There have been several instances in Capcom's history where games that were originally intended to be sequels to previous games ended up becoming the first game of a brand new franchise for the company. In this case, the original sequel to the original Street Fighter, known at the time as Street Fighter '89, was completely changed around due to the success of Double Dragon II at the time. So, the game was changed from a fighting game to a beat 'em up, and was renamed into Final Fight. Keep that comparison to Double Dragon II in mind, by the way, because it will be important for this review.
For the first entry in Capcom's signature beat-'em-up franchise, the original Final Fight still holds up pretty well overall. Sure, it doesn't do that much to stand out compared to other games at the time, but I still had a pretty good time with it.
The story is practically the same as Double Dragon, except this time with a little more depth to the world the game takes place in, the graphics are still really good to this day, the music is alright, the voice clips are pretty effective at giving the game character, the control is exactly what you would expect, except for one thing that I will mention later, and the gameplay is what you would expect from a beat-'em-up of that era, except faster and much better in my opinion.
The game is your standard 2D beat-'em-up, where you walk from left to right, beating up an endless sea of goons and bosses, using various weapons and eating various food items along the way, and taking on bonus stages to get more points and lives. There is really nothing that makes it stand out too much from other games at the time aside from animated cutscenes at the beginning and end, as well as the choice of three characters to play as (but, let's be honest, you'll only choose Haggar, because he's clearly the best). That being said, the much more active and fast-paced nature of the game is one that I prefer more overall, as I find it much more fun that way.
Having said that, there are some issues that I have with the game. Unlike Double Dragon II and other games, you only have ONE attack button. Yes, you can pull off a good variety of moves with it, along with the jump button, but I feel like they could have easily put in a second attack button to bring in even more possibilities for combat and movesets. Also, like I said before, if you have played other beat-'em-ups of this era, it doesn't really do anything different from other games. This doesn't bother me personally, but for others, I can imagine they would walk away from the game with a lack of variety in the title.
Also, quick funny thing I found out while researching this game, apparently Capcom made one of the enemies, Poison, a trans woman, because according to them, they thought players would feel bad about beating up a woman. So... beating up a trans woman makes it somehow better? I dunno, 1989 was quite a different time.
Overall, while it doesn't do anything to stand out, and it could do with more variety in the attack capabilities, it is still a very fun beat-'em-up, and a great start to the Final Fight franchise. I just hope that the future games in the franchise make sure to up the quality further from here.
Game #97
For the first entry in Capcom's signature beat-'em-up franchise, the original Final Fight still holds up pretty well overall. Sure, it doesn't do that much to stand out compared to other games at the time, but I still had a pretty good time with it.
The story is practically the same as Double Dragon, except this time with a little more depth to the world the game takes place in, the graphics are still really good to this day, the music is alright, the voice clips are pretty effective at giving the game character, the control is exactly what you would expect, except for one thing that I will mention later, and the gameplay is what you would expect from a beat-'em-up of that era, except faster and much better in my opinion.
The game is your standard 2D beat-'em-up, where you walk from left to right, beating up an endless sea of goons and bosses, using various weapons and eating various food items along the way, and taking on bonus stages to get more points and lives. There is really nothing that makes it stand out too much from other games at the time aside from animated cutscenes at the beginning and end, as well as the choice of three characters to play as (but, let's be honest, you'll only choose Haggar, because he's clearly the best). That being said, the much more active and fast-paced nature of the game is one that I prefer more overall, as I find it much more fun that way.
Having said that, there are some issues that I have with the game. Unlike Double Dragon II and other games, you only have ONE attack button. Yes, you can pull off a good variety of moves with it, along with the jump button, but I feel like they could have easily put in a second attack button to bring in even more possibilities for combat and movesets. Also, like I said before, if you have played other beat-'em-ups of this era, it doesn't really do anything different from other games. This doesn't bother me personally, but for others, I can imagine they would walk away from the game with a lack of variety in the title.
Also, quick funny thing I found out while researching this game, apparently Capcom made one of the enemies, Poison, a trans woman, because according to them, they thought players would feel bad about beating up a woman. So... beating up a trans woman makes it somehow better? I dunno, 1989 was quite a different time.
Overall, while it doesn't do anything to stand out, and it could do with more variety in the attack capabilities, it is still a very fun beat-'em-up, and a great start to the Final Fight franchise. I just hope that the future games in the franchise make sure to up the quality further from here.
Game #97