''Final Blow'' is a

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

arcade video game An arcade video game is an arcade game that takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. All arcade video games are coin-oper ...

released in 1988 by

Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, Toy, toys, arcade cabinets, and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, Vending machine, vending machines, and Juk ...

. The name remained the same for all ported platforms, except for the

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

versions, which Sega released outside Japan as ''James 'Buster' Douglas Knockout Boxing'' featuring American boxer James "Buster" Douglas himself in 1990 immediately after his upset victory over

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1985 and 2024. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "the Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson i ...

Plot

The game follows a single season boxing championship run. There are five fictional fighters competing: Dynamite Joe - The Miracle Fighter, Fernando Gomez - The South American Eagle, Kim Nang - The Korean Comet, King Jason - The Black King, and The Detroit Kid - The Invincible Black Panther.

Gameplay

''Final Blow'' is a side-scrolling boxing game where the player moves left and right to control a screen sized boxer. When the timing is right, the player can unleash a final blow punch which can sometimes KO the opponent in a single strike. The home versions contain a spectator mode where the player can watch their favorite boxers compete. The Sega Genesis port adds two boxers: James "Buster" Douglas (who uses The Detroit Kid's graphics, slightly edited and

palette swap Since the origin of video games in the early 1970s, the video game industry, the gamer, players, and video game culture, surrounding culture have spawned a wide range of technical and slang terms. 0–9 ...

ped) and Ironhead. It was one of the games used as part of the Genesis Does Campaign, particularly since Nintendo used Mike Tyson for its '' Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!'' video game, whom Douglas had challenged and defeated that year.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Final Blow'' on their June 1, 1989 issue as being the third most-successful table arcade unit of the month. '' Mega'' placed the game at #9 in their list of the 10 Worst Mega Drive Games of All Time.

Rerelease

''Final Blow'' was ported for home consoles as part of the

Arcade Archives is a series of emulated arcade games from the late 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s developed and published by Hamster Corporation. A sub-series called focuses on re-releasing Neo Geo titles in their original arcade format, unlike many s ...

series by

Hamster Corporation is a Japanese video game publisher, with office located in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. The game division of Toshiba-EMI Limited spun off Hamster Corporation in November 1999. On the Japanese PlayStation Store, more than 360 titles are distribut ...

in November 2024, for the

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

and

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

References

External links

* * * 1988 video games Amiga games Arcade video games Sega Genesis games Atari ST games Commodore 64 games FM Towns games Boxing video games Romstar games Sanritsu Denki games Video games based on real people Cultural depictions of boxers Cultural depictions of American people SCi Games games Taito arcade games Video games developed in Japan Multiplayer and single-player video games {{boxing-videogame-stub