Game Review: Mighty Final Fight
 | Mighty Final Fight |  |
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Released: July 1993
Game Type: Action
Players: 1
Product Number: NES-MF-USA
Rarity: B+ (Very Rare)
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You can basically call this game pak "Honey, I Shrunk Final Fight", because Capcom's classic beat-em-up gets the super-deformed treatment for its appearence on the NES. Unlike the Final Fight titles on the Super NES and Sega CD, Cacpom opted to bring its arcade hit to the 8-bit system in a totally different way, with very good results.
The storyline is just like the original Final Fight. Metro City has become a haven of criminal activity, and newly-elected mayor Mike Haggar is determined to squash the source of the chaos, the Mad Gear Gang. However the Mad Gears respond to this threat by kidnapping Haggar's daughter, Jessica. Once he gets word, Haggar and Cody, Jessica's boyfriend, are not happy and decide to take out the Mad Gears one and for all. Together with their kickboxing pal Guy, the three of them set out to clean up the streets and rescue Jessica from the clutches of the Mad Gear Gang and its leader, the cybernetic Belgar.
When you begin this 1-player only game you choose from one of the three characters, each with different skills and abilites. Whichever one you choose, you're stuck with that person until you lose all your lives and continue, after which you can pick someone else if you wish. You have to fight your way through the five areas that make up Metro City, which are based on the coin-op original. Each level is packed with a never-ending supply of thugs and hoodlums; basically junior versions of classic Final Fight foes such as Andore, Two P, Poison, and others. Luckily Haggar, Cody, and Guy each have their own set of fighting moves that can be pulled off in different situations. If you're really in a jam you can push both buttons together to launch a special attack. Barrels appear occasionally and the characters can break them to find food to replenesh their health, extra lives and weapons they can use on their foes. However this version includes an RPG touch; you get experience points for every baddie you defeat, depening on what move you use to finish them off. Once you get enough points you advance to the next level, giving you a longer lifeline. Reaching experience level 4 also gives your character a super attack that requires a special controller combination to pull off. Once you reach the end of each level you have to do battle with some familiar faces: Thrasher, Katana (Sodom) and Abagail. After you beat each boss it's off to the next level or to a bouns round where you bust barrels for extra lives. In the end you must face Belgar himself in a fight to the finish.
Mighty Final Fight scores high in the graphics department. Some of the stages look like the arcade original, but all the stages are bright and colorful, and some of them have nice touches in the background as well. The sprites all have that cutesy super-deformed look with the big heads on small bodies, but they do resemble their arcade counterparts somewhat (although Haggar looks a little like Tom Selleck). They have pretty good animation and some humorous expressions when you land a blow. This game does have quite a bit of flicker, though. The game also loses a point in the audio department. The background music has that Capcom feel to it. It's good, but doesn't really fit with the action. The sound effects are just punches and kicks which do the job but are nothing special.
Once again a Capcom title excels in the controls department. The controls are quick and responsive, plus pulling off a special attack is no problem even with just two buttons on the controller. (Don't forget the original Final Fight only used two buttons as well.) However it can be tricky to use one of the Level 4 super attacks, even after lots of practice.
This game is not totally difficult but it isn't a cakewalk either. The enemies often get in some cheap hits, especially when you're trying to get back on your feet. Also some foes can block your moves over and over, making it tough to dispatch them. For the most part the enemis won't present too much of a problem, and the bosses aren't too tough to dispatch either once you figure out their patterns. This game is also on the short side; once you have everything figured out, it won't take you long to get to the end. That's not the say you won't have fun doing it. This spin-off retains the gameplay and spirit of the original Final Fight beatifully and is enjoyable and addictive to boot. Playing through the game with each character changes the strategies you can eomply, and the different attacks add some variety as well. The one major negative is Mighty Final Fight should have included a two-player mode, just like the original. It's just more for two people to gang up on anyone in your way.
So while Mighty Final Fight isn't an exact port of the original, it doesn't try to be. It keeps the Final Fight gameplay intact while adding its own spin on it. The result is an excellent title that ranks up there with other side-scrolling fighitng games like River City Ransom or Double Dragon. Had the game been a little longer and included two-player mode, it would have shot this game over the top. Many Final Fight fans may scoff at this game, but you should definetly pick it up, as it proves to be another high-quality cart released late in the NES' lifecycle.
- Review posted on October 12, 2005