13th June 2010 - Final Fight is the classic side-scrolling fighting game that was very popular in the arcades in the 80’s. I remember putting many 20 cent coins into the machine and controlling Hagger, Cody and Guy and beating up some bad guys. With the excellent Xbox Live Arcade feature of the Xbox 360, Capcom have jazzed up the graphics and even included a bonus game for good measure. Does this version bring the memories of those good times in the Arcades flooding back? Yes it does……
Gameplay
Those of you who didn’t spend time in the arcades back in the 80’s playing Final Fight or for those who are just too young to have been able to, the premise of Final Fight is very simple, pick one of three characters, being the big man Hagger, Cody or Guy and beat up all the enemies that come you way with a couple of relatively simple button presses. The controls are very simple with the X and Y buttons being the attack buttons and A and B being the jump buttons.
While this may sound too simplistic for some it is still a lot of fun. The amount of enemies you encounter does increase as you go through it, but Final Fight is a traditional arcade game and thus not a very long game. The game can be beaten in one sitting, hence why Capcom probably threw in the other game, Magic Sword for nothing. While including Magic Sword was a good thing, the game is pretty bland and not really worth wasting much time on.
Where Final Fight gets its replay ability from is in being able to have two other people join your game via Xbox Live. The game is fun no matter how many times you play it through when you team up with some mates and definitely extends the experience. You can also upload your score to the online leader boards which is cool, but not overly exciting.
One thing that annoyed me was the inability to properly pause the game. When I was playing a game on my own and I pressed the start button to pause (as you do with most games), and while the menu came up and said I had paused the game, when I came back to it, I noticed the game had still been going in the background and consequently I had died and lost my score! Arghhhhh! I am not sure if anyone else encountered this, but boy it was frustrating.
Graphics
Final Fight has been given the HD treatment and looks great. Everything looks good if probably better than the original arcade version. The way Capcom presented it as though you’re TV is the arcade machine screen with the borders around the game being like an arcade cabinet is cool and really gives it that nostalgic feel.
Sound
The sound effects in Final Fight stay true to the original and while not up to today’s standards (they weren’t trying to be), they do the job and don’t detract from the game in anyway.
Value
For 800 Microsoft Points, Final Fight Double Impact is great value. Not only do you get to play the arcade classic with updated graphics in your own home, you get to play with a couple of mates online which extends the experience greatly. Having online leader boards and Magic Sword thrown in is not bad either.
Conclusion
A great remake of the arcade classic beat-em up that gives you the ability to play with a couple of mates over Xbox Live and has online leader boards. Whilst not the most in-depth Xbox Live Arcade release, it is one not to be missed. Now if they’d just bring Sega Rally or Daytona to Xbox Live Arcade!!!!
AAG SCORE: 8.3/10
Pros:
+ It’s Final Fight!
+ An arcade classic re-born.
+ Mindless beat-em up fun.
+ Includes Xbox Live play and online leader boards.
Cons:
- Games length.
- Additional game Magic Sword is not that good.
- Pausing glitch.
Reviewed & Written By Craig Cirillo
"Read other reviews at TestFreaks. Overall media score 8.3/10"