Final Fight is set in the fictional American metropolis of Metro City, where a former professional wrestler named Mike Haggar is elected Mayor, promising to handle the city’s criminal problem in his campaign.

The Mad Gear gang, the dominant criminal organization of the city, plots to bring Haggar under their control by kidnapping his daughter Jessica and using her as leverage against him.

Enlisting the help of Cody, Jessica’s boyfriend and a Martial Arts master himself, as well as Cody’s sparring partner, a Ninjutsu master named Guy, Haggar opts to fight the gang instead in order to save his daughter.

Final Fight must rank as one of the most popular arcade games ever, and is used as a yard-stick to judge all scrolling beat ‘em ups. So how does the SNES version compare to the original? Well, it’s missing the two-player mode and one entire level, but apart from that it’s pretty much the same. All the moves are there, all the enemies are there (apart from the two girls who’ve been censored and replaced by Sid and Billy) and all the action is there. Although Final Fight demands fast reflexes and a degree of skill, strategy plays an important part too, so the game is challenging on all levels. The controls are responsive, there’s no slowdown, which is surprising considering the size of the sprites, and the game plays fluidly. There is a real compulsion to see what’s next and it’s real “just one more go” material, keeping you glued to your screen for ages. Final Fight is a definite classic and a game which should be in every SNES owners collection

Although this conversion is missing the simultaneous two-plwyer option, Guy, the girls (Doh!) and the fourth level, it still manages to supply much of the original coin-op’s thrills and spills. The action is fast and furious, and on later levels the going gets very tough, with hoards of baddies to kick and punch your way through. Although it doesn’t take long to master, the comprehensive option screen means you can toughen the game up to increase the challenge, and the action is such fun you keep on coming back to it even after you’ve finished several times. With its great graphics and crunching sound effects, Final Fight is a must for beat ‘em up fans.