released: 2001(update on 1989 arcade original)
platform: game boy advance
company: capcom
genre: beat-em-up

Oh to look upon the great spires of late 80's arcade gaming, as the original bare knuckle concerto Final Fight is back in all its diplicious glory. The game that redefined the side scroller beat em up has not only been faithfully presented, but has been given a really nice upgrade. Amongst beating the crap out of endless Mad Gear thugs through 7 levels of ghettos, subways, and high rises lies quite a few neat surprises. Fluid animation and thug slayin' blood operas abound, as all the slutty combos, dip slams, and flying kicks are here. And as we all remember, Final Fight's signature was the advent of the completely wacky random 3am powerups. Break a barrel or crate and you never know what you'll find; A painted radio? A top hat? A purple tentacle? You just never knew what you would find, be it a fish or a chibi SD Guy plushie; the perfect weapons for taking on endless waves of South American guerrillas and homopolitain pro wrestlers.

First up is the fact this game looks beautiful, a testament to the adage that 2d games age much more gracefully than polygons, as well as things seem to look cool on the smaller gba screen. The industrial plant stage with Rolento is back, along with various cut scenes. The biggest addition is the Alpha upgrade, providing Street Fighter Alpha-esque intro/cut scenes that give the characters a really nifty new anime look. Also, a new rpg like hit point system has been added, giving more replay value with unlockable modes and characters. With this, you're able to unlock the Alpha versions of Guy and Cody; plus you're even able to unlock a color edit mode to really upgrade and customize all your playable characters(Guy in a purple gi just rocks)

The 2-player linkup capability, back up memory save RAM, and super rad new interface also give FFOne an added shine. My only complaint is that more secret hidden options weren't added. Add to that once again Nintendo has replaced the hot chick fighters with transsexual street punks(What is it with side scolling brawlers and transsexual bad guys?) I was glad they changed the level one and two boss' names back to Damd and Sodom(ooh, so edgy for the time!...why not a boss called Fsckd?)

Yes, Final Fight was always about more than just trying to bang Mayor Hagar's daughter and wide spread transient hate crimes. It was about honor, justice, and smacking a flaming barrel against wheelchair bound madmen. And if you were playing as Guy, it was about laying the Japanese smack against Cody's white ass for steeling your chick. All of this zany visceral fun has been completely captured, in what has been a long list of kick ass classic ports and remakes for the Game Boy Advance. Anyways, I think Alpha Guy best sums it with a cutscene with stage 2 boss Sodom: Why am I in 1989? Oh I see I'm here to rescue Jessica! If only we all could go back to that great era.