FINAL FIGHT DOUBLE IMPACT

So late last night we got an email from our good buddy Chris Demelo. He felt so terrible about missing out on the sweet Free DLC from Target because he lives in Canada and they don’t have Targets up there (or summer, It’s just winter year round from what I’ve read) that he went ahead and did a pretty slick review of Final Fight Double Impact for us. This game wasn’t really on my radar since I didn’t play much of the original but after reading his review I just may have to pick it up.

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Final Fight Double Impact

Capcom brings us another instant downloadable classic off of PSN (9.99) and XBLA (800 Microsoft points) with Final Fight: Double Impact. The game itself is made up of two coin-op beat-em ups, Final Fight and Magic Sword. They’ve been spruced up with various graphical filters, leader boards, drop-in drop-out multiplayer, redone soundtrack and unlockable art content.

Starting with Final Fight, the game is an excellent port feeling just like the arcade cabinet of old. Speaking on this the creators decided not only to make the game look better but make it look worse at the same time. The cabinet view mode gives the outer border a look of a classic final fight arcade with just the right amount of grime, along with lowering the visual quality by going to the settings and adjusting the screen for old school scanlines. Also added on is the feature to drop in and out of other peoples games at anytime. This function can be turned off at anytime for a more private affair. All these little touches give the game that nostalgic feel of pumping quarters into the arcade which is definitely appreciated by fans and non- fans alike.

The story goes that the ‘Mad Gear Gang’ kidnaps Jessica Haggar to control Mike Haggar, the Mayor of Metro City. These fools, however, didn’t count on Haggar being a former wrestler who teams up with Cody (a martial artist and Jessica’s boyfriend) and Guy (Cody’s friend and Ninjitsu master). Up to two players can brawl through six worlds and two bonus stages, unloading on all the various scum in Metro City. This game proves that street gangs of the eighties were the least threatening of all time, with enemies having more colours on them then most rainbows. The intimidation factor goes right out the window. Your controls are simple but effective; one button for attack and another for jump. Use them together and you use your characters special attack that clears enemies around you quickly, but drains some of your health bar.

Through the game you will run into more than enough street fighter characters. Rolento, Sodom and Hugo, as well as the playable characters are in at least one street fighter game (even Haggar; see Zangief). This shows that Capcom knows when they have something good and aren’t afraid to use it over and over again. When researching this game I found out that final fight was supposed to be the sequel to Street Fighter and for awhile it was called Street Fighter 89; but it was changed from a one on one tournament fighter to a beat-em up. That’s definitely a huge relief to all.

The only drawback of this game is the in-game achievement unlocks. As you play the bottom of the screen will be cluttered with challenges to attempt, and upon succeeding or failing at them they show up again taking up the bottom portion of the screen. This can quiet hairy when weapons and health are being dropped, but out of sight.

Magic Sword is the second game in this pack. It’s another side scrolling beat-em up where you, as the titular “brave one”, must venture through 50 levels of a tower to fight the dark lord Drokmar and destroy the black orb. Teaming up with a friend you slash/stab your way through the game, obtaining allies that follow you through battle firing all types of projectile abilities (arrows, battle axes etc) that give the screen a feel of an old school shoot-em up (Shmup).Its highly chaotic and fun, although most of the time you are trying to stay alive while tons of enemies cover the screen. A great add-on with all the features of the aforementioned Final Fight and the same downfalls with the in game achievements screen clutter.

Overall for about $10 you can’t go wrong with these classics. They will evoke nostalgia for those who played them before and those who didn’t will still have fun. I never really played much of either back in the day and I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

Review by Chris Demelo

Chris has been a long time supporter of what we do around here and I for one am extremely excited to see that he started doing some reviews for us.