Final Fight

Final Fight, released in 1989, is the first game in the Final Fight series of Beat 'em up games. It is considered to be Street Fighter's "cousin", and the two series are set in the same storyline. Final Fight was originally released as an arcade game and was ported to several platforms, including the Super NES, Sega CD, Sharp X68000 and Game Boy Advance (as Final Fight One). It is also included in Capcom Classics Collection for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

Final Fight CD Intro

CD version intro

Gameplay

Final Fight can be played by up to two players simultaneously, with each player controlling a different character. Before the game begins, the player chooses between the three main characters, Guy, Cody, and Haggar, each with his own fighting style and attributes. Guy is the weakest but has faster attacks, Haggar is the strongest but also the slowest, and Cody has all-round attributes.

The controls consists of an eight-way joystick and two buttons for attacking and jumping. The player character can move in any of the eight directions, but can only face and attack to the left or right like in most beat-'em-ups. Pressing both buttons simultaneously performs a special move that attacks in both directions, though it uses a little vitality. Players can also grab and throw opponents, as well as use various weapons such as knives, pipes, and swords.

Characters

• Cody
• Guy
• Mike Haggar
• Bred
• Two P
• El Gado
• Roxy
• Poison
• Andore
• Hugo
• Damnd
• Sodom
• Edi E
• Rolento
• Abigail
• Belger
• Jessica

Story

The story of Final Fight involves the abduction of Mayor Mike Haggar's daughter, Jessica, because he would not work with the Mad Gear Gang to ensure their dominance of the streets. When the Mad Gear thug Damnd contacts Haggar and informs him of the dire situation, Haggar calls up his daughter's boyfriend Cody and his sparring partner Guy (later on stated by Capcom that they never met until then and the dialogue was added for the U.S audience, Guy being Bushin is sworn to fight evil). The three vigilantes then head into the streets of Metro City to bust Mad Gear's skulls, fighting their way through the hordes of goons littering the city (including the Rastafarian thug Damnd, the "Japanophile" Sodom, former Red Beret and militia leader Rolento, corrupt cop Edi. E, and the ill-tempered Abigail), to get to Mad Gear's boss, Belger. On the top floor of a large building, Cody knocks Belger out of the window, sending him falling to his death.

The original Japanese version of the Final Fight intro states that the game takes place in 1989, and provides the corresponding ages and birthdates for each of the main characters. The English language version changes the setting to "Sometime in the 1990s..." and only provides the birthdates for the characters. The recent English translation featured in Final Fight One reverts back to the original 1989 date.

Levels

Final Fight consists of six stages or "rounds", as well as two bonus rounds. Each round takes place in a different section of Metro City such as the Slums and the Subway, with most rounds featuring more than one level. At the end of each round the player will face a boss character unique to that round.

Versions

SNES and Sega CD

On the Super Nintendo home console version, the game underwent some extreme changes. The list below addresses the major ones:

• Co-op mode was removed, rendering the game a one-player experience.
• Two major characters, Guy and Rolento, were taken out, altering almost the entire storyline.
• The only female characters in the game, Poison and Roxy, were replaced by Billy and Sid, for censorship reasons.
• In the English localization, Sodom and Damnd were renamed Katana and Thrasher.
• Belger's wheelchair was redrawn to look like he was sitting in an office chair, and thus not handicapped.
• Bred screaming "Oh My God!" was changed to "Oh, My Car!" after he discovers his car has been destroyed.
• Blood and alcohol were removed entirely.

The Sega CD home console version, while retaining nearly all the features of the arcade game which were removed in the SNES port, still had Poison and Roxy wearing less-revealing clothes. On the plus side, the CD version contained a time-attack mode and voice acting was added to the game's cut-scenes. Whether the re-arranged music featured was a good thing or not, is, of course, a matter of taste.

Guy

Since the SNES release of Final Fight excluded Guy, Capcom revised it and released Final Fight Guy in 1992 on the SNES. This time, Cody was excluded from the roster, and the player could only choose between Guy and Haggar. The beginning of the story states Cody is in Japan.

In 1994, Final Fight Guy was released in the U.S. and was a rental-only game available at Blockbuster stores.

One

The Game Boy Advance version, titled Final Fight One, was released in 2001 as one of the earliest games for the system. Final Fight One features all three characters and the Industrial Area stage that was missing from the SNES version. Dialogue exchanges prior to each boss battle have been added, and the Street Fighter Alpha renditions of Cody and Guy are featured as hidden characters.

Double Impact

In April 2010, Capcom released Final Fight: Double Impact, which featured Final Fight as well as their side-scrolling fantasy-themed action game Magic Sword. Both games received an HD graphics boost similar to Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. The downloadable release featured both classic visuals and a new visual mode that displayed the games in HD. Both games also supported leaderboards and drop-in online co-op play.

Trivia

Japanese Ad of "Street Fighter '89"

• Final Fight was originally going to be the sequel of the original Street Fighter. The working title for the game was Street Fighter '89. The game was announced in Japanese magazines with the name Street Fighter: The Final Fight in March 1989.
• Guy and Sodom were featured as playable characters in the original Street Fighter Alpha released in 1995 with Sodom trading his katana blades in favor of a pair of jitte sticks. Rolento was then added to the playable roster in 1996's Street Fighter Alpha 2, followed by Cody in 1998's Street Fighter Alpha 3, who was reimagined as an escaped convict.
  • Also in SFA3, if Sodom is selected under the X-ISM system, he will fight with a pair of katanas again.
• Hugo was also featured as a playable character in various Street Fighter games, starting with Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact, while Haggar has appeared in the Saturday Night Slam Masters and its sequel, Ring of Destruction: Slam Masters 2. Haggar and Guy both also appear in Namco x Capcom, with the latter partnered with Ginzu from Captain Commando.
• The Mad Gear Gang is named after Capcom's driving/shoot-em-up game Mad Gear ("LED Storm" outside Japan).
• In Guy's stage in Street Fighter Alpha 2, all the characters from Final Fight make cameo appearances in the background such as Cody, Haggar, Jessica, Poison and Hugo, etc.
• In Final Fight: Streetwise, the player can find a Final Fight arcade game. Smashing the arcade game will result in Haggar's sound effect being heard.

Credits

Super Famicom Cover Art

Arcade and X68000 Versions [Staff]

planner: <Pon G> Nin, Akiman
programmer: Kanekon, Shin., Tomiyan, Yokoyan
hard: Kucchan
character design-object: S.Y, Tissue, Prince
character design-scroll: <Pon G・1> Mikiman, Okachan, <Pon G2> Fukumary, <Pon G・3> Nissui
music/sound: Youki chan's papa
special thanks: CBX, Poo, Chin, Yamachan

• Manami Matsumae, Junko Tamiya, Yasuaki Fujita, Hiromitsu Takaoka, Yoko Shimomura and Harumi Fujita are all uncredited for music composition, as confirmed by the release of the Final Fight Original Sound Collection in 2014.

SNES Version [Final Fight] [NOTE: Also used for Final Fight One]

Planner: Mickey
Music/Sound: Bull
Programmer: Kanekon, Imo, Yoshilim, Leo, Img
Object Design: Lexus.M, Fish Man, Maguro, Lawson, Shoji.K
Background Design: Manashi, Ucchan, Nonnon, Miki Vai, Kakkun
Special Thanks: T.Arthur, Makichan
<Arcade>
Planner: Nin, Akiman
Music/Sound: Youkichan's Papa
Programmer: Kanekon, Shin, Tomiyan, Yokoyan
Object Design: S.Y, Tessue, Prince
Background Design: Mikiman, Okachan, Fukumary, Nissui
Special Thanks: CBX, Poo, Chin, Yamachan, Kucchan
Presented by: Capcom

SNES Version [Final Fight Guy]

Planner: Mickey
Music/Sound: Bull
Programmer: Kanekon, Imo, Yoshilim, Leo, Img
Object Design: Lexus.M, Fish Man, Maguro, Lawson, Shoji.K
Background Design: Manashi, Ucchan, Nonnon, Miki Vai, Kakkun
Special Thanks: T.Arthur, Makichan
<Guy Ver.>
Special Stuff: Patriot Yamazou, Aka
<Arcade>
Planner: Nin, Akiman
Music/Sound: Youkichan's Papa
Programmer: Kanekon, Shin, Tomiyan, Yokoyan
Object Design: S.Y, Tessue, Prince
Background Design: Mikiman, Okachan, Fukumary, Nissui
Special Thanks: CBX, Poo, Chin, Yamachan, Kucchan
Presented by: Capcom

Sega CD Version [Final Fight CD] [Staff]

planner: Hiralinn, G.Taishi
programmer: Yagiee, .NGI, Gyope
character design-object: Hiralinn, Oya Bin
character design-scroll: Minorin, M" Agodo, Satosa
music/sound: T's music
thanks: Dan, Hochan, Awave
special thanks: Capcom
Presented by: Sega 1993

GBA Version [Final Fight One]

• Despite the reuse of the SNES version's credits, two credits are known: music arrangement was handled by Seiko Kobuchi and sound effects were once again handled by Toshio Kajino, as stated in the Final Fight Original Sound Collection liner notes.

Gallery

Arcade Flyer

Japan

U.S.

Europe

CD U.S.

Guy Japan

Guy U.S.

Guy U.S. - Blockbuster version

One Japan

One U.S.

One Europe

Double Impact Key Art

Original Japanese version screenshot

Final Fight Guy player select screen

Virtual console promo

Merchandise

Work House Guidebook

Mega Drive Fan magazine

OST (also features other music)

One Futabasha Guidebook

External Links

• Final Fight One official Japanese site
• Wikipedia article
• Street Fighter wikia article