Final Fight 3 Review

Final Fight 3 was the last FF game to appear on the SNES and was released at a bad time. By 1995, the scrolling beat 'em up genre had been dead for over a year, at least after when games such as Alien vs. Predator and Streets of Rage 3 were out. However Capcom still wanted to do another Final Fight game and so they did.

Just like Final Fight 2, this was only on the SNES, there was no arcade version and every other console had been missed out. Maybe Capcom weren't happy with putting this on the new SEGA Saturn or Playstation, but the SNES was the only console to get it. Capcom really pulled the stops to make it the best yet on a now underpowered console.

The Mad Gear gang is no more. Haggar, Maki and Carlos shut them down permanently at the end of Final Fight 2. But Metro City is still out of control, with the other street gangs fighting each other to see who the new big gang is. And in the end the Skull Cross gang beat them all. They plan to attack the city to create a diversion so they can spring their leader, Black, from jail.

Just before the attack, Guy meets up with Haggar for the first time in quite a while. Then...boom. A bomb goes off and neither Guy or Haggar have any idea what's going on until Metro city's finest crime prevention team member, Lucia Morgan, comes in and tells them the city is under attack. Well duh. Haggar isn't best pleased to say the least and asks Guy if he will help him and Lucia take out this new threat. Just as they are about to set off Dean pops in and says he wants to help and can help the others find the leader of the Skull Cross gang. Haggar accepts and the game can begin, finally.

Final Fight 3 is the biggest Final Fight game ever made, with lots of levels, characters, moves and features. This was because many other games (namely Streets of Rage 3) had moved the genre on so much and the fact that games like this really had to impress if anyone was going to but them.

There are now 4 characters, these being Haggar, Guy, Lucia and Dean. It's been said that Carlos from Final Fight 2 is also a hidden character but I can confirm that this is untrue. Each fighter plays quite differently so there is plenty of longevity since you'll have to learn each character.

Each character has loads of moves now, the new things including the ability to run, a running kick, dash combos/move, new behind opponent throws and supers. Each character now has a super move. Whilst fighting, you'll notice that there is a little bar that gradually fills whilst you beat people up. When it says super, simply grab an opponent and input a simple command, and your character will do a great looking super move which does tremendous damage. Having all of these extra moves makes the game much more fun and less repetitive than in the previous games.

The graphics for the game are top notch, and easily the best in the series. Each sprite has a lot of detail, and they all look great (Guy looks just like he does in the Street Fighter Alpha games) and the stages also look awesome.

Once again the enemies aren't quite so hot. The bosses are especially bad, since they fall into one of two categories; either crap (Callman, Dave) or annoying (Caine, Stray) The regular bad guys aren't that good either but at least the Andore family return, which is a good or bad thing depending on who you are.

Weapons make a welcome return, and Capcom have put in a completely new set. But this time the weapons serve an even greater purpose. Each character has a preferred weapon, and when you get your character's preferred weapon you can do a combo with it. This idea was copied straight out of Streets of Rage 3 but the extra moves still look quite cool, especially Guy's.

If weapons are in, items are too. Food items increase your fighter's health, whilst points ones will give you more points, which you may have already guessed. There are a few other items that can help you, such as ones that give you temporarily invincibility.

There are also many more stages, since they have multiple routes. You can normally smash enemies through doors, which you can then go through yourself to a different area. By doing this you can go to some completely different levels (level 4 can change drastically depending on what you did in level 3, for example) and this adds plenty of longevity, because you have to find all the hidden doors and routes.

This game probably has the worst tunes in a Final Fight game as yet, but there OK. None are really memorable but, like those in FF2, they do their job fine. Sound effects are awesome, again, with some great hit effects....it really feels like your hitting someone hard. The voice speech is also quite good, especially for Guy.

Like before this game is for 2 players (which is a great mode and a fantastic multi player game) but if you have no friends or can't find anyone to play Final Fight 3 with then Capcom have catered for you. There is now an "Auto 2P" mode, which means that you can select a character that the CPU will control and help you out. This is quite good, even if the AI can sometimes get a bit lacking (they think nothing of beating you up if you are in the way, and they are useless in the bonus games)

Ah yes, bonus games. You can take part in 2 different ones if you take the right route. The first is stop the bulldozer, where you must smash the control area of a bull dozer that threatens to push you off the pier. The second is smash the computer. All you have to do is get to the computer and smash to it. Sounds easy, but then you have to consider the fact that there are lots of rolling barrels coming towards you intent on knocking you down.

I really wish Capcom had added some kind of extra mode though...would a vs. mode been too much to ask? Or, even better, how about a survival mode like the one in Final Fight CD? That would of been pretty cool...but oh well, the main game is still quite fun.

The only bad part of the game is that it isn't very fresh, even with all the new moves. And the fact that Final Fight 2 is so much simpler, yet it's just as enjoyable as this...how does that work?

If you liked the last two Final Fight games on the SNES then you should get this, too. It may take slightly longer to get use to since you have to learn all the new moves and everything but this is the best side scrolling beat 'em up on the Super Nintendo.