{"id":959,"date":"2021-03-27T08:00:10","date_gmt":"2021-03-27T12:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/?p=959"},"modified":"2022-01-15T15:47:07","modified_gmt":"2022-01-15T20:47:07","slug":"959","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/index.php\/2021\/03\/27\/959\/","title":{"rendered":"Final Fight 2 \u2014 Issue 38"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Cap\u00adcom brawler takes fight worldwide<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

As a child of the ear\u00adly \u201990s, Final Fight not only increased my addic\u00adtion to arcade games, but also intro\u00adduced me fur\u00adther to Capcom\u2019s sky\u00adrock\u00adet\u00ading rise as a game devel\u00adop\u00ader. I dived into Final Fight 2 to relive my arcade glo\u00adry days.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Final Fight 2, time has passed since Mike Hag\u00adgar, Cody Tra\u00advers and Cody\u2019s friend Guy defeat\u00aded the Mad Gear gang, restored peace to the streets of Metro City and res\u00adcued Haggar\u2019s daugh\u00adter Jes\u00adsi\u00adca from the Mad Gear\u2019s leader, Bel\u00adger. That peace is short-lived when the rem\u00adnants of Mad Gear return under a new leader and kid\u00adnap Guy\u2019s fianc\u00e9e, Rena, and Guy\u2019s sen\u00adsei, Genryusai.<\/span><\/p>\n

With Cody away on a trip with Jes\u00adsi\u00adca and Guy away on secret train\u00ading, Hag\u00adgar is joined by Rena\u2019s sis\u00adter, Maki, and Haggar\u2019s friend Car\u00adlos Miyamo\u00adto on a world\u00adwide quest to crush the Mad Gear and res\u00adcue Rena and Gen\u00adryu\u00adsai. FF2<\/span> has a lot going for it; it\u2019s a direct sequel nev\u00ader released in arcades with a lot of new mate\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal despite no new gen\u00ader\u00adal mechanics.<\/span><\/p>\n

FF2<\/span> has an expand\u00aded bat\u00adtle\u00adfield <\/span>with Hag\u00adgar, Maki and Car\u00adlos start\u00ading their jour\u00adney in Hong <\/span><\/span>Kong and end\u00ading that jour\u00adney in Japan. The main pro\u00adtag\u00ado\u00adnists make their way through sev\u00ader\u00adal locales in Europe in their search for Rena, all the while sur\u00adround\u00aded by improved graph\u00adics over the first game. The back\u00adgrounds are high qual\u00adi\u00adty, and the sprites are well-drawn and crisp for each char\u00adac\u00adter with a lot of atten\u00adtion to detail.<\/span><\/p>\n

The atten\u00adtion to detail also shows up in the con\u00adtrols. Over\u00adall, con\u00adtrol is sim\u00adple even though each char\u00adac\u00adter has a unique fight\u00ading style. Hag\u00adgar still has his pro wrestling moves, Maki makes use of Nin\u00adjit\u00adsu and Car\u00adlos prac\u00adtices mar\u00adtial arts and sword skills. Though they are gener\u00adic in exe\u00adcu\u00adtion, it\u2019s fun to see how each char\u00adac\u00adter oper\u00adates dur\u00ading the fight.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pow\u00ader-ups are still obtained via smash\u00ading var\u00adi\u00adous objects and range from steamed Chi\u00adnese buns to a pair of shoes that can increase health or score points. Find\u00ading either a Gen\u00adryu\u00adsai or Guy doll will give an extra life or invin\u00adci\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty. As for the music, it is arcade per\u00adfect just like its pre\u00adde\u00adces\u00adsor. It\u2019s a nice sound\u00adtrack of ear\u00adly Cap\u00adcom brawler, and it fits the action per\u00adfect\u00adly in each of the game\u2019s locations.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>As much as I enjoyed FF2<\/span>, the game does have some flaws. While each char\u00adac\u00adter has their own awe\u00adsome spe\u00adcial moves, using them does cost health. That\u2019s annoy\u00ading when you\u2019re try\u00ading to use more pow\u00ader\u00adful moves to defeat boss\u00ades and try\u00ading not to die at the same ti<\/span>me. Also, dur\u00ading the timed bonus stages, con\u00adtrol is hit or miss when strik\u00ading objects; if it\u2019s not done per\u00adfect\u00adly, you lose the bonus points. I also got frus\u00adtrat\u00aded when I couldn\u2019t take the weapons I found into oth\u00ader areas. That cheap\u00adens the use of the weapon and makes it use\u00adless short\u00adly after pick\u00ading it up. And, the chal\u00adlenge lev\u00adel is ridicu\u00adlous. I need\u00aded a cheat code just to get to the real end\u00ading in expert mode. It\u2019s too easy to die and tak\u00ading hits from off-screen ene\u00admies is terrible.<\/span><\/p>\n

Final Fight 2 placed the series in the ranks of Capcom\u2019s top-tier fran\u00adchis\u00ades. While it hasn\u2019t seen the lev\u00adel of push of say, Street Fight\u00ader or Res\u00adi\u00addent Evil, the beat-\u2019em-up is fond\u00adly remem\u00adbered as one of Capcom\u2019s crown\u00ading achievements.<\/span><\/p>\n