In the early 90s most gamers were concerned with their shiny new consoles. Not all developers forgot about their loyal fans who were still stuck with the outdated Nintendo Entertainment System, and I really like how games were released well after it was forgotten. Capcom was one of these such developers, and I imagine it came as a shock that they were releasing a new version of the original Final Fight on the now obsolete hardware. The original was a launch title on the Super Nintendo, and the fact that Capcom re-made the game for the NES must have come as quite the surprise. Mighty Final Fight isn’t simply a watered down version of the arcade classic. Instead it’s a re-envisioning. Capcom made several changes beyond the graphics. Some areas were improved, and others choices are a bit odd, but it all works out for the best.
The premise of the scenario is almost the same as it was in the original release. The Mad Gear gang has kidnapped the daughter of Metro City’s mayor Haggar, and he and his muscle headed friends set out to rescue her. Mighty Final Fight takes a more playful approach to this scenario. The dialogue is over the top, and the premise behind kidnapping Jessica is because the Mad Gear’s leader has fallen in love with her. What’s also new is that before battling it out with the bosses you’re treated to a short sequence of dialogue with each of them. It’s a nice touch, and adds even more personality to the scenario. Mighty Final Fight, like it’s big brother release, is a traditional beat ’em up game. You begin by choosing one of three characters which each differ in their moves and abilities. Haggar is by far the strongest but his bulk slows him down a great deal. Guy on the other hand is the fastest, but his punches and kicks do the least damage. Cody is the middle of the road character, and is the one I usually opt to play as. Attacks include punches, flying kicks, three hit combo strikes, throws, and a special move which drains your character’s health.
Mighty Final Fight is pretty basic. You can walk up, down, left and right and you progress by defeating each of the enemies that approach from off-screen. On the top of the screen you have a life bar as well as one for the opponent you last damaged. The attacks I mentioned earlier do varying amounts of damage to your opponents, and each of them are useful against different foes. One new feature Capcom added to this game is an RPG-like experience points system. This is registered by a number located on the bottom of the screen, and you increase it by defeating enemies. What’s interesting is the fact that you gain varying amounts of experience points based on which attack you downed your foe with. When you get enough your character gains a level which increases their strength and life bar. Another new feature, that unlocks when you get a specific amount of experience points, is a new special move. This varies between the three different characters, but is performed by pressing the B button while holding either left or right on the control pad. Cody fires a projectile, Haggar performs a clothesline, and Guy hits foes with a powerful kick. This is a brand new feature to the Final Fight series, and we wouldn’t see it again until part three on the SNES.
One surprising omission is multiplayer. Sure, the Super Nintendo port of the original game didn’t have it but I’m convinced this was a choice to meet the launch deadline of the new system. There’s no excuse for it not being in place in Mighty Final Fight. We know the hardware is capable of supporting this feature in similar games as showcased by River City Ransom, and it just doesn’t make sense that Capcom wouldn’t include it here. There’s also almost no weapons here. The knife is present, but it’s a rare find. Another problem I have with this game is that it’s difficult. I’m generally adept at beat ’em up titles, but I found myself struggling here because of the poor hit detection. The best example is with the boss character Sodom who uses swords. Reason would dictate that when he’s slashing down to the ground you should be able to avoid his attack by jumping. Instead you’re knocked back when you’re anywhere near his strike. On the plus side you can now hit and neutralize most projectile attacks. I found this to be very useful.
I’m really glad Capcom re-designed the game with super deformed characters because there’s no way the NES could have done the original models justice. The new designs are funny and charming. This holds especially true for Haggar who now looks like an extremely muscular midget. The enemies are recycled from the source material, but they too have been given a major face lift. They’re still recognizable, and in some cases I actually prefer the new graphics. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Capcom actually left Poison and Roxy in this version. I guess they didn’t think it was as big of a deal to fight women characters as long as their designs are over the top caricatures. The backgrounds are good by NES standards, but the scenery tends to frequently repeat itself. Unfortunately Mighty Final Fight suffers from the trademark flicker the system is so infamous for, but it’s never a big issue due to the game’s slower pace. The soundtrack is all new, and it’s actually better than in both the Arcade and SNES versions. The composers made excellent use of the limited range of bleeps and blips the hardware is capable of. The first stage’s theme is one of my favorite pieces of music across the NES library. The soundtrack is full of classic 8-bit gems.
Mighty Final Fight isn’t exactly what I would call a good replacement for the original game. Instead it’s a separate entity, and it’s a very enjoyable beat ’em up game on its own merits. Sure, Capcom made some questionable omissions, but the other design choices make up for them in the end. Although it’s not quite as good as, say, River City Ransom it’s still an enjoyable romp that all fans of the genre should try out once. Fans of the franchise will laugh out loud at this alternate take on the original game.
