Handheld gaming is more than a compromise of power and portability. Whether it’s the ability to play anywhere, multitask or hold an entire console in your hands, it’s a special experience consoles have never replicated. In a world where high resolutions and teraflops reign supreme, we take a look at a portable relic every month and reflect on what makes it memorable. Be warned, spoilers may occasionally populate these articles.
Final Fight might not be enjoying a revival with new titles the way Double Dragon and Streets of Rage have, but that doesn’t make it any less of a hard-hitting beat ‘em up. Since its 1989 release, Final Fight has been released on a number of platforms and included in a few Capcom collections. Game Boy Advance was a popular place for SNES and arcade games to wind up, so it’s no surprise that in 2001, Final Fight One was released on GBA.
Pocket Power: Capcom Classics Mini Mix
Sometime in the 1990s…
The story of Final Fight isn’t too unusual for games from its era. Jessica, daughter of ex pro-wrestler and current mayor Mike Haggar, and depending on which version, either Cody’s childhood friend or girlfriend, is kidnapped by the street gang known as the Mad Gears. Obviously not too happy about this, the two decide to go get Jessica back from the Mad Gears herself, because a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and a hulking mayor stand a better chance against a massive gang themselves instead of using the mayoral resources to unleash the entire police force of Metro City on the gang.
Those who have only played the SNES version of Final Fight will be in for a few surprises with Final Fight One. People who have played Final Fight in the arcade or on Sega CD will notice a few new additions, but the SNES Final Fight was severely gutted due to hardware limitations and 20th century Nintendo censorship policies. The content of Final Fight One is closer to the original version, which is something almost all fans will agree is a positive thing.
The biggest shocker to those who have only played the SNES Final Fight is there is now a third playable character named Guy, who wears a gi. The original two-player co-op mode has been restored, albeit via link cable. The industrial zone stage which was designed to eat quarters has also been restored, which happens to be the level with the most environmental hazards. Thrasher and Katana are back to their original respective names of Damnd and Sodom, which were considered inappropriate for ‘90s Nintendo games. Roxy and Poison, from the arcade, are still replaced by their more masculine SNES counterparts, Sid and Billy. The line “oh my god,” which is uttered after the bonus stage, is still the censored as “oh my car.” So even though Final Fight One was restored mostly to its original arcade form, some elements of Nintendo censorship remained present.
What’s New and Trendy?
New changes to Final Fight One include new character portraits, which are included in dialogue sequences before boss fights. These additions aren’t necessary given the nature of the game, but are a nice touch nonetheless. Because they have made guest appearances in Street Fighter Alpha games, Guy and Cody are available to play in the Street Fighter Alpha costumes as secret unlockable characters. Cody’s costume consists of the striped pajamas and shackles inmates are often depicted as wearing, so there’s curiosity as to how that happened. One would think dating the mayor’s daughter might allow one to avoid jail time.
The gameplay of Final Fight One is about as straightforward as one could expect. It’s a beat ‘em up brawler, where the screen is invaded by assorted thugs, and it’s up to the player to beat them all up. Weapons can be found that can aid in the process, such as knives, swords and pipes, but the majority of the violence is carried out with fists, throws and jump kicks. When the player takes damage, they can recover health by breaking a random crate or oil drum, which happens to have food that is perfectly safe to eat waiting inside it.
There were a few pop culture references hidden in Final Fight. Much like how Balrog was originally named M. Bison as a not-so subtle reference to Mike Tyson, there are a few enemy characters in Final Fight One that bear resemblance to real life celebrities. The family of enormous wrestlers known as Andore look suspiciously like Andre the Giant. Enemies Axl and Slash look as though the Guns N’ Roses members’ heads had been photoshopped onto muscular bodies. Roxy and Poison look like glammed up super fans of the band Poison. Even their censored character models, Sid and Billy, look as though they were inspired by Sid Vicious and Billy Idol.
Choose Your Fighter
The three playable characters handle the same for the most part with a few slight differences. Haggar can swing swords and pipes faster than the other two, Cody is able to hold on to the knife and use it as a melee weapon, but aside from slight speed and power differences they handle about the same. Cody and Guy are martial artists and move sets reflect this, while the hulking Haggar specializes in wrestling moves.
On the small Game Boy Advance screen, the graphics look arcade quality, but because of the lower resolution they tend to get pixelated when blown up onto bigger display units. As is the case with many handheld games, the sound quality takes a hit as well and sounds more tinny than it might on other versions.
Despite the hit to the graphics and sound, and the on-screen enemy count still being smaller than in the arcade, Final Fight One is a fine way to enjoy an arcade classic on the go. Co-op play via link cable was never as good as couch co-op, but it still allowed Final Fight One to be played with a friend, which honestly is the best way to play this type of game. Limitations aside, this is a great way to enjoy one of the great arcade beat ‘em ups, and what’s even better is that this version is so much closer to the original arcade experience than the SNES port was.
Final Fight One is only available for Game Boy Advance. Final Fight One is a unique version with extra dialogue and bonus costumes for two characters, but even as good as it is, the original arcade version of Final Fight is still the best version, which is available on a number of different platforms through variouscollections. Used copies of Final Fight One can be pricey, but it’s a fun enough version where if one can be found for a reasonable price, it’s worth getting as a collectible.
