Final Fight, the Rise and Fall

With the release of "Final Fight: Streetwise", it would seem that the Final Fight franchise has been killed. The Streetwise was a fresh idea that didn't seem to be well thought out which contributed to poor sales and player dissatisfaction. It was condemned by the following of players loyal to the Final Fight franchise. The game is one of the best franchises that Capcom has ever created according to most gamers.

"Final Fight" was released out to arcades around the mid-1980s. It was a side-scrolling beat 'em up fighter that revolved around three characters named Cody, Guy, and Mike Haggar that had to go around the made up location of Metro City to take out the Mad Gear Gang and rescue Haggar's daughter and Cody's girlfriend Jessica from the leader of the Mad Gears.

It was a simple beat 'em up fighter with a simple storyline. Final Fight was great fun for everybody that enjoyed beat 'em up fighters. The game served as a great alternative to "Double Dragon" that had a similar storyline where two brothers: Billy and Jimmy Lee had to take out the Shadow Dragons and rescue Billy's girlfriend Marion. Before Final Fight came, people including myself played Double Dragon.

Before Final Fight, Mike Haggar was a playable character in one of the earliest Capcom arcade games "Saturday Night Slam Masters". That link would reveal story-wise that Final Fight and Saturday Night Slam Masters would be in the same universe. With the success of Final Fight, a sequel would be released to the Super Nintendo or Super NES.

Cody and Guy were not present. Aiding Haggar would be two new characters: Maki Genryusai and Carlos Miyamoto. The main antagonists would again be the Mad Gear Gang under new leadership. Instead of Metro City, the three heroes would be traveling all over the world destroying Mad Gear's international power.

Then there was Final Fight 3 where the action would be taking place again in Metro City. The new threat would be the Skull Cross Gang led by a man named Black. Guy from Final Fight would make his return. The two would be joined by two new characters: Lucia Morgan and Dean.