Whether you are part of Xbox Live or the Playstation Network your online store has seen its fair share of classic games released to allow gamers to reminisce of simpler times. Capcom has decided to bring back not one, but two classic games to revel in. Final Fight: Double Impact provides players with Final Fight and Magic Sword. For those that are too young to know what either game is or perhaps too old to remember what each game was I will provide a short summary for both.
Final Fight has been an ongoing series for a while now and has brought us some gems, but it has also made a few mistakes along the way. The Final Fight game in this bundle is a classic and definitely sits among the most memorable the series has offered. If you have played Streets of Rage, then you should have a decent idea of what to expect here. It is a side-scrolling beat-’em-up that sends three characters on a journey across Metro City. The main characters are Guy, Cody and the former wrestler Haggar. The Mad Gear gang have kidnapped Jessica, the daughter of Haggar, in hopes of gaining leverage on him since he is no longer a professional wrestler and has become the mayor promising to take care of the city’s crime problems. He asks Guy and Cody to help him on his adventure to take out the gang so they can reach Jessica. The story takes off from there.
Magic Sword is another side-scroller, but its story takes place in a fantasy world instead of a more realistic setting. Drokmar is in possession of an evil crystal known as the “Black Orb”. This item would allow him to take control of the entire world, but obviously this is not acceptable. A hero labeled as “The Brave One” sets out on a quest that sees him ascending a fifty story tower named Dragon Keep in order to reach and destory Drokmar.
Are these classics worth revisiting after we have seen numerous ports of other games from the past? Here are the HOTs and NOTs:
HOT
Gameplay
For those who saved up their quarters in order to get a good amount of game time in with these games will not be disappointed here. Both games provide the same action packed and addicting gameplay that many remember fondly. Whether you are beating up a goon that looks like Andre the Giant on the street with a lead pipe or you are casting fire out of a sword at a bear there is definitely something to be had here. The game is responsive as you would expect and this time you do not have to dig under your couch cushions for quarters as you are presented with an unlimited amount of continues. So you have no reason not to complete either game since pressing the Start button a bunch of times throughout the stories is not going to have any affect on your financial standing. This is definitely a great addition for those that did not have the determination or bottomless pockets full of change in order to play each story to the end. It is a very entertaining experience even on your fiftieth time through the game, but it does not have to be done alone.
Co-op
The true arcade is not complete without being able to have a friend or stranger be able to pop in and join your game. As is the norm another player can sit down, pick up a controller and pop into your game selecting one of the two remaining characters. You might not expect this game to have an online component, but it sure does. In case your friends live nowhere near you then you can go into an online game together. The game automatically sets up whichever game you start to be connected online that way anyone is able to jump into the game. In a way, this recreates the old feeling of having a stranger walk up to you in an arcade and join you. Of course if you are not too keen on the idea of some random person playing alongside you, then you can turn that option off before starting your game.
Challenges
To really spice up each game and add extra depth for hardcore gamers challenges have been added. These can range from completing a level within a certain time limit or finishing the story using under a specified amount of continues. This can easily increase the game’s replayability since some people will find themselves going back through the story with different characters to complete these tasks or obtain the achievement/trophy attached to certain challenges. It can make an already addicting game even more addicting. Obviously, the player’s efforts do not go unrewarded.
Unlocks
As challenges are met and completed the rewards come in the form of various unlocks. You can expect to see concept art, fan created art, excerpts from comic books and much more. One of the most memorable unlocks came from Final Fight which was a whole episode of an old Street Fighter cartoon that grabbed its plot from Final Fight. Final Fight has fifty one unlocks and Magic Sword has eighteen. There is something there for everyone in terms of the content waiting to be unlocked.
Options
There are multiple options that game contains in order to suit each player’s preferred style. The game’s default style has the game displayed on an arcade monitor where the edges of the machine can been seen and scanlines are present. If that does not do anything for you, which it really should, then you can change to full screen. Also, you are able to control what the game looks like by smoothing out edges or bringing a crisp look to the entire game. These options are not much, but it is an addition I am sure no one will complain about.
NOT
Challenge
Even though having limitless amounts of continues at your disposal is nice it does cause a small issue. When you went up to the arcade machine you had only so much change available to you. Since you knew your game time was not infinite it was imperative that you developed a successful strategy early on so that each quarter was used to its fullest. In this port the endless continues eliminate that need for strategy. Most people will just mindlessly bash bosses knowing that they can absorb as much damage as they like since they can just respawn at no real cost. Like I said, this means no one has a reason to not complete each game, but it can be a little disheartening to be paired with someone who does not make the most of their lives. This is slightly counteracted by the implementation of challenges since only the skilled will achieve all of them.
Pausing The Game
This was only a minor annoyance. The game sets any story you set up connected to online by default. Even though you have the option to turn this off I am sure many people will jump into the stories forgetting to disable this function. Since the game is technically online even if no second player is present it takes the ability to pause away from the player. This was put into the game so that one player could not bring the game to a screaming halt while the other just sits there waiting. It can be a problem though if you plan on experiencing the game solo and forgot to turn off the online portion. It has the ability to lead to the unfortunate event of having to go to the bathroom or any other activity that requires you to stop playing for a few moments. If you can remember to take care of this before starting up your story, then this problem will not hinder your gameplay at all.
VERDICT
Final Fight: Double Impact brings us two classics to dive into once again. The addictive style is present and you do not have to grab a load of coins before playing. Challenges and unlocks are a great addition to the game adding quite a bit of extra time for those willing to complete these secondary objectives. While strategy does not play as big as a role in this port as it did in the arcade the game still finds itself worthy of adding to your downloadable game collection.
[Editor’s Note: Final Fight: Double Impact was reviewed on a PlayStation 3 platform. The game was provided to us by the publisher]
