Wed, 06 Jan 2010 by Corbie Dillard
Is the third time the charm?
Final Fight 3 came along fairly late in the Super Nintendo's lifespan, but that certainly didn't bother fans of the series who were looking for one more heavy dose of beat-'em-up action. Capcom decided it was time to spice up the gameplay some and the end result was something that would appeal to classic fans of the series as well as draw in a few new ones as well. So is this rather rare 16-bit brawler still worth your time and hard-earned Wii Points?
While Final Fight doesn't completely re-invent itself in the gameplay department, it does bring quite a few new ideas to the table and adds a much heavier emphasis on attack variety. In fact, many have described Final Fight 3 as a cross between Final Fight 2 and Street Fighter 2; oddly enough, that assessment isn't too far off the mark.
You still have your standard set of beat-'em-up moves, but the game also introduces a few new twists. You can now perform a dash, not to mention a devastating dash attack. There's now also a Special Move gauge that will allow your character to pull of a Street Fighter 2-style attack complete with it's own special circular input on the D-pad. These might sound like rather superficial additions, but they add a nice layer of variety to the game.
There are three game modes to choose from. The standard single- and two-player modes are still intact, but this time the developers have tossed in a new mode of play called Automatic 2P. This allows you to play the game as a two-player experience, but having the CPU control the other player. While this is quite helpful in the game's later and more difficult levels, it does tend to cause quite a bit of slowdown when the screen becomes cluttered with characters and enemies. It's definitely something to consider when deciding how you want to play.
There's no denying that the new additions definitely make the game a bit more playable, but this also might prove to be a double-edged sword for long-time fans of the series expecting a more traditional button-mashing experience. The play control itself is as smooth as it's ever been throughout the series, and despite some annoying slowdown in the two-player modes, the overall presentation easily lives up to its reputation as one of the all-time great beat-'em-up series and yet another intense Final Fight experience.
Visually Final Fight 3 is fairly impressive, especially compared to previous entries. There's plenty of detail and variety in the various backdrops you'll fight your way through, and all four characters are drawn and animated well. Capcom always had a knack for knowing just how far to stretch the series from a graphical standpoint and this final fight is certainly no exception. Even the slowdown can't be fully blamed on Capcom given the Super Nintendo's pokey processor, but perhaps a few visual cuts here and there might have alleviated some of these instance. Given how well most other areas of the game are executed, it's difficult to complain over such a minor annoyance.
The rocking soundtrack has long been a staple of the series and Final Fight 3 keeps up the tradition quite well. There are plenty of up-tempo tracks to carry the intensity of the game and the sound effects are also pulled off impressively. Sure, there's still the bits of muffled voiced dialog fans of the series have come to know so well, but given that this was a mere 16-bit title, it's actually quite impressive how much audio goodness Capcom was able to squeeze into the game.
User Comments
1. IlikeVideoGames
06 Jan 2010, 14:55 GMT
Fun game with some pretty decent graphics for its day.
2. outrun2sp
06 Jan 2010, 15:08 GMT
likely for friday if anything.
3. romulo
06 Jan 2010, 15:14 GMT
I still have the cart here. Great game!
4. Tony
06 Jan 2010, 15:37 GMT
I'm such a fan of side scrolling brawlers. I'll be downloading this at some point for sure. Now if we could just get Final Fight for the VCA
5. LinktotheFuture
06 Jan 2010, 15:40 GMT
I see that Guy and Haggar are in this, is Cody?
6. romulo
06 Jan 2010, 15:41 GMT
No Cody in this one.
7. outrun2sp
06 Jan 2010, 16:06 GMT
Also only 3 enemy sprites on screen at a time. The arcade version of ff1 had about 9 at best and streets of rage 2 had 8 or 9 as well.
This has one more sprite than the nes double dragon which handled 2 at a time.
8. motang
06 Jan 2010, 17:10 GMT
I like Final Fight, and will be buying this one soon (need to get paid).
@LinktotheFuture No Cody, it has two other characters a girl (not the same one from Final Fight 2) and some other guy who looks a bit similar to Cody.
9. Adamant
06 Jan 2010, 17:40 GMT
The playable characters in this game are Haggar, Guy, new chick Lucia and new guy Dean.
10. Egg miester
06 Jan 2010, 17:58 GMT
i am still hoping for mighty final fight it was my favorite one
11. Maniac
06 Jan 2010, 18:34 GMT
Good game. So pleased it finally came out on VC. Saved me a ton of money buying it on ebay. Personally this is my favourite of the series.
12. Shiryu
06 Jan 2010, 18:40 GMT
Capcom didn't hold anything back to make this last game of the series on the SNES better then SEGA's Street of Rage series. This is still one of my favourite games from Capcom on the SNES. Sadly, I still do not own the cart, which I sold in stores along with Sreet Fighter Alpha 2 and Breath of Fire II over here in Portugal, many months after the PSX and Saturn released. I think people who had no chance to play it back then should definetly check this one out, you won't regret it. And maybe, just maybe Capcom will make a proper new 2D sequel...
13. madgear
06 Jan 2010, 19:49 GMT
I never really liked Final Fight 3. The only Final Fight games I like (and I truely love them) is the original arcade game and the Mega CD version. I can't bring myself to buy this one either so I shall still remain Final-Fight-less on my Wii for a while longer...
14. StarBoy91
06 Jan 2010, 20:10 GMT
Good review, Corbie.
Nice avatar, Shiryu.
I liked playing the original Final Fight on Capcom Classics Collection Remixed on the PSP, but I'm sure this game is great as well.
I should rack up the Wii Points as soon as possible.
And, hooray for Mike Haggar. I like how he has a ponytail here.
15. Sabrewing
06 Jan 2010, 21:01 GMT
Personally, Streets of Rage won the 16-bit beat-em-up genre for myself, but Final Fight put up a good... well, fight. Haggar needs to hurry up and be properly introduced into the Street Fighter canon, though; Guy and Cody have no business solely representing the franchise over the best character!
16. StarBoy91
06 Jan 2010, 21:14 GMT
That's a good pun, Sabre.
Though I must admit, Streets of Rage 2 > Final Fight One.
I agree, Mike Haggar FTW!!!
17. Ristar42
06 Jan 2010, 21:15 GMT
Will we ever see this over 'ere in the UK (or any more VC games at this rate)? I hope so, I'd really like to have Final Fight CD too, the soundtrack was cool.
18. WolfRamHeart
06 Jan 2010, 21:21 GMT
This is a pretty good game but it isn't as great as I thought it was going to be. I never played it before so I had high expectations for it. It delivered for the most part but I still felt underwhelmed by it. This game was just a bit too easy. I've already beaten it with Hagger on hard and Guy on expert modes. I prefer Final Fight One on the GBA, I think that game is the best in the Final Fight series.
19. Vaynard
06 Jan 2010, 21:43 GMT
Great review. This is my favorite one in the series and I think an 8 is well deserved.
20. That Guy from Faxanadu
06 Jan 2010, 22:11 GMT
Ponytail= awesome Short pants= not so.
21. Bulbasaurus Rex
06 Jan 2010, 22:26 GMT
Sounds good. I'll get it.
22. StarBoy91
06 Jan 2010, 22:44 GMT
Hooray for the fact that Guy is in it.
Ponytails FTW!!!
I looked up that this title is known as Final Fight Tough in the Land of the Riding Sun.
23. BlueFlameBat
06 Jan 2010, 22:57 GMT
I have this on my SNES and I still bought it for VC so I could stop whenever I wanted and pick up right where I left off without resorting to unofficial emulators.
24. JDesensitized
07 Jan 2010, 00:32 GMT
Great review. My only disappointment was that they never brought Dean into the SF series. That dude has mad potential.
Still, best beat em up ever? Well, on the SNES it probably is.
25. StarBoy91
07 Jan 2010, 02:09 GMT
I looked up that in this beat'em up, you have the ability to run, like in Streets of Rage 3.
Yay, running in beat'em ups!
26. morphballer
07 Jan 2010, 03:36 GMT
I want to get this since my VC collection is seriously lacking in the Beat-em-up department.
27. Wardy
07 Jan 2010, 07:38 GMT
All three of the Final Fight games were great, and this one ranks slightly lower than the second one only because of the slowdown issues. Nostalgia plays a big part for me in my take on games. Regardless, the Final Fight games are some of the best games the SNES has to offer.
28. Mickeymac
07 Jan 2010, 23:22 GMT
Meh, this one doesn't have the Ninja chick, so I'm not gonna bother with it.
29. StarBoy91
07 Jan 2010, 23:43 GMT
To skip Final Fight 2 to play Final Fight 3, or not to skip Final Fight 2 to play Final Fight 3, that is the question?
It's just, I barely play series of games out of order anymore.
30. Bulbasaurus Rex
08 Jan 2010, 03:37 GMT
I wish Mike had chewed out Guy for only coming back now after doing nothing when his girlfriend was kidnapped.
@Mickeymac Yeah, Lucia's special move inputs are terrible, and she's nowhere near as hot as that other girl was.
31. Mickeymac
09 Jan 2010, 17:09 GMT
@Bulbasaurus Rex
You seem to be forgetting the most important issue here: she's a freakin' ninja!
32. brooks83
11 Jan 2010, 11:12 GMT
I kinda hope they release Final Fight Guy as well, just for completions sake.
33. MarioFan1985
16 Jan 2010, 03:18 GMT
I downloaded this game a while back, and while it does not have the same calibur as the previous 2, and it is a lot like Streets of Rage (with the added special moves) it is still afun brawler and is well worth my time. I also like how Guy was in this game, and because he was the omission in the first game for the SNES.
34. JamieO
21 Jan 2010, 01:21 GMT
As a few of the above comments have noted, Final Fight 3 is not perfect: I think that it would have benefited from a greater visual variety to its backgrounds (Final Fight 2 was more diverse graphically), some enemy sprites are poorly drawn/ animated and as @outrun2sp mentioned it was another of the SNES side-scrolling brawlers to struggle with displaying a large number of enemy sprites (e.g. for example Batman Returns addressed this on the SNES by having a really quick turnaround of sprites, in that as soon as one was beaten, another would imediately enter from the side of the screen).
However, I still consider it to be the best of the 4 SNES Final Fight games (I am including Final Fight Guy, there), I am pleased to see it on Virtual Console and its gameplay and move set does warrant an 8/10, even if my Japanese copy of Final Fight Tough has probably just dipped in value! Regardless, I would not sell it anyway and I would rather everyone else got a chance to play it.
Great review @Corbie.
35. SNK
04 Feb 2010, 15:48 GMT
ive got the Jap version of FINAL FIGHT ONE for the GBA and it has got better graphics and animation than the Snes version.
36. Travenous
08 Mar 2010, 17:33 GMT
Can never have enough Final Fight lol!! Capcom... #4 Please??
...also I'd like to see the arcade version of the the original on VC, that'd be splendid.
37. Travenous
08 Mar 2010, 17:34 GMT
...coughcough and knights of the round cough!!
38. 02 Apr 2010, 05:07 BST
Streetwise is #4, Travenous. And for once, it had a decent story.