FallenGrace
BACKER
Final Fight CD 1993
Log Status
Completed
Playing
Backlog
Wishlist
Rating
Time Played
2h 0m
Days in Journal
1 day
Last played
March 7, 2023
Platforms Played
I feel like both Capcom and SquareEnix need to learn what the word 'Final' means in the first game of a series. In Capcom's defence though I imagine the name "Initial Fight" wouldn't have had the same impact marketing wise so here we are, the first Final Fight that won't be Final.
This is my first time playing Final Fight so I have no way of comparing it with the arcade or SNES versions yet but my impression is the Sega CD version was a decent one. Two surprises hit me playing this, firstly I was surprised how much Streets of Rage took from this game. I don't mean spiritually, but pretty liberally. Axel is an exact copy of Cody, the white T-Shirt, Blue Jeans, even the way he walks as it he wants his pecs to hit the finish line several inches before the rest of him. The enemies are pretty similar, bald fat guy with braces? Wrestler holding his arms out? punk? All present. I've actually had my world shattered to see that Streets of Rage, the beat 'em up series to me is just a clone of Final Fight. The second surprise is how much I actually didn't like this very much, so Streets of Rage is safe.
I didn't expect that going in but Final Fight is just kind of a mixture of frustrating and uninteresting. It's arcade roots filter through in how some enemies simply take far to long to finish off and will often spit roast you to death very quickly or get cheap hits on you when you get up after being knocked down. The bosses are the worst though, one had a gun and just ended up shooting me a lot from the other side of the screen before I could reach him, another threw grenades whilst zipping around, a third had such a dodgy grab range that Cody actually looked like he teleported several metres into his hands. There is very little in your punch, jump and life draining special that counter these sort of designs. It's design seems intentionally measured to separate people from their money very fast.
The enemy variety gets extremely stale to boot seeing all the enemy types by about stage 2 and every time I saw the wrestlers again I groaned from their needlessly large health pool and hideous design. The visuals are pretty nice, it's colourful and the spritework by Capcom is excellent but the enemy designs in most cases I'll be honest I really didn't like. Music is kind of similar, the quality is there, it has a few nice instrumental tracks but why does one of the most prominent tracks sound like two 80's detectives taking a slow drive to a crime scene? Compare these for example:
Final Fight - Slum above ground
Loaded Weapon 1 - Main Theme
It just didn't really match what was happening on the screen. Really Surreal, like I had my tv on mute whilst a buddy cop film was playing in another room.
I'm interested in if Final Fight 2 and 3 build on the groundwork here as many other beat 'em ups did. I respect that while far from the first in the genre Final Fight clearly bought a lot to the table that other series built on and continue to due so so it's gaming legacy is there. Going to it though without the benefit of nostalgia having never played it before I just don't think it holds up all too well.
This is my first time playing Final Fight so I have no way of comparing it with the arcade or SNES versions yet but my impression is the Sega CD version was a decent one. Two surprises hit me playing this, firstly I was surprised how much Streets of Rage took from this game. I don't mean spiritually, but pretty liberally. Axel is an exact copy of Cody, the white T-Shirt, Blue Jeans, even the way he walks as it he wants his pecs to hit the finish line several inches before the rest of him. The enemies are pretty similar, bald fat guy with braces? Wrestler holding his arms out? punk? All present. I've actually had my world shattered to see that Streets of Rage, the beat 'em up series to me is just a clone of Final Fight. The second surprise is how much I actually didn't like this very much, so Streets of Rage is safe.
I didn't expect that going in but Final Fight is just kind of a mixture of frustrating and uninteresting. It's arcade roots filter through in how some enemies simply take far to long to finish off and will often spit roast you to death very quickly or get cheap hits on you when you get up after being knocked down. The bosses are the worst though, one had a gun and just ended up shooting me a lot from the other side of the screen before I could reach him, another threw grenades whilst zipping around, a third had such a dodgy grab range that Cody actually looked like he teleported several metres into his hands. There is very little in your punch, jump and life draining special that counter these sort of designs. It's design seems intentionally measured to separate people from their money very fast.
The enemy variety gets extremely stale to boot seeing all the enemy types by about stage 2 and every time I saw the wrestlers again I groaned from their needlessly large health pool and hideous design. The visuals are pretty nice, it's colourful and the spritework by Capcom is excellent but the enemy designs in most cases I'll be honest I really didn't like. Music is kind of similar, the quality is there, it has a few nice instrumental tracks but why does one of the most prominent tracks sound like two 80's detectives taking a slow drive to a crime scene? Compare these for example:
Final Fight - Slum above ground
Loaded Weapon 1 - Main Theme
It just didn't really match what was happening on the screen. Really Surreal, like I had my tv on mute whilst a buddy cop film was playing in another room.
I'm interested in if Final Fight 2 and 3 build on the groundwork here as many other beat 'em ups did. I respect that while far from the first in the genre Final Fight clearly bought a lot to the table that other series built on and continue to due so so it's gaming legacy is there. Going to it though without the benefit of nostalgia having never played it before I just don't think it holds up all too well.