Final Fight CD

"Arcade perfection with the only drawback of cacka loading times =./"

FOREWORD

This was one of the first games that I purchased on the Sega-CD (which is actually called the MEGA-CD in England, so that's what I'll be referring to it as from now on in this review). Heralded as being an arcade-perfect rendition of the original, I was REALLY looking forward to getting my hands on it and seeing what the Mega-CD could do ... how did it fare ? Read on !! :)

OVERVIEW AND OBJECTIVE OF THE GAME

Final Fight CD is a side-scrolling beat-em 'up in which you take on the role of one of three fighters - Cody, Guy or Haggar, with the ultimate objective of beating the boss of the Mad Gear gang, and rescuing Jessica - Haggar's daughter who has been kidnapped by the Mad Gear.

Each of the three characters has their own reasons for BEING in the game (Jessica is not only Haggar's daughter, but Cody's girlfriend as well, with Guy showing up as Cody's best mate.

Each level has a load of bad guys and a final boss at the end - it's all very tried and tested, but you have to remember that this was one of the FIRST 'proper' side-scrolling beat-em 'ups. THIS was the title that others were judged by at the arcade ;)

GRAPHICS - 8/10

Graphically this game certainly lives up to the hype. Every frame of animation that was in the arcade original seems to have been ported across perfectly. There is no slowdown, the characters are the same size and retain all their moves - there have been no cut-downs in terms of either the number of villains or the types of villains to fight against. Whilst the names may differ between the English and US versions, characters like the big freaky Andorr are still in there, as are the somersaulting, knife-toting girls in stiletto's *shiver*.

In terms of colours the game doesn't seem to be lacking either - all the flash and bright colours from the original are there, and really speaking it does feel like you've just been given the arcade game on cd !! It's cool !!

SOUND - 9/10

The sounds in this game are SPOT ON when compared with their arcade counterparts. There is perhaps one exception, and that's the voice-over introduction, which has to be the single CHEESIEST thing I've ever heard ... the Mad Gear boss actually says "hee hee hee Mister Haggar" when Haggar picks up the phone. AND HE'S SHOCKED !! I was in tears laughing. What kind of MUPPET villain says "hee hee hee" ?????

Anyhow.

The punches, kicks and metal-bars-thumping-people-in-the-head are all there, as are the full range of character 'voices' (I use inverted commas because they really only have 1-2 things to say each, and one of those is usually a death scream). As with the graphics, the developers have ported everything over perfectly.

CONTROLS - 8/10

Simplicity itself. An attack button, and a jump button. Push them together and you get ... dum dum dum duuuuuuuuuuuuum ... a SPECIAL ATTACK that drains your health slightly but does more damage to your opponents, and is character-specific. You've seen this LOADS of times - in practically every side-scrolling beat-em 'up before and since I should think, so you should be able to get down with the controls in SECONDS of picking up the controller.

PLOT - 2/10

It's the old "they stole his girl and now he's out for revenge" plotline they used in Vigilante, and a fair few other titles. It's been done and, whilst it holds a certain appeal, it's FAR from innovative.

GAMEPLAY - 6/10

I think gameplay in this particular title has to be taken in context. When the game was released it would have been an 8 ... possibly even a 9. It was FANTASTIC, and as I said at the outset effectively became THE benchmark by which other side-scrolling beat-em 'up's were compared, and justifiably so. Each character had strengths and weaknesses, unique moves that they could do, throws even - REALLY in-depth stuff ... but coming to review it NOW is like judging how good your grandfather would have been at the high-jump in his day ... you REALLY won't get too excited about it.

Don't get me wrong, this title is a PERFECT conversion from the arcade original, and if you're a video-games newbie and looking to get into something stable and light ? Then THIS is the fighter for you ...

If you're a veteran who's looking for something cutting-edge and groundbreaking ? Then this title will hold about as much appeal as a chocolate fireguard ... sorry. WHICH is why I think it's only fair to look it in context. Imagine you were playing it ten years ago ... or even 15 years ago and it'll help keep the appeal going ;)

Another negative issue is that of loading times. The bane of every cd-based console out there has always been the time taken to access data between levels (and this is considerably worse in the older titles - from the Dreamcast up they seem to have gotten better). It takes a fair while for the levels to load up, and this is LESS than stellar unfortunately ...

But in spite of all that, what you're looking at is, in essence, a strong fighting title - a vet in its own right. Plus, it's a FAULTLESS conversion of the arcade original, and that's something worth raving about :)

REPLAY VALUE - 6/10

Compared to the newest video games in this vein, it offers stability and a look back at how things started, for them to have progressed as they did. In its day it was the king of side-scrollers, and now it's a cheerful museum piece. Its replay value is reasonable based on the number of times you can call your mates over and say "hey guys, do you remember THIS ??"

VALUE FOR MONEY - 10/10

Given that it should be dirt cheap these days, and given the quality of the conversion, the pittance it SHOULD cost you is, in my humble opinion, worth every penny.

OVERALL - 8/10 (This is NOT an average)

It's a perfect conversion of the arcade original (bar the loading times). As such it's like owning the arcade original ... and who wouldn't like that !?!?! =)

MAIN GOOD POINTS

* Faultless arcade-to-console port
* Graphics, sound and controls are all perfect and very easy to get into

MAIN BAD POINTS

* Loading times.

SO SHOULD YOU GET IT ?

Ok ... if you a) own a mega-cd/sega-cd, or are a video games collector; or b) are starting out with the mega-cd/sega-cd, and want some cool games for it ? Then HELL yeah !! If you're looking to get something that's going to set your world on fire and redefine the whole gaming experience ? Then nah. The enjoyment to be derived from this title is more of historical relevance than "omigod I've just exploded in enjoyment" ;)

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/14/04