The best version of Final Fight out there.

User Rating: 8.8 | Final Fight CD SCD
Final Fight was a game I vaguely remember playing at the arcades in the early 90’s. It didn’t really stand out, but when it came out for the SNES and after playing Streets of Rage on the Genesis, side-scrolling fighters were gain interest in me. When I saw that Final Fight came out on the Sega CD, and I was looking for games for it, I immediately sought it out.

I thought the graphics were close to the arcade’s. The characters were big and detailed. The backgrounds were also well detailed and provided the right atmosphere. The music is where I thought was this games greatest strength. Because this was on a CD format, the music was remixed. Instead of a midi composed soundtrack, actual instruments were used to compose the music. Nowadays this doesn’t seem too special since it is now standard practice, but during the time Final Fight CD was released, CD formats were a relatively new medium with video games. I really liked the subway level’s music. Hearing that level’s music in the SNES and arcade’s versions, I was amazed how much better the game was by just improving the music. This game was not easy to play through. The enemies would get in numerous notorious cheap shots that would make quick work of you. Also, extra lives were scarce and you had limited continues. Unless you were able to get through most of the game and not lose too many lives, you might be able to get through the last stage.

I thought that this version of Final Fight was the best one out there. The SNES version had elements omitted and the music wasn’t of the same quality. The arcade is the original, true version of the game, but the music on Final Fight CD made it a much better playing experience. Considering the limited number of games that were released for the Sega CD, this is definitely one that any Sega CD owner should have.