Final Fight (SNES) review "Final Fight was originally released with the benefit of being alone in the next generation (of its era, 16 Bit) beat 'em up field. It started to really suck to be Final Fight when Streets of Rage was released; Streets of Rage came along and made Final Fight its female dog. Streets of Rage excels at making a semi-decent game look worse... Simply put, Final Fight is a sissy in the light of a better game. "

Final Fight was originally released with the benefit of being alone in the next generation (of its era, 16 Bit) beat 'em up field. It started to really suck to be Final Fight when Streets of Rage was released; Streets of Rage came along and made Final Fight its female dog. Streets of Rage excels at making a semi-decent game look worse... Simply put, Final Fight is a sissy in the light of a better game.

The Game

The story driving Final Fight is pretty damn unspectacular. You're fighting to save the mayor's kidnapped daughter... nothing to see here folks. Then again, games involving random violence usually don't hold afloat due to their story, so we'll move past the insignificant.

Final Fight is an unspectacular side scrolling beat 'em up. You're set up to fight in a ''variety'' of levels, anywhere from a subway station to inside a subway train. You're given an unprecedented selection of TWO wishy washy characters to fight with... cut down 33% from the 3 originally offered in the arcade. In a brilliant move, Capcom cut the best character and left in the two that are completely without manliness. Gone is Guy, the martial art stereotype... Present are ''Cody,'' the tighty-whitey wearing softy, and ''Haggar,'' who looks like Freddie Mercury on 'roids. Marvelous.

I'm going to take a stab at things and guess that the two that didn't get benched are more important to the ''story,'' however, not important to the story was stunning gameplay. Decently translated from the arcades, Final Fight on the SNES delivers the same estrogen-reeking run of the mill gameplay the arcade version did. Namely, you get characters with a weak move selection walking around forgettable landscapes beating repetitious enemies. Cody and Haggar, wimps in appearance, are also as impotent in dishing out torture. You get a punch, a kick, and a throw. And a jump kick. Some weapons to pick up. Final Fight has been preceded by several games of identical nature; its lack of innovation is only outdone by its bland delivery.

The enemies are... silly. From a billion ''Japanese 80s Neo Punk'' stereotypes to some SISSY bosses... we're talking these chumps need to get beat. It's a shame the characters are so limp, as ''bosses'' like the ambiguous Andore beg for a whooping. Equally as painful on the eyes is the oversized 80s Neo Punk stereotype. Capcom spared no one from their JV team when crafting these substandard designs.

The Delivery

In its arcade incarnation, Final Fight was actually a looker. The sprites were of generous size, the animation fair, and the colors vibrant. The SNES, machine that never lived up to its hardware hype, handles the port... decently. The SNES processor doesn't blast quite like the Genesis, which might be why the game seems to move a little slower than the arcade. Bearing in mind that the arcade rev wasn't all that blazing to begin with, this isn't too noticeable without nitpicking. The animation is also lacking in comparison; frames are definitely missing, giving the game a more stilted appearance. What survives well is the color; typical of many SNES games, colors are vivid and attractive.

The sound is a mixture of thuds and ''oohs,'' splattered over some generic, lethargic music. The music isn't awful, it just doesn't help the tone of a game that's already second rate. You won't be singing this stuff in the shower, and you had DEFINITELY better not be making the game's muffled ''thump'' noises when fighting real-life enemies.

The Truth

When Final Fight was released in the arcades, its so-so play was ignored by many because it was the first high profile beat 'em ups of the 16Bit era. When Streets of Rage dropped, Final Fight was forgotten... Don't even mention the ''return'' of Final Fight with its pathetic sequels. Final Fight on the SNES can't even be played by two people! We'll do this analogy style: Streets of Rage is a hulking (swear word-in') savage, Final Fight is a small little ankle-biter. Streets of Rage is Shawn Michaels, Final Fight is Marty Janetty. Streets of Rage is Everlast, Final Fight is Eminem. Streets of Rage shatters the record of a game unworthy of the word ''Beat.'' Don't bother owning a version of Final Fight unless it's the arcade, and even then only for collection. Spend wisely, buy a man's machine and play a man's game... Streets of Rage.

Community review by sinner (March 14, 2004) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.