Final Fight Double Impact - Initial thoughts / brief review
Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 6:43 pm
As some of you know, Final Fight was recently released on XBox Live and the Playstation Network. Despite already owning the emulated arcade version on Capcom's collection comp for the PS2 and the somewhat revamped Final Fight One for the GBA, I was very excited about its arrival on a new machine, particullarly after seeing the tweaks made to other arcade downloads like R-Type 1 and 2 last year; most notably the graphical filter options. It may sounds complete hatstand to rave about but the presentation alone makes this a worthwhile purchase imo.
The Good
* I'd forgotten how fun Final Fight was thanks to the simplified control method and it's so easy to pick up and lose yourself in it. Plus, you get the real deal. Final Fight - the arcade version. Beautifully emulated. No slowdown, loads of enemies on screen at once; just the classic 2 player beat em up all the characters (Guy and the once censored-on-the-SNES/GBA female / transexual enemies), the way I played it 20 years ago. Cept now I can play it online too!
* The presentation is superb. Again, this may sound daft but it really makes a difference - options to play the game with different filters inc. full screen, custom, original aspect ratio or a great mode where you could be playing it on an actual arcade monitor and if you like, you can even add the bezel!
* The remixed soundtrack is much like the one found in the Mega CD version and for the most part, I found it to be even better than the soundtrack in the original game. But, if you're feeling nostalgic, you can switch this off and play the originals!
The Bad
* I'd forgotten how linear Final Fight was. Left to right, no real obsticles apart from the nonsensical fire stage, can get dull quickly, end of stage enemies aren't really interesting apart from the first guy that whistles his mates... needs more variety now. I know at the time it was very revolutionary what with the massive characters, non stop action and amount of throwaway enemies that flood the screen but I do miss the interaction of backgrounds like in DD or even the diagonal movement of say TMNT. Final Fight 4, Capcom?
* The new bonus challenges add a bit to the game (complete the game with the same character throughout for example and you unlock artwork) but really, how many times are you going to want to complete this?
* 800 points is a bit much considering similar games (like Streets of Rage) are only 400. It'll be interesting to see how much the next release of DD is.
Overall
* Well, all fans of this and general beat em up fanatics should buy it. There is a love and effort put into preserving this game that we haven't had enough of with these rereleases on new consoles but it seems to be happening more often now. I haven't even mentioned the fact that you also get Magic Sword too and whilst I can't see many people picking this up for that, it is an interesting enough title to almost justify the price tag. Well, almost. Here's hoping that developers, Proper Games get the blessing to mess around with more classic titles.
Recommended.
The Good
* I'd forgotten how fun Final Fight was thanks to the simplified control method and it's so easy to pick up and lose yourself in it. Plus, you get the real deal. Final Fight - the arcade version. Beautifully emulated. No slowdown, loads of enemies on screen at once; just the classic 2 player beat em up all the characters (Guy and the once censored-on-the-SNES/GBA female / transexual enemies), the way I played it 20 years ago. Cept now I can play it online too!
* The presentation is superb. Again, this may sound daft but it really makes a difference - options to play the game with different filters inc. full screen, custom, original aspect ratio or a great mode where you could be playing it on an actual arcade monitor and if you like, you can even add the bezel!
* The remixed soundtrack is much like the one found in the Mega CD version and for the most part, I found it to be even better than the soundtrack in the original game. But, if you're feeling nostalgic, you can switch this off and play the originals!
The Bad
* I'd forgotten how linear Final Fight was. Left to right, no real obsticles apart from the nonsensical fire stage, can get dull quickly, end of stage enemies aren't really interesting apart from the first guy that whistles his mates... needs more variety now. I know at the time it was very revolutionary what with the massive characters, non stop action and amount of throwaway enemies that flood the screen but I do miss the interaction of backgrounds like in DD or even the diagonal movement of say TMNT. Final Fight 4, Capcom?
* The new bonus challenges add a bit to the game (complete the game with the same character throughout for example and you unlock artwork) but really, how many times are you going to want to complete this?
* 800 points is a bit much considering similar games (like Streets of Rage) are only 400. It'll be interesting to see how much the next release of DD is.
Overall
* Well, all fans of this and general beat em up fanatics should buy it. There is a love and effort put into preserving this game that we haven't had enough of with these rereleases on new consoles but it seems to be happening more often now. I haven't even mentioned the fact that you also get Magic Sword too and whilst I can't see many people picking this up for that, it is an interesting enough title to almost justify the price tag. Well, almost. Here's hoping that developers, Proper Games get the blessing to mess around with more classic titles.
Recommended.