Welcome to VC Weekly, N-Europe’s guide to the wonderful world of Nintendo’s download service. Written by Sam C Gittins

For fans of side-scrolling fighting games then we have something of a treat for you as an entire classic series from Capcom gets released on the VC again, this time in portable form. Anyway enough from me and on with the games! 
  
Available for download this week we have...  

Mention the genre of 2-D beat-em-up and immediately titles such as the Streets of Rage or Double Dragon series probably spring to mind for many; however the genre isn't just limited to the most infamous series as there are other examples that while they may not have broken as much ground as others but still have their place.

Final Fight is one such title that while it certainly wasn't original in concept still offered an entertaining experience in it's own right. The story is pretty basic and unimportant; you take on the role of either Cody or Haggar who must rescue Jessica who is the daughter of Haggar (ex-wrestler and Mayor of Metro City) and girlfriend to Cody (Martial arts expert) from the evil clutches of the infamous Mad Gear corporation.

So with a predictable goal in mind you set off through the streets of Metro City beating seven shades of burgundy out of your numerous opponents using basic punch, kick and jump kick actions as well as learning how to perform a few decent combos. In addition to hand to hand combat you can wield various weapons from lead pipes to knives and you consume perishable products to regain health.

Another satisfied customer at the Metro City garage.

There are destructible objects and varied enemies aplenty as well as boss encounters and levels that will take you on a journey through the city including a notable subway / train based level where you make your way from one end of the claustrophobic carriages to the other as you journey onward to your eventual destination. Also worth noting is the inclusion of bonus stages which are in similar vein to those featured in Street Fighter 2, one of which has you destroying a car in the quickest time possible; completely mindless and pointless but the stages are a nice momentary diversion.

It's a well put together fighting game with a decent amount of polish to the near arcade perfect converted graphics and sound that made it such a hit for it's time and even with the omissions that the VC version still has (just as with the original SNES conversion) such as the lack of a third playable character (guy), no 2 player mode (agiven on the new 3DS anyway) and a missing level; It's still hard to fault Final Fight as it's as fun as it always has been and is a solid side-scrolling scrapper with plenty to offer.

When the original Final Fight was released on the VC it was a tad disappointing being that it didn't have the full selection of characters from the original version, a boss omission and no two player mode, although this release still doesn't have playable multiplayer because of new 3DS limitations apparently. Final Fight 2 seems to have been released solely on the SNES to alleviate these issues, adding two unknown characters to the already established Haggar who is off to save Guy's girlfriend Rena and her father; presumably Guy is sitting this one out because he's too weak or can't be bothered to save them himself, whatever the reason only Haggar has returned from the original trio.

Everything is pretty much unchanged from the first Final Fight as you make your way across streets beating the crap out of various thugs etc in an attempt to make it from one end of the stage to the other where you'll do battle with a boss, beat them, start the next area, rinse and repeat. It may sound slightly repetitive and it is but it's enjoyable and is one of those experiences where linearity works in its favour.

Accompanying characters Carlos and Maki are actually pretty similar to Cody and Guy - which begs the question why they didn't just stick with the originals - in the way that they fight, each have their pros and cons and you won't have any trouble picking your favourite type of character. 

Haggar takes to the streets on a mission to wrestle everyone in sight.

Other than that it all plays the same as the first and everything from enemies to areas have just been re-skinned really, of course overall the original is still better but at least this semi-sequel addresses the issues of the poorly ported SNES original, reinstating features that should have been there in the first place.

If you've never played a Final Fight game then get the original because even with the lacking stuff it's still better than this because for all its substance it lacks the style and charm of the first, not to mention the music is better. Which you choose though is up to you but whichever you decide to give a try you'll be sure to get some enjoyment out of either, just be aware that each has their individual pros and cons.

Following the decent level of success had by the first two games Capcom went ahead and released a third entry in their popular Final Fight series very late on in the lifespan of the SNES, but that's not to say it was ignored because of this; indeed it did rather well back in the day however it's now a somewhat rare game to find in its original format and so this Virtual Console release is something of a blessing for anyone who has been wanting to play it but avoid the hefty price-tag.

It's mostly more of the same here but with a bit more balancing out of the attacks that you perform, the end result is something that plays partly like a scrolling beat-em-up and partly like a traditional one versus one fighting game. Your standard moves remain intact but you can now perform a 'Dash' move plus a complementary attack and a special move meter that allows you to unleash Street Fighter style specials that require their own rotation of the D-Pad; this may all sound rather unnecessary but it really does add to how the game plays rather than detracting from it.

You get three game modes to choose from which consist of single player, two-player and most interestingly an automatic two-player mode in which the second character is controlled by the CPU and rather competently too may I add. This can be very useful especially during the later levels, the only downside is some slowdown which is caused by the extra 'work' the console doing in executing this mode, otherwise though it's a solid addition; it's also another example of a multiplayer mode made redundant yet again thanks to the new 3DS' single player only for SNES games policy which it has so strictly adhered to since the platforms inclusion.

Super, mega, hyper, ultra, ultimate, Haggar Smash of Death!!

Everything looks very detailed as you may have come to expect from Capcom games as they know how to strike a good balance so everything looks sumptuous considering when it was released. Audio complements the game rather well with some stunning tracks that live up to the high standard expected from the series; the only downside is the sometimes muffled voice effects but considering how much has been crammed in here it's not surprising that there are a few niggling technical aspects but they are by no means deal-breakers.

Overall this is near enough a fantastic return to form for the series, some purists may prefer the more straightforward fighting of the first two entries but really this third iteration manages to add so much more that it's hard to fault it for trying something different when it clearly works in favour of the game. If you're a fan of the series then you're most likely gonna want  this and even if you're not this is still an excellent title in its own right and comes highly recommended indeed. 

That's it for another installment of VC Weekly which will return again soon. So until then, enjoy the rest of the week and Game On!