is a side-scrolling

beat-'em-up The beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) levels, ...

video game produced by Capcom. Originally released as an arcade game in 1989, it was the seventh title released for the

CP System The is an arcade system board developed by Capcom that ran game software stored on removable daughterboards. More than two dozen arcade titles were released for CPS-1, before Capcom shifted game development over to its successor, the CP System ...

hardware. Set in the fictional Metro City, the game lets the player control one of three street fighters: former pro wrestler and city mayor

Mike Haggar , also known mononymously as Haggar, is a fictional character in the ''Street Fighter'' shared universe, mainly playable in ''Final Fight'' and ''Saturday Night Slam Masters'' series of video games. Haggar first appeared in the 1989 Capcom ar ...

, expert brawler Cody Travers, and modern-day ninja Guy. The trio set out to rescue Jessica (Haggar's daughter and Cody's girlfriend) when she is kidnapped by the Mad Gear Gang. The game began development as a sequel to the original ''

Street Fighter , commonly abbreviated as ''SF'' or スト (''Suto''), is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Capcom. The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by six ...

'' released in 1987, under the working title but the genre was switched from a fighting game to a beat 'em up and the title was changed to ''Final Fight'' following the success of ''

Double Dragon is a beat 'em up video game series initially developed by Technōs Japan and released as an arcade game in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight against various adversaries and rivals. The origina ...

''. ''Final Fight'' was ported to various home computers and consoles, including the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in ...

and

Sega CD The Sega CD, released as the in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. It was released on December 12, 1991, in Japan ...

. It became a major commercial success in arcades, selling 30,000 arcade units worldwide while becoming the highest-grossing arcade game of 1990 in Japan and the year's highest-grossing arcade conversion kit in the United States. The Super NES version also sold cartridges worldwide. It spawned the ''

Final Fight ''Final Fight'' is a series of beat 'em up video games by Capcom, which began with the arcade release of ''Final Fight'' in 1989. Set in the fictional Metro City, the games focus on a group of heroic vigilantes who fights against the control and ...

'' series, followed by several sequels. Its development team later worked on the original '' Street Fighter II'', and some of the characters from ''Final Fight'' later appeared as playable fighters in other entries of the franchise, such as the '' Street Fighter Alpha'' sub-series.

Gameplay

''Final Fight'' can be played by up to two players simultaneously. Before the game begins, the player chooses between the three main characters: Haggar,

Cody Cody may refer to: People *Cody (given name) *Cody (surname) * Cody (wrestler), a ring name of Cody Runnels Places Canada * Cody, British Columbia United States * Cody, Florida * Cody (Duluth), Minnesota * Cody, Missouri * Cody, Nebraska *Cody, ...

, and Guy. Each has his own fighting style and attributes. Health gauges are displayed for both player and enemy characters. The controls for ''Final Fight'' consist of an eight-way joystick and two buttons for attacking and jumping respectively. Pressing the attack button repeatedly when attacking an enemy or multiple enemies will cause the player character to perform a combo. The final blow of the combo can be changed to a throw if the player moves the joystick in the opposite direction just before landing it. The player can also perform jump attacks. Pressing the attack and jump buttons simultaneously allows the player to perform a special attack that strikes all surrounding enemies, but will drain a small portion of the player's health. Enemies can be grabbed simply by walking into one of them. When an enemy is grabbed, the player can perform a grab attack by pressing the attack button or perform a throw by tilting the joystick left or right. A thrown enemy can be tossed at another for additional damage. Items such as weapons, health recovery items, and items awarding extra points can be picked up by standing over one and pressing the attack button. Weapons have limited uses and will disappear if the player is disarmed by an enemy too much or when the player moves to a new area. ''Final Fight'' consists of six stages or "rounds", as well as two bonus rounds. Each round takes place in a different section of Metro City such as the Slums and the Subway, with most rounds featuring more than one level. At the end of each round the player will face a boss character unique to that round.

Plot

The game is set in a fictional city on the Atlantic coast in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

named Metro City (analogous with

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

). According to the game's intro, in the 1990s (or 1989 in the Japanese version), the city's crime rate reached alarming levels, but since the election of pro wrestler turned politician

as the new Mayor, Metro City was changed and cleaned up drastically. Under his term, Haggar managed to suppress the crime rate of the city to its lowest points. While the citizens of Metro City were thankful for Haggar's hard work in curbing crime, the Mad Gear Gang, who had served as the dominant criminal organization of Metro City, would not go down so easily. Under the leadership of the crooked businessman Belger, the group attempted to bribe Haggar with a large payoff to keep him from going after them, to which Haggar refused. Still determined to bring Haggar under their rule like the last mayor before him, Mad Gear proceeded to kidnap his daughter Jessica and create further unrest among the citizens. When Haggar finds out about his daughter's abduction, he becomes furious and decides to take his fight against Mad Gear to a personal level. Seeking additional manpower, Haggar recruits Cody Travers: an expert fighter and Jessica's boyfriend, as well as Guy: a ninja in training and Cody's good friend/rival. The three dedicate themselves to the complete eradication of the Mad Gear Gang, and to rescue Jessica from their clutches. The game gained notoriety for its unique continue screen, where the player character is shown tied to a chair with a bundle of dynamite on the table in front of him; the character struggles to escape as the 10-second time limit counts down. If the player activates the continue option, a knife falls from the ceiling, disconnecting the fuse from the bomb.

Development

The game was designed by Akira Nishitani, and produced by

Yoshiki Okamoto , sometimes credited as Kihaji Okamoto, is a Japanese video game designer. He is credited with producing popular titles for Konami, including '' Gyruss'' and '' Time Pilot'', and for Capcom, including ''1942'', ''Gun.Smoke'', ''Final Fight'' and ...

. When coming up with the game's concept, Okamoto cited the arcade game '' Double Dragon II: The Revenge'' (1988) as his basis for ''Final Fight''. The game was originally shown at trade shows under the title of ''Street Fighter '89''. According to Okamoto, the sales division of Capcom originally requested a ''Street Fighter'' sequel, so his team decided to promote ''Final Fight'' as a ''Street Fighter'' sequel at trade shows (going as far to refer to one of the main characters as a "former Street Fighter"). The title was changed to ''Final Fight'' before its official release after feedback from operators stating that the game was nothing like ''Street Fighter''. According to the developers, they were originally planning to have Ryu and

Ken Masters , originally spelled in kanji as with his original full name being unknown, is a fictional character in Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' series. Ken is the best friend and rival of Ryu, who has also appeared in all ''Street Fighter'' games. Ken's g ...

from the original ''

'' as the main protagonists, but that idea was scrapped for a new plot and new settings, involving the kidnapping of an attractive young woman by a city gang. Capcom's president wanted the team to develop the game as if it was a film, so he made the team watch a number of films. Nishitani's team then approached the "planning and design as if it were a movie." The street gang the player faces in the game, the Mad Gear Gang, takes their name from the 1987 overhead

racing game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic ra ...

''Mad Gear'' by Capcom; the game was released as ''

Led Storm A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...

'' outside Japan. Many of the characters are named after 1980s

rock musician Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States and ...

s such as

Axl Rose W. Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose Jr.; born February 6, 1962) is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and has been the band's sole constant member since its incep ...

(Axl),

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash ...

(Slash), Gene Simmons (Simons),

Sid Vicious John Simon Ritchie (10 May 1957 – 2 February 1979), better known by his stage name Sid Vicious, was an English musician, best known as the bassist for the punk rock band Sex Pistols. Despite dying in 1979 at age 21, he remains an icon of the ...

(Sid),

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

(Billy),

King Diamond Kim Bendix Petersen (born 14 June 1956), better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Danish rock musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his powerful and wide-ranging countertenor singing voice, in particular his far-reaching falsetto ...

(Abigail, named after King Diamond's second album, also dons facepaint similar to King Diamond's), Sodom ( Sodom),

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera (guitar), Andy Mackay (saxophone ...

(Roxy), The Damned (Damnd) and Poison (Poison), with another, 2P (Two.P), being from the Capcom game ''

Forgotten Worlds ''Forgotten Worlds'', titled in Japan, is a side-scrolling shooter video game by Capcom, originally released as a coin-operated arcade game in 1988. It is notable for being the first title released by Capcom for their CP System arcade game h ...

''. Hugo Andore, another notable enemy character, is based on

André the Giant André René Roussimoff (; 19 May 1946 – 28 January 1993), better known by his ring name André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. Roussimoff was known for his great size, which was a result of gigantism caused by excess ...

. Because Capcom believed that "players would feel bad beating up a woman", they noted in the manual that the female opponent Poison was a " newhalf". The soundtrack was the work of seven sound composers:

Manami Matsumae is a Japanese video game music composer. She previously worked for Capcom in the 1980s, writing music for games such as '' Dynasty Wars'', '' Mercs'', '' Magic Sword'', and the original '' Mega Man''. Career She previously worked for Capcom, ...

, Yoshihiro Sakaguchi,

Harumi Fujita is a Japanese composer best known for her work at the video game company Capcom. Works References External links * Brave Wave profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Fujita, Harumi 1961 births Capcom people Japanese composers Japanese women composer ...

, Junko Tamiya, Yasuaki Fujita (in his first work for Capcom), Hiromitsu Takaoka and

Yoko Shimomura is a Japanese composer and pianist primarily known for her work in video games. She graduated from the Osaka College of Music in 1988 and began working in the video game industry by joining Capcom the same year. She wrote music for several game ...

. Despite this, Sakaguchi is the only composer credited in the game (as "Youkichan's Papa"). The other six were confirmed as having worked on ''Final Fight'' in 2014 when the Clarice Disk imprint of City Connection released the ''Final Fight Original Sound Collection'', which featured the original soundtracks to the three original ''Final Fight'' games and its accompanying ports. In a 2007 interview, ''

Retro Gamer ''Retro Gamer'' is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Launched in January 2004 as a quarterly publication, ''Retro Gamer'' soon became ...

'' magazine asked Akira Nishitani about the game's similarities to the 1984 film '' Streets of Fire''. Nishitani said that, at the time, the team were not "aware of ''Streets of Fire'', but I've Googled it and there does indeed seem to be something familiar about it" but that "this style of story was very popular back then" and many "fighting games made use of it" so "I guess we were part of that crowd!"

Home versions

Super NES (''Final Fight'' and ''Final Fight Guy'')

A port of ''Final Fight'' for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System was released as a launch title for the platform in Japan in 1990 and later in North America in 1991 and then in the

PAL region The PAL region is a television publication territory that covers most of Europe and Africa, alongside parts of Asia, South America and Oceania. It is named PAL because of the PAL (Phase Alternating Line) television standard traditionally used i ...

in 1992. It was released for the Wii's

Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Uni ...

service in 2007 and the

Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. Th ...

's Virtual Console in 2013. The SNES port removed the two-player co-op option, the Industrial Area level and playable character Guy. Most of the scene transitions were also edited out. In the arcade version, the player characters would be seen exiting the levels and breaking through doors unlike the SNES version. Due to hardware limitations the SNES version could only display two or three enemies on-screen, in contrast to the CPS arcade version, which could display up to nine or ten enemies on-screen; to make up for this difference, the SNES version features more stopping points than the arcade version and the enemy placement is vastly different. The English localization of the SNES port was censored for its content and features several differences from its Japanese Super Famicom counterpart: the first two bosses, Damnd and Sodom, were renamed Thrasher and Katana respectively; Belger's wheelchair was redrawn to look like an office chair; Poison, a woman with pink hair, and Roxy, a woman with red hair, were replaced with two male enemies named Billy and Sid; all alcoholic references were removed, with two health-recovering items replaced; the line "Oh! My God", spoken by an enemy when his car is destroyed during the first bonus stage, was changed to "Oh! My Car"; the blood splash effect shown when a character is stabbed was replaced by a generic explosion; and some of the darker skinned enemy characters were given lighter skin tones. The original soundtrack was ported for the Super NES by Toshio Kajino (credited as "Bull"). A revised edition of the SNES port, titled ''Final Fight Guy'', was released in Japan in 1992. This version replaced Cody with Guy as a selectable character (with a new opening and ending sequence explaining Cody's absence), included four difficulty settings, and added other new features such as two new power-ups, although the Industrial Area stage and the Two-Player mode were still omitted. An American version of the game (featuring the same changes in the localization as in the first game) was released in June 1994 as a rental-only game that was initially available at Blockbuster stores, although it was later given a limited release. Kajino's music port was retained for that version.

U.S. Gold versions

U.S. Gold U.S. Gold Limited was a British video game publisher based in Witton, Birmingham, England. The company was founded in 1984 by Anne and Geoff Brown in parallel to their distributor firm, CentreSoft, both of which became part of Woodward Brown Ho ...

released ports of ''Final Fight'' for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64,

and

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Si ...

for the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an market in 1991. These ports were developed by Creative Materials. In February 1993, the ZX Spectrum version was released as part of the ''Super Fighter'' compilation with '' Pit Fighter'' and '' WWF WrestleMania''.

X68000

The

Sharp X68000 The is a home computer created by Sharp Corporation. It was first released in 1987 and sold only in Japan. The initial model has a 10 MHz Motorola 68000 CPU, 1 MB of RAM, and lacks a hard drive. The final model was released in 1993 wit ...

version was released by Capcom exclusively in Japan on July 17, 1992. This version is a relatively close conversion of the arcade game, with the only notable changes being different music (with a choice between a

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and ...

soundtrack and one using the X68000's internal sound chip) and a lower maximum on-screen enemies. The game came packaged with a CD soundtrack with all new remixed tunes.

Mega-CD/Sega CD (''Final Fight CD'')

The Mega-CD/Sega CD version, titled ''Final Fight CD'', was ported by A Wave and published by Sega under license from Capcom in 1993. This version retains nearly all the features of the arcade game that were removed in the two SNES ports (namely the two-player mode, the Industrial Area stage and the ability to play as any of the three main characters) and adds

voice acting Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

to the game's opening and ending sequences, an

arranged In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchest ...

version of the original soundtrack, and an exclusive time attack mode. However the maximum number of on-screen enemies were still lower than the arcade version and the combo attacks of Cody and Guy are much slower. Furthermore, the graphics suffered from a more limited color palette, as well as fewer background details. Like the SNES version, the Mega-CD version was censored for the English localization with many of the same changes. Poison and Roxy were kept, but were redrawn with less revealing clothing.

Game Boy Advance (''Final Fight One'')

The

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, ...

version that was developed by Sun-Tec, titled ''Final Fight One'', was released in 2001. ''Final Fight One'' features all three characters and the Industrial Area stage that was missing from the SNES version. The 2-player cooperative mode is also featured via link cable. Dialogue scenes prior to each boss battle have been added and the ''

Street Fighter Alpha 3 ''Street Fighter Alpha 3'', released as in Japan, Asia, South America, and Oceania, is a 2D fighting game originally released by Capcom for the arcade in 1998. It is the third and final installment in the ''Street Fighter Alpha'' sub-series, wh ...

'' renditions of Cody and Guy are featured as hidden playable characters. Other unlockable features include alternate palettes for each player character and the ability for two players to use the same character. The character and background designs are lifted from the SNES versions rather than the original arcade version, with the enemy placement being similar to ''Final Fight Guy'', although the maximum number of on-screen enemies was increased and all the transition sequences were restored. The same new power-up items introduced in ''Final Fight Guy'' are also present in this version, along with a new Cody doll item. The English localization of the game featured the same changes as the two SNES versions.

''Capcom Classics Collection''

''Final Fight'' is included in the 2005 compilation '' Capcom Classics Collection Volume 1'' for the PlayStation 2 and

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...

and in the 2006 portable version ''Capcom Classics Collection Remixed'' for the PlayStation Portable. The game is emulated from the original CP System arcade version and features very little differences from the arcade game. The compilation includes tips, character profiles, an art gallery and a sound test as bonus features.

''Final Fight: Streetwise''

The arcade version is also included as a hidden bonus game in the 2006 game '' Final Fight: Streetwise'' for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. However, the emulation in this version was programmed by Ultracade, rather than

Digital Eclipse Digital Eclipse is an American video game developer based in Emeryville, California. Founded by Andrew Ayre in 1992, the company found success developing commercial emulations of arcade games for Game Boy Color. In 2003, the company merged ...

(the developers of ''Capcom Classics Collection'' series). The controls cannot be adjusted and the quality is lower than other emulated versions.

''Final Fight: Double Impact''

The arcade version of ''Final Fight'' was released in a two-in-one bundle titled ''Final Fight: Double Impact'', alongside the arcade game '' Magic Sword'', released digitally for

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...

and

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November ...

. Added features include various graphic filters, including an arcade cabinet view; online drop-in multiplayer; an arranged soundtrack composed by

Simon Viklund Simon Viklund (born Simon Wiklund, December 1, 1979) is a Swedish freelance video game composer, music producer, sound designer and game designer, who was first known for his work on the 2008 game ''Bionic Commando Rearmed'', in which he was a cr ...

; and extra content such as concept art, fan art, ''Street Fighter'' comic pages featuring ''Final Fight'' characters and the "Final Fight" episode of the ''Street Fighter'' animated series, which are unlocked by completing certain in-game challenges. The game was ported and developed by

Proper Games Proper Games Limited was a British video game developer based in Dundee. Paddy Sinclair founded Proper Games in early 2006 after the closure of his previous employer, Visual Science. In March 2011, the company underwent restructuring, which ...

and released for Xbox Live Arcade for 800 Microsoft points and April 15, 2010 for PlayStation Network for $9.99. The PS3 version features a very restrictive

DRM DRM may refer to: Government, military and politics * Defense reform movement, U.S. campaign inspired by Col. John Boyd * Democratic Republic of Madagascar, a former socialist state (1975–1992) on Madagascar * Direction du renseignement milita ...

protection which circumvents the ability other PSN games have to be shared among several PSN accounts. The DRM protection was met with a negative response as it had not been disclosed previous to the game's release. On March 27, 2012, ''Double Impact'' was released as part of the '' Capcom Digital Collection'' for the Xbox 360.

iOS

On September 15, 2011, ''Final Fight'' was released into Apple's

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

. This version includes all three characters from the Arcade version, a multiplayer feature that can only be used with Wi-Fi and a special items where one can turn on Extra Lives, Super Special, and Meat Explosion. However, the game no longer became available after the latest iOS updates from Apple.

''Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle''

In 2018, ''Final Fight'' was re-released alongside ''

Captain Commando is a 1991 futuristic side-scrolling beat 'em up originally developed and published by Capcom as an arcade video game, and later ported to several other platforms. It was the seventeenth game produced for the company's CP System hardware. The ga ...

'', '' The King of Dragons'', '' Knights of the Round'', ''

Warriors of Fate ''Warriors of Fate'', known in Japan as , is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up game produced by Capcom. It is the second arcade game based on the '' Tenchi wo Kurau'' manga, following ''Dynasty Wars''. Originally released to arcades in 1992, home ve ...

'', '' Armored Warriors'' and '' Battle Circuit'' in '' Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle'' for PlayStation 4,

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows.

Reception

Commercial

In Japan, '' Game Machine'' listed ''Final Fight'' on their January 15, 1990 issue as being the second most successful

table arcade cabinet An arcade cabinet, also known as an arcade machine or a coin-op cabinet or coin-op machine, is the housing within which an arcade game's electronic hardware resides. Most cabinets designed since the mid-1980s conform to the Japanese Amusement ...

of the month. It went on to be the highest-grossing arcade game of 1990 in Japan (according to the annual ''

Gamest was a Japanese video game magazine that specialized in covering arcade games. Published by Shinseisha, it first began in May 1986 and originally published bi-monthly, later changed to be a monthly-issued magazine in the late 1980s. The magazine a ...

'' charts), as well as Japan's second highest-grossing arcade game of 1991 (just below '' Street Fighter II''). Overseas, the game had a successful launch in North America and Europe. In the United States, it was a blockbuster hit, becoming the top-grossing new video game on the ''RePlay'' arcade charts in February 1990, and then the top-grossing software conversion kit for eight months in 1990, from March to April, then from June to October, and then December. During November and December, weekly coin drop earnings averaged $183.50 per kit. It ended the year as America's highest-grossing arcade conversion kit of 1990. ''Final Fight'' sold a total of 30,000 arcade units worldwide. The Super NES version was also a commercial success. It sold 1.5 million copies worldwide, becoming one of Capcom's best-selling games on the platform.

Critical

The game was acclaimed by critics. ''

Mega Mega or MEGA may refer to: Science * mega-, a metric prefix denoting 106 * Mega (number), a certain very large integer in Steinhaus–Moser notation * "mega-" a prefix meaning "large" that is used in taxonomy * Gravity assist, for ''Moon-Eart ...

'' magazine compared the Mega CD version of the game favorably against the incomplete and "poor" Super NES version and placed it top of their list of the best Mega CD games of all time. The four reviewers of ''

Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The m ...

'' declared it a strong conversion of a game with "solid fighting action", though two of them also commented that "the necessity of the CD is questionable at best." Bran D. Butter reviewed the SNES version, giving it a generally favorable review, calling it a "classy beat 'em" and praising the "superb" graphics. However, the review criticized missing features from the arcade original, including the lack of two-player, missing levels, and the missing player character Guy. On release of the Game Boy Advance version of the game, ''

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the f ...

'' magazine scored it a 31 out of 40.Weekly Famitsu. No.915 Pt.2. Pg.121. 30 June 2006.

Accolades

In the February 1991 issue of the Japanese coin-operated video game magazine ''

'', ''Final Fight'' took the No. 1 spot as the Best Game of 1990 in the 4th Annual Grand Prize. ''Final Fight'' also won the category of Best Action Game, placed No. 4 in Best Video Game Music, No. 9 in Best Graphics, No. 2 in Best Direction, and No. 5 in Best Album. The character

was displayed on the cover of this issue, who took the No. 1 spot in the Top 50 Characters of the year, with Guy in second place,

at No. 7, Poison at No. 26, Sodom at No. 33 and Jessica at No. 40. In a 1991 ''Gamest'' reader poll, ''Final Fight'' was voted the second best arcade game of all time, just below ''

Valkyrie no Densetsu ''Valkyrie no Densetsu'' is a 1989 action-adventure role-playing arcade game developed and published in Japan by Namco. It is a follow-up to the Family Computer game '' Valkyrie no Bōken'' (1986). Players control the warrior maiden Valkyrie an ...

'' (1990).alternate url
/ref> In 1995,

Total! ''Total!'' was a video game magazine published in the United Kingdom by Future plc. It was published monthly for 58 issues, beginning in December 1991 (cover-dated January 1992), with the last issue bearing the cover-date October 1996. A "1993 A ...

ranked the game 87th on its Top 100 SNES Games writing: "Tragically, it's missing one of the main characters but this was still a stonking conversion." ''

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch su ...

'' gave the ZX Spectrum port a "Crash Smash" award. '' MegaTech'' gave the Sega Mega-CD port a "Hyper Game" award.

Retrospective

In 1997, ''

Nintendo Power ''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninten ...

'' ranked the SNES version as the 97th best game on any Nintendo platform. ''

'' included it among top ten Mega CD games, describing it as "arguably the best home console conversion (aside from recent emulated ports)" of "unquestionably the quintessential arcade hit of the late Eighties."

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

ranked the SNES version 100th on their Top 100 SNES Games of All Time. In 2018,

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

ranked Final Fight 87th on their "The Best Super Nintendo Games".

Legacy

''Final Fight'' was followed by a few sequels. The total sales of the ''Final Fight'' series have totaled 3.4 million units for home systems.

Notes

References

External links

''Final Fight''
at MobyGames *
Rage Quitter 87's Final Fight Shrine
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