Final Fight (series)

Final Fight is a series of beat 'em up video games by Capcom, which started with the arcade release of Final Fight in 1989.

Video games

Final Fight series

The original Final Fight was followed by two sequels for the SNES: Final Fight 2 in 1993 and Final Fight 3 (Final Fight Tough in Japan) in 1995, produced specifically for the home console market by Capcom's consumer division with no preceding arcade versions. A parody of the original game, titled Mighty Final Fight, was released for the NES and featured childlike "super deformed" or "chibi" versions of the original Final Fight characters. A competitive 3-D fighting game spinoff, Final Fight Revenge, was released for Sega's Titan arcade hardware in 1999, which was followed by a home version for the Sega Saturn in Japan only. A 3D sequel titled Final Fight: Streetwise was released in 2006 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

Other games

Several Final Fight characters re-emerged as playable characters in later Street Fighter games and other competitive fighting games by Capcom: Guy and Sodom appeared in Street Fighter Alpha in 1995, followed by Rolento in Street Fighter Alpha 2 in 1996 and Cody in Street Fighter Alpha 3 in 1998. Guy's theme is a remix of the music from the opening stage of Final Fight, while his stage in Street Fighter Alpha 2 features several cameos of characters from Final Fight, such as Cody, Haggar, and some enemy characters. Andore would make a reappearance as a playable character in Street Fighter III 2nd Impact under the name Hugo in 1997. He is accompanied by Poison as his manager. Both would reappear in SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos 2003, which also features the cameo appearances of the two first Final Fight bosses, Damnd and Sodom, in Chun-Li's ending. Both Cody and Guy are playable characters in Super Street Fighter IV while Hugo is in a cameo in a stage and a large statue of Mike Haggar also appear in the game as well, released in 2010.^[1] Cody's musical theme is a remix of the intro music from Final Fight. There is also a downloadable Mike Haggar outfit for Zangief in Street Fighter IV. Rolento was considered as a playable character for Super Street Fighter IV, but was edged out by Adon as he had slightly more interest. He later appeared in Ultra Street Fighter IV, alongside Hugo and Poison. However, the construction site from his boss battle features as one of the stages.^[2] The car-vandalizing bonus stage was later used in early versions of Street Fighter II. In Super Street Fighter IV, if Cody or Guy are vandalizing the car in the bonus stage, Mad Gear member Bred will appear and complain, in the same way as he does in Final Fight.

The character Mike Haggar is featured as a wrestler in Saturday Night Slam Masters and its two sequels, Muscle Bomber Duo and Slam Masters II: Ring of Destruction with his daughter Jessica appearing alongside him. Guy is a playable character in Capcom Fighting Jam while Cody, Haggar, Jessica, Hugo, and Sodom appear in the game as cameo characters. Both Guy and Mike Haggar are playable characters in the Namco-published crossover game, Namco x Capcom, which was released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan only. In it, Guy is paired with Sho, a.k.a. Ginzu the Ninja from Captain Commando. Mike Haggar is a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, where he was the first character from the Final Fight series to be featured in the Marvel vs. Capcom series. In the game, there is also a stage that takes place in Metro City with the Mad Gear gang fighting the police in the background. Hugo, Poison, Cody, Guy, and Rolento are playable characters in Street Fighter X Tekken.^[3] Mike Haggar and several Mad Gear bosses can be also seen in cameo appearance in this game at the background named "Mad Gear Hideout". Maki Genryusai is the only original character from Final Fight 2 to make a return appearance (Carlos, on the other hand, would make only a cameo appearance in Alex's ending in Capcom Fighting Evolution). She made her second video game appearance in the 2001 fighting game Capcom vs. SNK 2, using many of the same techniques from Final Fight 2 as part of her moveset. Maki has also been featured as a trading card in Card Fighters 2 and Card Fighter DS. The Capcom vs. SNK 2 version of her character was also featured in the portable versions of Street Fighter Alpha 3 released for the Game Boy Advance and PlayStation Portable.

Characters

Character	Final Fight	Final Fight 2	Final Fight 3	Mighty	Revenge	Streetwise	Total
Cody	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	4
Damnd	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	3
Edi. E	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	2
El Gado	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	2
Guy	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	5
Hugo	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	5
Mike Haggar	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	6
Poison	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	2
Rolento	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	3
Sodom	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	3
Maki	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	1
Carlos	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	1
Belger	Yes	No	No	Cyborg	Zombie	Yes	4
Total	11	5	3	6	11	5

• Mike Haggar - the Mayor of Metro City, a former professional wrestler, and father of Jessica. He has slicked back brown hair and a mustache. His primary outfit is a green trousers held up with a brown diagonal belt shoulder strap, and brown dress shoes.

• Cody Travers - an experienced brawler, often training with his best friend Guy, and Jessica's boyfriend. He has blond hair and his primary outfit is a white T-shirt with blue jeans and white sneakers (later becomes a loose white and blue striped uniform with white adidas shell-toe shoes).

• Guy - An American ninja of Japanese ancestry, who is Cody's sparring partner, and a friend of both Cody and Jessica. He has brown hair and his primary outfit is a red with yellow shinobi shozoku, and various red and white casual athletic shoes (i.e. modeled after Vans skateboarding shoes, Chuck Taylor Allstars, etc.; though were originally simple tabi shoes or boots).

• Maki Genryusai - A younger sister of Guy's fiancee. Like Guy, Maki is also trained in the Bushin style of ninjutsu and uses many of the same abilities and techniques. In her original Japanese backstory, Maki is a fierce ex-leader of a youth motorcycle gang, but this was censored in the English version of the game.

• Carlos Miyamoto - A swordsman who grew up in South America studying different types of martial arts. He moved to Metro City to finish his studies and stayed with Mike Haggar for a period of time. Although Carlos had mastered many styles of fighting, he prefers to use his Katana to slice and dice his enemies. His last name comes from the legendary Japanese swordsman known as: Musashi Miyamoto.

• Jessica Haggar - An attractive blonde likely in her 20's, who is Mike Haggar's daughter, as well as Cody's girlfriend and his "sweetheart since child-hood". She is typically seen in a red form-fitting strapless bustier dress and red high heels. She is kidnapped by the Mad Gear gang in an attempt to blackmail her father, the newly elected mayor, into cooperation.

In other media

The American Street Fighter animated series featured an episode based on Final Fight and titled after the game, which aired during the show's second season. Adapting the plot of the game, the "Final Fight" episode centered on Cody and Guy teaming up with leading Street Fighter characters Ryu and Ken to rescue Jessica from the Mad Gear Gang. Although, Guy and Cody were both characters in the Street Fighter series, the episode actually predates Cody's first appearance in the series as a playable character in Street Fighter Alpha 3 and depicts him in his character design from Final Fight. The episode is included as unlockable content in Final Fight: Double Impact. An episode of the 1991 Nickelodeon hidden camera show What Would You Do? featured a Final Fight kiosk which distracted kids by mentioning personal information about them.

Maki Genryusai appears in 1996 manga Sakura Ganbaru! as one of several rivals the titular character Sakura Kasugano (from Street Fighter Alpha 2) encounters. The Street Fighter II Turbo comic book by UDON Entertainment features a supplemental story arc spanning issues 6 and 7 centering on the Final Fight characters who were featured in the Street Fighter series.^[4]

Reception

The actor Robin Williams stated that he named his son Cody Williams after a video game character, which is believed to be Cody from Final Fight.^[5] In 2010, Game Informer included it on the list of ten gaming franchises that should be revived, adding: "It's one of many sidescrolling beat-em-ups we'd love to see return, but it's also one of the best."^[6]

References