Final Fight (SNES)

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Final Fight (Super Nintendo) Review

USA Thu, 26 Apr 2007 by Damien McFerran

Final Fight Screenshot

Take to the streets with either Haggar or Cody and fight your way across town deep into the turf of the Mad Gear Gang.

Final Fight is one of those coin-ops that defines a generation. It was simply the ONLY the arcade game to be seen playing in the late 80's/early 90's. When the SNES conversion was confirmed, I was heartbroken - being a Megadrive owner, I had hoped that the (false) rumours of a Sega port were true (Sega fans had to wait until the Mega CD before they got this classic brawler) but with Capcom jumping into bed with Nintendo, it seemed impossible. All I could do was pray to the big console God in the sky that he, in his infinite wisdom, would deliver unto me a shiny new SNES when Christmas came around.

Final Fight Screenshot

As luck would have it, I got one when they were launched in the UK, and Final Fight was one of the first games I got my hands on. The shock of seeing such massive, arcade perfect sprites beat the seven shades of crap out of each other was dampened slightly by the disappointment of the missing two player option (one of the biggest draws of the arcade original). The fact that the game was also lacking Guy and the factory level didn't help, but thankfully enough of the Mike Haggar-inspired magic was present to make this a must-own.

Conclusion

It really is amazing how close this conversion is to the original game, and it also displayed the gulf between the Megadrive and the SNES at the time. Thankfully Sega saved face with their own brand of street fighting - the Bare Knuckle/Streets of Rage series (which, IMO, beats Final Fight hands down) but even the most hardline Sega fanboy would have to admit that in the early days of the SNES/MD war, this game was a sore point.

Envy is a terrible thing, after all.

User Comments

Bass X0

1. Bass X0 United Kingdom 26 Feb 2009, 19:51 GMT

Still waiting for Final Fight 2 & 3 to come along. I don't think I'll download FF2 but I will download FF3 if we ever get that far (the Streets of Rage games were released quite quickly though). I'd also download Mighty Final Fight on the NES if we ever get that as well.

Dazza

2. Dazza United Kingdom 26 Feb 2009, 21:59 GMT

If this had featured the two player option and Guy from the arcade it would have been strong competition for Streets of Rage. Aside from those 2 sore points it was an outstanding conversion. I played it to death at the time.

Despite FF2 & 3 having two player co-op I have to admit I prefer the original personally. I can't put my finger on it but something was missing from the non-arcade conversion sequels. They just didn't feel right to me.

Shinnok

3. Shinnok United States 27 Feb 2009, 23:40 GMT

I don't see the point in purchasing any of the Final Fight games when Streets of Rage 2 and 3 are up for grabs. Both titles look, sound, and play a whole lot better.

Drake

4. Drake Netherlands 07 Mar 2009, 16:31 GMT

Final Fight 3 is in my opinion superior to all Streets of Rage games, but it's not available yet :(

Shinnok

5. Shinnok United States 07 Mar 2009, 21:51 GMT

Though I don't agree with your opinion Drake, I will say that Final Fight 3 is the best Final Fight title out of the whole series.

The Fox

6. The Fox United States 22 Mar 2009, 01:31 GMT

@post 4 :
Really? I always thought Final Fight 3 was a huge let down. It would be good to see it hit the VC, as it came out so late in the life of the SNES many gamers had moved on and never had a chance to play it.

cowboy

7. cowboy Greece 26 Jun 2009, 10:13 BST

will this come on the virtual console but for ARCADE?

liquidsoul

8. liquidsoul Germany 14 Oct 2009, 15:20 BST

I played the Amiga-Version as a kid to death. Quite fun, but the missing Level is a real drawback. The omission of Guy is imo not a letdown, because he plays awkward compared to Cody or Haggar

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