Jonny2x4 wrote:If anything, Axel's more of a Cody clone and I always thought of Cody and Guy as Capcom's answer to Billy and Jimmy.
THANKYOU. That was my initial reaction, the very first time I saw Final Fight.
To be fair, it wasn't just Capcom that did it. After Double Dragon, there were innumerable Sidescrollers, featuring a blue-wearing, blonde guy as Player 1 (or the balanced fighter, if attributes were selectable), and a red-wearing, dark-haired guy as Player 2 (or the speedy fighter, if attributes were selectable).
(Sprites from Double Dragon, Final Fight and Ninja Gaiden found at scrollboss. The P.O.W.s and Combatribe rips are my work. Who recognises the background?)
One notable difference with SOR, is a particular Sega tradition: The woman in red and the speedy fighter are one and the same, rather than her being the damsel in distress (Sega also did this with Golden Axe).
I had a Genesis back in the day, and I felt that SOR2 was the best console-based sidescroller, of its time. It did feel like an outright Final Fight rip-off, but that never bothered anyone. And I still think the music is awesome. Plus, if I remember correctly, Final Fight was only one-player.
As for FF3, I'm not sure if Dean is an Axel-riff, but I think that Lucia is a Blaze-riff, or maybe even a Blaze-and-Axel-riff. Lucia's stance and clothing are pretty much Blaze's, from SOR3. But her blue palette and short, blonde hair are Axel's. Well, really Cody's. Well, really really Billy's. You get the point.