![]() Needless to say, I rekindled my love for brawlers and began to seek them out for every system I owned. I'm sure all of us here know the Streets of Rage series well, so I won't spend time praising it. Growing up as a Nintendo fanboy, it was a little unsettling that the "enemy" was the console that got be back into brawlers. With the disappointment of Final Fight for the SNES, I turned my back on the beat 'em up genre for years until I purchased my first Sega Genesis. Continues were limited and actually sent you back to the beginning of whatever stage you died on.UGH! This purchase hadn't turned out to be the arcade experience that I was hoping for*. throwing in magical quarters) right? WRONG. Along with this glaring omission, the game was pain-stakingly difficult, but not to worry, I can simply keep continuing (aka. Sure, he was the one that had the least at stake in terms of saving Jessica Haggar, but still, you can't just omit a fan favorite like that. How could you leave out one of the most iconic characters in the game. GUY!!! IT WAS MISSING GUY!!! I was completely befuddled. The controls lagged resulting in a game that was much slower in pace than the arcade version, and it just seemed like it was missing was it? Oh. Graphically, the game was impressive, but that's about it. Then imagine calling your friend to tell them you're going to buy that game and to come over later, spending your hard-earned money on it, unpacking it, putting it in the console, and upon firing it up, not finding a 2nd player option on the title is the same scenario that played out for many of us. You could play it any time you wanted and not have to panhandle your parents during every trip to the mall or night out at dinner (yes, almost every family food joint, mall, laundry mat, and convenience store had video games back then). Imagine, a game you loved coming into your home. I'm describing my experience with Final Fight as a youth not only to give you an idea of how incredible that era of my gaming history was, but to also help you understand how built up I was when I heard that the game was being ported to the SNES. No longer were we subject to an abrupt start that lacked detail (like girlfriend punched in stomach by baddies and carried off), or putting together the story via the ending, but we were treated to awesome cutscenes between chapters and bits of dialogue that furthered the story. But of all these things, the feature of Final Fight that stood out to me most was the story and how well it was integrated into the game. The game also featured food items to replenish lost energy and an array of weapons that could be picked up and used against enemies. It felt nice to pick a character, learn his strengths and weaknesses, and make it your preferred selection at startup. Final Fight offered character selection and a noticeable variation in abilities and moves, which wasn't as common in other brawlers of the time. I can't count the number of times someone would walk up to a cab I was playing by myself and say, "Hey, do you mind if I jump in?" "SURE!," was always the resounding response. The incredible graphics, large sprites, fast pace, and ability to play with a friend were features that pulled in gamers and created an environment of fun and pleasantries. However, for the purposes of this article, I will only be discussing the latter.įinal Fight was probably one of the most well-known brawlers of the arcade era. My favorite brawlers growing up were Double Dragon, Kung Fu Master (which may barely fit this category), and Final Fight. As a kid, I'm sure few or none of us kept track of these types of expenses, it was all about popping in as much change as we could to get an end screen and enjoy that feeling of sweet bliss that would carry over to the school playground on Monday. As a result, many stage bosses got tougher and were aptly named "quarter munchers" due to their tendency to gobble shiny Washington's from your pant's pockets and/or Mom's change purse. While many games focused on high scores, had GAME OVER screens, and required starting back at the begging upon defeat, beat 'em ups often awarded continuous play via simple capitalism. Some of my favorite machines of the that bygone era were the brawlers. ![]() Growing up as a kid in the 80's, I have vivid memories of walking into the local arcades of the time and pumping countless quarters/tokens into those high-tech cabinets.
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