At first glance, it would be easy to mistake Capcom's Mighty Final Fight as a cheap cash-in of a superior arcade beat 'em up, with its chibi-styled characters and its seemingly limited 8-bit presentation. But while Mighty Final Fight may appear simpler than other entries in the series — game history buffs would be interested to know that this title was released after the SNES port of Final Fight — there is enough charm and surprisingly nuanced gameplay on display to help it stand alongside its big brothers.
Mighty Final Fight takes the basic premise of Final Fight and retells the story with a campy, winking flair. When Metro City Mayor Haggar's daughter Jessica is kidnapped by the Mad Gear Gang, Haggar takes her boyfriend — Cody — and Cody's sparring partner Guy on a fist fight through town to save her. Players choose to play as Haggar, Cody or Guy and fight through five stages, each ending with a challenging boss battle. Stage progression is quite simple and will be familiar to most gamers: fight a group of enemies, walk right, fight another group, repeat a few times, and face a boss.
Each character plays very differently. Haggar, a pro wrestler, is heavy and powerful, with hits that deal a lot of damage to enemies, but he's also slower than the rest and as a result is vulnerable before and after landing a blow. Cody's a well-rounded boxer, while Guy is a fast, ninja-style fighter. Each character is able to land basic attacks, as well as clinch with enemies, throwing them across the screen and dealing lots of damage. Killing enemies gives the player experience points, and a basic levelling system allows for larger health bars and unlocks special moves for each character.
If players are defeated, they can choose to continue with any of the three characters and still have the same level, so there's no grinding (or backtracking); there are limited continues, so after being defeated enough times you'll have to start over. Of course, thanks to the Wii U Virtual Console's restore point options, players can "save" at any moment (which takes away a lot of the challenge — play old school!).
The presentation is very impressive for an NES title. Its wacky personality constantly shows itself in hyper-stylized character models that are well-animated with great little details, such as their eyes bulging out after taking a hit. The visuals do have a fair bit of NES flicker, but Mighty Final Fight generally runs well; the audio is also excellent, with epic chiptune music that is catchy and memorable. The story usually doesn't make much of an impact in beat 'em ups, but Capcom clearly enjoyed writing the comical dialogue and silly cut-scenes. There is always a trash-talking conversation before a boss fight, and players can occasionally choose how to respond to questions like "Don't you know I'm the best?!" with "Yes" or "No."
Conclusion
Don't let Mighty Final Fight's kid-like art and style fool you. This is a challenging beat 'em up that has a surprising amount of combat complexity, and the story and art are refreshing and funny, especially compared to the gritty realism most games go for today. Gamers looking for some old school fun are encouraged to check out Mighty Final Fight — they sure don't make 'em like this any more.
Comments 12
Cool! I'll pick this up when I finally get some more eshop money.
I remember renting this game as a kid. From what I remember it was ok. One of these days I might pick it up and give it another try.
Still waiting for this one in Europe, Capcom. Its on 3DS but I don't download any NES games for 3DS anymore after getting my Wii U. Maybe next week?
This was fun game I remember playing on Capcom Classics Mini-Mix for GBA. I'll probably get it on the 3DS eShop; I love my quirky-beat 'em ups on the go!
I have always wondered how good the Final Fight series is when compared to Streets of Rage seeing as I never owned a SNES. May have to pick one of them up in the future!
It has been retailed twice for 3DS Virtual Console for PAL instead of NA. You guys might want to fix that...
I think an 8 is way too generous. It's decent for an NES beat'em up (there are hardly any at all), but otherwise it's pretty low-tier, if you will. With all the alternatives on 3DS and Wii U I'd give this a 5. It's really monotonous (even by the genre's standards) and the XP system doesn't add a lot.
Still no multiplayer coop, so it's still not worth getting. If you're going to settle for a single player Final Fight game, you might as well get the superior GBA version.
beat this on wii u. its a good one too.
Still no multiplayer coop,
Were you expecting multiplayer coop here?
If you're going to settle for a single player Final Fight game, you might as well get the superior GBA version.
Great! When was that released on Wii U VC so I may download it?
A good little side-scrolling brawler for the NES. At least this one doesn't had a misleading title like that one other NES Capcom game that tries to pretend to be this (Final Fight) and that (Street Fighter).
I like this more than I expected I would
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