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Mighty Final Fight review

Game: Mighty Final Fight
Platform: NES
Genre: Fighting Action (Brawler)
Developer: Capcom

Reader review by joseph_valencia

July 20, 2009

“Mighty Final Fight” is a fairly enjoyable brawler from Capcom, the masterminds behind the “Mega Man” franchise and assorted Disney games. They also created the original “Final Fight,” which caused a sensation when it first hit arcades in 1989. Consider this Nintendo game to be a kind of condensed version of that one, with a few flourishes here and there.

The set-up is the same, with you picking from one of three fighters: Cody--the young guy with everything to prove, Guy--Cody’s friend and sometimes romantic rival, and Haggar--a burly wrester/politician. They all have some beef with the Mad Gear gang, something to do with either a kidnapping or crime spree. It doesn’t matter which, because it all boils down to an impetus for some good old fashion bashing and lashing. Like the original arcade game, you fight through six districts of Metro City. They all kind of blend together after a while.

Not that the setting really matters, since the appeal here lies in some solid fighting mechanics. You’re given a good range of options: punch the enemy silly, grab and bash ‘em, grab and throw ‘em, throw ‘em backwards, inflict a double-edged deathblow, and so on. I found the game to be very fair in regards to hit connection, with little in the way of cheap shots or uneven parrying. (Don’t you hate it when you play a game like “Double Dragon” and the enemy can duck your jump kicks but you can’t duck theirs?)

Anyways, there’s all that plus an experience system. Instead of tallying a score, each thug you fell gives you experience points. You gain experience levels, which add to your life bar and sometimes to your move arsenal. You can level up five times. While novel, I’ve never been quite convinced that games like these need RPG elements. Wouldn’t it be better if you started off with everything? I suppose it gives you something to look forward to, though.

The bad guys are your typical lot of unsavory toughies and punks and hookers. Some throw knives at you, others do flip kicks, the really big ones like to charge at you and have really good reach, and some thugs seem to exist just to get bashed in the face. The bosses include some big dude who wears glasses, an urban samurai, and a very irritable boxer. They get recycled a lot, which is one of the weaker aspects of “Mighty Final Fight.” The developers take the lazy shortcut of slapping a new coat of paint on the same enemies and throwing them at us again, both the bosses and the regulars. Their behavior and health meters change slightly, but they’re mostly the same guys but tougher.

From time to time, the action stops for these little obstacle sections involving barrels that roll out of no where. You can break these for health pick-ups and weapons. Guy, my character of choice, can throw these nifty ninja stars for example. Sometimes the barrel bashing is integrated straight into the level, and other times it's a bonus game after the boss. Busting up inanimate objects is certainly fun, I’ll grant that.

The visual style is cute, with its dwarfish characters and their exaggerated expressions. There are funny little dialogue exchanges between you and the bosses. (BOSS: “You look bushed. How about some water?”; YOU: [Yes.]; BOSS: “Here you go.”) The fighting is well implemented, and enemy waves are big enough to challenge you but small enough to be reasonably manageable. This is decent bubble gum for the thumbs.

Rating: 8/10

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