FINAL FIGHT (Capcom 1989)
[download final fight for MAME]

If there was one game that gladly accepted almost all of my holiday pocket money during the summer of 1990 it was Final Fight. The beautifully rounded and colourful graphics really made it stand out from any other game in the arcade at that time, coupled with the crunching sound effects which made you feel like you were beating the living soul out of the enemy, made it increasingly difficult to resist.

During the day it was fairly easy to gain access to the machine, and this time had to be used to the fullest, practising, honing your skills for the main event…the nighttime!

During the evening it was a crush to get to even see the screen at all, let alone play the thing, but even then there was a certain thrill in watching others play. Laughing at the under 10's who would die on the first level, and idolising the 16+ who could make it to level 4 on one 10p.

Final Fight was a fully beefed-up update on the Double Dragon formula of horizontal, adventure based beat 'em ups, but given advancing technology, Final Fight had the one essential ingredient missing from Double Dragon…pace!

The story couldn't really be more clichéd, but this isn't an RPG we're playing here, this is a action game where story comes in second place to getting the girl, killing the baddies and saving the entire planet (or a city in this case).

Metro City has been ruled by crime and corruption for years, but now, Mike Haggar (former street fighter) has become mayor and intends to clean up the city. To stop this from happening, a local gang (Mad Gear) decide to kidnap his daughter to force him to play by their rules. Not one to back-down easily Haggar decides to confront the gang and get his daughter back. In steps Cody (Haggar's daughter's boyfriend) and Guy (Cody's mate) to lend a helping hand.

One of the attractions of Final Fight, and one which influenced every beat 'em up to follow, was the different fighting styles of the characters. Haggar was the slow, but strong wrestler, Cody the average strength/speed street fighter, and Guy the fast but weaker martial artist. Not only did this mean you had a choice according to your own preference, but completion with each character led to a different end sequence, enticing you to finish the game with each fighter.

Final Fight also introduced the 'special move' concept. This involved hitting both 'jump' and 'attack' buttons at the same time, resulting in a spinning attack that would take out anybody in your surrounding area, similar to the 'Smart Bomb' introduced in Defender. This however, made the game a little too easy to complete for the budding Johnny One-Move's out there. But this was soon limited in follow up's such as Captain Commando where performing the Special Move would result in depletion of energy.

Final Fight is still one of the most enjoyable and classic beat 'em ups of all time. If you've never played it before, now's your chance!

david twomey

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