SNES REVIEWS: Final Fight
Final Fight has an old reputation in the brawler genre; it has been a constant presence in arcades and is even represented in Capcom Vs. Marvel by the Burly Mayor Hagger. I am yet to play any other Final Fight game, but from what I saw from this first one is that this lofty reputation is totally undeserved.
Starting from the limitations of the brawler genre, to the limitations of the actual game itself, Final Fight is proving to be one of the few SNES games I disliked in my current attempt to review the top 100.
#100: Final Fight:
Year: 1990, 1991.
Genre: Beat 'em Up
Publisher: Capcom.
Developer: Capcom.
"Your daughter for your cooperation"
Every brawler needs a reason for the hero(s) to go in a linear path of destruction. In FF, Mike Hagger is the burly mayor of New York, and he is clamping down on crime in the city. The local thugs don't take kindly to that, and they kidnap his daughter to show him their disapproval of his policies. Just like any half-decent mayor, Ol' Mario in Steroids removes his shirt and goes brawling in the streets of NY. Also, there is Ken-wannabe Cody who loves Hagger's daughter.
 |
| Look at the glorious mustache |
Hagger's mustache proves to be the only noteworthy presence in the game, with the thugs being an assortment of generic types, and the bosses being only a light upgrade on their minions. The other playable character, Cody, is as boring as his name. Inexplicably, Cody is actually the better fighter, so whoever picks the superior character in Hagger needs to contend with being disadvantaged by the game.
"Linear punch-a-face game"
This game in theory can be played on the NES with slightly downgraded animations. On the NES, it might be considered a classic, but on the more powerful SNES, its mechanical shortcomings are all too apparent. For instance, the game only uses two buttons, one for attacking and the other for jumping. This leaves no room for guarding, attack switching, or any truly complex move-set.
True, there are grab attacks, but they are initiated when the player's sprite contacts the enemy sprites under a haphazard rule. You can grab the enemy, or you might get punched in the face. Regardless, all tactics are then found to be inferior to spamming Drop Kicks most of the time.
Why do we need to spam Drop Kicks, you say? Well, there are a bunch of reasons:
First, the enemies do more damage than you.
Second, the enemies take more damage than you.
Third, Drop Kicks is the only attack where you are sure that its range is greater than the enemies'.
 |
| The single most effective move in the game |
What ensues is a constant barrage of Drop Kicks; these Kicks launch the thugs off-screen. Hence, you need to wait for them to reappear on-screen to Drop Kick them again. Rinse and repeat. In theory, you could finish the game without taking damage at all with consistently well-placed Drop Kicks, and the occasional grab-a-boss technique. Of course, this proves to be a most boring practice.
In hindsight, perhaps the very short length of the game is a blessing. Yes, the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that the short five stages the game consists of is a way for the developers to save us from its mundane gameplay.
"Andores, Andores everywhere"
Andores are one type of thug that takes 15-20 Drop Kicks before dying. They are present in every level of the game bar the first one. It is not an isolated incident, as the same thugs populate all five levels. The levels themselves are only told apart by well-made, if boring, backgrounds.
Aside from those backgrounds, there is little to differentiate between levels in the game. Bloody Andore will show his ugly face every now and then, as similar-sounding music blasts. Of course, Hagger himself or Cody won't ever change; they move with the same animation, the same pose, and attack with the same animations and poses again and again.
 |
| Some of the moves do have a strong visual impact |
One thing brawlers have an advantage over other genres is their big sprite design, which leaves a lot of room for expression in their characters. It is a shame FF doesn't use that large design for anything other than a smirk on one of the bosses' faces.
In Conclusion:
This turned out to be a shorter review than I thought it would. It is short game, so there is that. However, here are a number of other sorry facts about the game. Item-grabbing recognition is wonky at best, deadly at worst. The only way to escape combos from enemies is by executing a special move that also depletes your health.
I will stop there and go into some moral grounds. The last game I reviewed for the SNES is BoF2, which is another Capcom game. It had its share of problems, but it also had heart. The fact that FF sold more than both BoF1 and 2 is a testament that games don't sell on merit alone. That Capcom is failing hard now might be belated karma for all the Final Fight games it sold, as well as several shamefully designed games like it.
Final: 4/10 (Not recommended at all)
Pro Points:
- Hagger's Mustache: +4
- Short Length: +2
Con Points:
- Cody and the Generic Thugs: -3
- Terrible Brawling: -7
- Mundane Design: -5
Tips:
- Don't play the game. If you insist on wasting your time:
- Press R+L+Start at the title screen to customize difficulty.
- Use Special Move to break oncoming barrels.
- Make sure never to lose a Katana if you have one.
- Knives are useless and could open you up for attack.
- DROPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICKKKKKKK (Jump and press attack).
Series:
I remember having a lot of fun times playing the SNES in my childhood, but I did not play buy about 10 to 15 games, and many games that I played I couldn't go far into owing to my inability to read basic instructions in English.
As I grew up, I played more SNES games that came my way, as well as others released on other platforms. Due to the sheer quality of those titles that I played years later (such as Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger) and those I remember playing (Donkey Kong's Country, Super Mario World), I was always curious about the quality of all those titles I did not play.
Three years before starting this review series, IGN released a list of their top 100 SNES games. Reading that list, I got excited and wanted to play all of them. However, I realized that just playing them wouldn't be enough. I wanted to study that list, and hence decided to review most games on the list.
Next Game:
Ok, so my first game in the retreat was a dud. After Final Fight, there are a bunch of fighting and racing games until #94 The Adventures of Batman and Robin. I am going to play it next, and hope for the best.
Stay Tuned.
For Previous Genesis Game Reviews:
This blog was originally posted in Destructoid Community Blogs on March 19th, 2014. The blog was slightly edited to fit my newer review format.
Comments
Post a Comment