Migty Final Fight

NES

Capcom -1993

The Mayor’s daughter is kidnapped by the Mad Gear Gang. You are the Mayor. You are also a professional wrestler. What in the world do you suppose happens? Hmmm. Hmmmmmmmm. Hum. Hmmmmmmmmm hm hm hMMMmmmm. Hum hum hum hum hmmm hmm HMMMMMMM. HUUUUUUMMM HUM HUUUUM HmM hmmmMMmmMMm. Achem. Oh yeah, and some loser who likes your daughter and a guy who is descended from ninja can come too.

An exerpt from the Mad Gear training manual: “Street fighting is easy (and fun!). First, find a fighting buddy! Found one? Good. Now, wait until your fighting buddy is having the ever loving crap beat out of him. Then circle around behind your Fighting buddie’s opponent and punch him in the back of the head. Works every time. Don’t be afraid to advance on your enemy, even if he is punching the air in front of you, seemingly waiting for you to walk straight into this inferno of punching fury – it’s safe! Also, there are rumors on the street that someone descended from ninja is beating up a crap-load of guys for experience and possibly apples. Disregaurd these rumors. All hail our unnamed boss.”

. . . But what do you really expect from an NES game? True to the Final Fight genre, it’s about a bunch of guys and their slugging of a host of poorly trained thugs who all have similar fashion sense. The funny thing is, you don’t really NEED anything else for a good game.

Clearly Descended from Ninja. Most things about MFF are pretty simple: There are only a few moves, the graphics are rather spare and it follows the simple formula of stage-boss-stage-boss-stage-boss-repeatboss-repeatboss-final boss. The sound is similar in its simple unannoying nature. It was made in the heyday of Capcom, so it’s gotta be good, right? Right.

When I play this game, I’m somewhat reminded of Galaga. Both have the same kind of catchy simplicity to them. Neither are particularly difficult or even require much more thought than “Do I kill it now, or a second or two from now?” But I find myself drawn back to both quite often. Is it the simple format? The ease of play? The ever so slightly hidden moves? The shallow depth? I dunno. All I know is that sometimes papers don’t get written when I start to play Might Final Fight (Or reviews for that matter).

What liked: Well made. Nice feeling of movement. Fun Gameplay.

What disliked: Not too much replay value. The beefs are tender but the exhuberance is insubstantial.

What to expect: Final Fight!

What not to expect: People with Bigger bodies than heads.

What's so different from this and other games of it's genre: The graphics are very different, and the sheer simplicity of it make it kind of refreshing. It’s a short fighting game for people who hate having to learn a bunch of moves and don’t feel like playing for very long.

Ratings on:

Control: 8 (Works most of the time, but it’s hard to tell when some moves end and others begin)

Graphics: 6 (Basic, but smooth for the NES)

Sound: 6 (Good old fashioned capcom fare)

Style: 7(Final Fight + Big heads / being really simple = punching people)

Difficulty: 4 (The game just breezes by)

1st hour: 5 (Punch)

2nd hour: 6 (Kick)

3rd hour: 4 (Die)

4th hour: 7 (Win!)

#1 reason why I hate this game: “Argh! I’m the next boss! Yes I know I look like the old bosses! But I’m different! I have a different . . . name!”

Freeohio: Descended from Ninja