Some bad games are broken messes that have some interesting elements or features, other bad games are just badly designed and immensely boring, which I think is much worse. Fighting Force is one of those. Fighting Force was initially pitched to Sega as Streets of Rage 4, but Sega declined as they had their own plans for the franchise (which fell apart and Street of Rage 4 didn’t happen until 25 years after 3).

The developers, Core Design (best known for Tomb Raider) took the concept and turned it into a new game, Fighting Force. An N64 version was planned and cancelled, but Crave then got publishing rights to finish it off.

At the start of Fighting Force, you’ll be on a street but realise that it’s really just a small box. You’ll use a small amount of basic moves to beat up enemies. These enemies will run towards you and punch, kick or block (and very, very occasionally, throw something at you from off camera). After you defeat them, more will appear. You’ll then get to move onto the next “room”, do the same and then it’s the end of the level.

And with that, you’ve experienced the vast majority of the game.

Fighting games like this are often repetitive by nature, but they do things to help with it. One is a good amount of starting moves, which this lacks, and another is enemy variety. Though Fighting Force, you’ll encounter enemies that look different, but they all use the same very basic moves, with the only difference being their health bar and how often they block.

There is one level that does have some enemy types, which consist of an enemy with an eclectic fist. These act the same as normal, except their punches knock you down (and are perfectly timed with how long your character takes to stand up, so you can be stuck in a cycle for a while). The other one is some lab experiment, which is a metal-looking man and their health regenerates.

There are some bosses, most are just an enemy with a longer health bar. One has more unique attack and you can’t get close to him. Instead, you have to pick up barrels and throw them at him, which is a nightmare with the terrible camera and how much he moves. And if he shoots you, you’ll drop the barrel, and sometimes they’ll glitch out after this so you can’t pick them up again.

The levels themselves are just really dull, each consisting of 1-3 square rooms. The game doesn’t flow like classic racing games, and the music is more like background elevator music than anything to make you feel like fighting.

This game is short (you can replay for different routes) and yet feels like an immense slog. There’s no smooth and enjoyable fighting of 2D fighting games, just slow, clunky tedium. When the enemies at the start and at the end are the same, you’ve experienced everything within 5 minutes.

Worst

It works like this: a group of four baddies burst through a door and head for your fighter. You then have two choices: stand stock still and watch the confused enemies wave their firsts from a distance, or perform one of your five (five!) moves – any of which is all but certain to floor your opponents immediately – kill the bad guys, then start all over again as another identical gang appears. And so on for 20 levels.

Mark Green, N64 Magazine #37. Review Score: 26%

Remake or remaster?

There’s nothing interesting about this one.

Official ways to get the game.

Ports of the Fighting Force games are due to be released in 2025, with minimal improvements.