that experience. Actraiser was fun, but the world building sections could get a bit dull, and Super Mario World is a classic, but I had played that game a ton. This game, though, while it does have a few faults as far as beat-em-ups go, and was certainly not a stellar port of the arcade version, was just pure unadulterated fun. Now I will mention up front that the SNES version is a port from an original arcade game, and I do have the arcade version on the PS4 Capcom Beat-em-up Collection so this retrospective is going to look at both the original version and this port to point out the differences between the two.

Background
A little about the history of this game. It was originally billed by Capcom as a Street Fighter game, entitled Street Fighter 89', but was going to be a beat-em-up in the vein of Double Dragon II. When it came closer to release, Capcom decided to change the name as they felt that the final game had no relevance to the Street Fighter franchise. The game does hint at this connection to Street Fighter in a tongue in cheek way, as they refer to the one playable character, Mike Haggar, as a former "Street Fighter." Cute. Characters from this series would also appear in the Street Fight Alpha series, such as Cody, Andore, Soddom, Rolento Poison, and Abigail.

The original arcade game was pretty darn successful, and by and large it is a very solid beat-em-up. The basic story is simple but fun; the game takes place in Metro City, a city that has is inundated with crime by the Mad Gear gang. The Mad Gears have maintained a stranglehold on the city through coercion, bribery, and intimidation. The game starts with the newly elected mayor, the burly Mike Haggar, promising to rid the city of the crime of the Mad Gears. The Mad Gears respond by kidnapping Haggar's daughter, Jessica, and threatening to kill her if he doesn't cooperate.

Well, the massive Haggar, Jessica's boyfriend Cody, and Cody's friend Guy aren't going to stand for that, so they set off after the kidnappers, and pretty much just beat the ever-loving shit out of whoever gets in their way. You see, Haggar used to be a professional wrestler and underground pit fighter, Cody is a trained martial artist, and Guy is a legit ninja.

 I guess they just work out together alot...

It's a simple story, but one that is handled in a pretty fun way. The game certainly nods to 80's action movies and some of the excesses of 80's popular culture, (though this game says it takes place "sometime in the 90's"). It definitely has shades of films like The Warriors.

Arcade vs SNES
The original arcade version and the SNES port, while they have similar game feel, have major differences. Many of these changes are because of the initial technological limitations of the Super Nintendo system. To fit such a complex and fluid brawler on a cart, some serious compromises had to be made. The SNES version cut out one of the six stages, completely cut out the character Guy as a playable fighter, and, probably the most controversial choice, cut out 2-player mode completely. Yup, Final Fight for the SNES is a one-player beat-em-up.

 Now normally I find playing beat-em-ups by yourself to be rather boring, but I actually found this one to be pretty darn fun. Capcom made some choices with this port that actually really work for a single-player beat-em-up, as the game-play moves from random and chaotic to a bit more strategic.

Due to the limitations of the system, the SNES version can only handle about three enemy characters on the screen at once (the arcade version has up to seven or eight at a time, sometimes), and Capcom had to realign the enemy placement and "party" structure of the enemies that you face. This allows you, though, to really look at the enemies you face, and plan your attacks accordingly, as you aren't being bum-rushed by a horde of random enemies all at once. Granted you can be attacked by more than 3 enemies at once, but they literally "wait in the wings" off-screen for one of the existing enemies to either be killed or knocked off screen, where they will tag in and join the battle.

As far as the missing level from the SNES port, the Industrial Quarter, frankly I don't think gamers are missing too much. It's a bland level that has these annoying fire spurts everywhere, and it ends with a long elevator fight (a beat-em-up staple). The one cool thing about this stage is the Boss, who will look very familiar to Street Fighter fans.

Yup that's Rolento, who would go on to appear in Street Fighter Alpha 2. In fact most of the bosses are characters would appear in later Street Fight games.

But how do the graphics and sound between the two versions compare? Well the graphics on the arcade version are pretty smooth; I mean, there is a lot more going on onscreen (with no frame-rate dips) and the character models look great.

That isn't to say that the SNES version looks sub-par; on the contrary, the graphics, while obviously more "16-bit," are fairly close to what the arcade version was. The only thing that they cut out, aesthetically, from the SNES version are the transitions from scene to scene: generally, there would be a little cut-scene in stages to take the character from one part of the stage to the other, but in the SNES version these are all but eliminated. This makes some of the game-play segments a little confusing, as in one stage you are fighting a bunch of guys in a bar, and once you have killed them all you are suddenly in an arena fighting two huge guys (in the arcade version, you get a scene of one of those hulks grabbing you by the neck and carrying you off to the arena).

What about them tasty licks?
The sound, on the other hand, has a clear winner with the SNES port. The music on the arcade version is really tinny and kind of grating on the ears. It is really a pain to listen to for any extended period of time. In fact, while recording the game-play, I just turned the sound off after a while and put on Netflix. The music on the SNES, though, benefits greatly from the SNES sound chip. While not the greatest video game music, it is still pretty darn solid and fits the style and mood of this game.

Gameplay
Okay so on to the SNES game itself. The game spans over five levels: The Slums, The Subway/Park, The Westside, Bayside, and the final Downtown level. Each subsequent level gets longer and longer, and is capped off by a boss that is unique to that level. The enemy types, themselves, aren't too varied: you face every type of enemy by the end of the second level, yet the amount of enemies, the environments you face them in, and the mixture of enemies changes from each level. It really wasn't until the final level, really, that the constant slog of enemies gets a little much, as the final level is around 15 to 20 minutes long.

It takes 20 minutes just to get to this point.

Now a big difference between the arcade or SNES port is the fact that your Continues on the arcade version are practically limitless (I mean the game was meant to last as long as the quarters in your pocket), while on the SNES version you have 6 lives per round and only 3 Continues. Once all of those are expended, you get a legitimate Game Over. As well, in the SNES version, if you go to the Continue screen (which by the way is one of my favorite Continue screens ever)...

...then you have to start the entire level over again. Yup, in the Arcade version you get to pick up where you left off, but here you have to start some very long levels over again. This even includes the unfairly long last level, which is littered with the toughest enemy types.

This wouldn't be too much of a problem if your characters didn't die so darn easily. A jab from an enemy will take off about a tenth to an eighth of your lifebar, while any solid hit can take up to a third to half of your life. Many attacks from larger enemies will just kill you outright. Probably the toughest enemy in the game is the "Andore" enemy, who is supposed to be based off of Andre the Giant.

These big boys have an instant kill move in that they choke you out, a mean dash attack, and they will try to body slam you if you get knocked on the ground. They also usually come in pairs too, and if you get sandwiched in by these guys, it will usually cost a couple of lives in order to fight your way out.

 I usually prefer to use Haggar, not only because he is the most awesome of the available characters (I mean he is the mayor of the freaking city and he is a literal hulk), but also because he is the most durable out of any of the characters. While Cody is certainly the faster of the two, Haggar has the ability to just tear through enemies while also being able to soak up a bit more damage.

Luckily the SNES version comes with a "secret" options menu (like a lot of older SNES games, the options are available if you hold L or R and then press start), where you can adjust the difficulty, the amount of lives you start with, and how many points you need to regain a life. This certainly makes the game a bit more manageable.

Pro Gamer Tips from the Pro Gamer himself

Some strategies I recommend for this game, as it can be pretty tough.

a) take you time to defeat every enemy in front of you. This seems rather simple, but really if you are getting penned in, the best thing you can do is stand your ground and start spamming the attack button. Enemies have a habit of walking into your attacks, and rarely ever block, and if you are moving around a lot, there is a slight delay between stopping your movement and beginning your attacks, thus it is better almost to stand your ground.

b) Learn the fighting controls. The controls are simple, but there are definitely some nuances. Grappling is one of your most valuable skills, as it can take out multiple enemies, and you can enable it when pressing the move button away from the way you are facing after finishing a combo. As well, the most useful move in the game is your "spin move," as it will negate any enemy attacks around you, including their combos. There are a lot of times where enemies will just continually knock on you, emptying your lifebar, and the spin move is the only way to break free from those attacks.

c) The bosses are rather tough. The first two bosses, Thrasher and Sodom/Katana, are a bit easier. They actually have patterns, can be easily stunned, and don't hit for an overwhelming amount of life.

Every boss after that though, is unfairly tough. The third boss, a big burly cop, can kill you with one hit of his baton and, when weakened, begins to shoot at you with his pistol, also an instant kill.

The fourth boss, Abigail, this strange punk-clown who is a sprite rip of the Andore enemies, is by far the toughest boss in the game. He has this grapple move that he spams constantly, where he grabs your character and then just tosses him like a beach ball, that is an instant kill. He can also withstand most of your normal attacks, which means that he can just attack through most of them. This boss just takes a lot of luck.

The final boss isn't too difficult, but he just hops around a lot and is tough to hit.

 I mean, he couldn't stop you from dropping him out a window.

There is one strategy that evens the odds with all the bosses, but it is a little cheap. This is buying the Turbo Controller for the  SNES, which allows you to spam the attack button at lightning speed. Use this on a boss to attack ceaselessly, and before your combo would technically be complete turn quickly left and then back to your opponent. This makes it so that you technically never knock your opponent out of your combo, and you can just wail on your opponent without interruption until they drop. This is how most Let's Players get through this game on Hard difficulty with no deaths.

Ads, Art and Commercial
Capcom is known for putting a lot of money into marketing, so here are some of the quality ads that came out for Final Fight. As well, I included some of the concept art, which is really impressive for this game.



   

The commercial is again a Japanese tv spot. They didn't seem to have one for the NA region. The Japanese commercial is...weird. I mean why is the kid in that elevator at night?

Final Verdict
Overall I have to say that I really enjoyed this game. It definitely has some flaws, but it is just so damn enjoyable overall. It has so much personality and inherent charm that it is tough to ignore. It reminds me of those old 80's action movies that are so bad that they are good, from the colorful punk enemies, to the giant Jesse Venture like protagonist, and the Commando like story. It is an awesome buy and a definite must have for anyone rounding out their SNES collection. You can usually pick it up for about $10 online.