Previously, M. Bison goes back to
1989 to play scrappy game that sucks ass form alliance with Mad Gear
against M. Haggar and Co. But on the other side, Chun Li make contact with the
Mayor of Metro City and they also team up to fight Mad Gear - Shadaloo
combination. So far i have defeated Retu the final boss of Final Fight 2 and rescued Genryusai (Guy's teacher) and Rena (Guy's
fiancée). The fight still goes on...
...but first let me break these wooden barrels real quick. This feels like that bonus stage in Punisher game. Maybe those score panels that give me that feeling.
Next stop is Bay Area which is Chinese stage in Final Fight 2. Hey! Is that sailor from Konami's beat em up: Violent Storm?
Yes, he is. And i can beat him up for extra pickup item. Don't worry about him! He's seasoned seaman. He likes being close to sea. :P
Finally, Shadaloo take part on the fight. On the previous section, Balrog the boxer shows up and like usual i beaten him with the super projectile, mainly. You know Balrog. He doesn't have interesting gimmick besides punching hard. But i discover some weirdest anomaly in the history of Beat Em Up game: He eat barbecue meat that means for me the player! I thought i preserve it went my health is really in danger but he ate it instead.
On the next section, i fight against Vega and this time i pick the food item immediately. Don't want to make the same mistake twice. Obviously, i use super projectile against him. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I mean it's quite broken in the good way, so i abuse it.
I went inside the helicopter and encounter Sagat, the King of Muay Thai! But he and his cronies are nothing to this Super projectile move. Mmmmh! Is that the good old blue burning effect on them? Love it!
The helicopter lands on LNS office building judging by that mark on the floor. It's time for showdown against M. Bison and bunch of Andore except not. Akuma take all the glory of beating them. Now we know who's the victim of his raging demon move this time.
I sincerely apologize that i forget to take screenshot the battle with the infamous Setsui no Hadō user but believe me that it went like other boss fight. I tell Maki to spam the super projectile move and when she's out of mana i tell her to use combo until her mana is ready, rinse and repeat. After defeating Akuma, the game is not over yet! Jessica is nowhere to be seen and M. Bison escaped soon after Akuma's defeat. Note that Akuma tries to break the fourth wall by saying extra stage? Apparently he has other talent than breaking someone's soul and body. So where we have to go next?
Spy_sf13_influx_big01.wav. I really can't believe this. I get to play other Capcom's beat em up game? I'm freaking sold! I quickly decide go to Battle Circuit because in my opinion it's the best Capcom's beat em up game. Then i fail to notice that the difficulty is 3 stars. Oops! Also i probably bring Linn Kurosawa down by not choosing Alien vs Predator. I reckon fighting those Xenomorphs scumbags is harder that enemies in Battle Circuit or Cadillac and Dinosaurs, so i refuse to believe that the difficulty is only 1 star. I could be wrong, though.
Ok. I don't remember these Gunbuster robots firing cluster of bullets like this. They usually firing yellow long bullets in succession. This could be bad.
There's Dr. Saturn one of antagonist in the game but his role in this game is just decoration, sadly.
Ok. It's time to give The Red Cyclone some share of action and he's wreaking havoc in disco. Don't judge him harshly for that. The disco is the hideout of Johnny from "Delete gang", a criminal gang in the future.
There's Johnny. Yes he looks like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever and perhaps there's Elvis Presley's element into the mix. You know what, Johnny? I think you're mistaken Zangief from the protagonists of Battle Circuit. Just saying.
Johnny doesn't want to stand still for long, given he's dancer on disco. So he naturally like to jump and jive like a kid that successfully skipping school for the first time. Eventually, i get a hold of him and unleash the famous spinning piledriver on him. Heavy_cheers06.wav
The bonus stage is weird. Like very weird. How come the masculine Russian Red Cyclone turn into one of the topless female biker of "Delete" gang that jumping over oil drums? Heavy_sf12_badmagic07.wav
There's more of them? Why they include Marvel vs Capcom, instead of Warriors of Fate, Knights of The Round or Dungeons and Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara? Oh, i see. It's excuse to include Morrigan and Strider Hiryu. Sorry Marvel Vs Capcom and Captain Commando, but i have to choose The Punisher this round. It's my childhood game. I played the Sega Genesis version a lot back in the day. Besides Frank Castle is my most favorite Marvel Comic's character besides Tony Stark a.k.a Ironman. Nick Fury also great character even the not Samuel L Jackson version.
T. Hawk has his pet hawk to attack his enemies. That's quite believable. But here comes Zangief summons knockoff Michael Gorbachev to trample his enemies with Kazachok kick dance. Heavy_positivevocalization02.wav
Man! That arcade cabinet is taller than the door. No wonder they kept it outside. You know that scuttling female ninjas in The Punisher game? They're gone and replaced with neon color Sodom copies which are more dangerous. They will relentlessly chop you if you get to close to them. You're not safe even from long distance because they can unleash shockwave from their blade. Not to mention they can soak up ton of damage. So far, they're the worst lesser/non-boss enemy.
After playing The Punisher for dozens time in Genesis and Arcade version, i just realize there's weirdness in layout of this Castle Pantaberde. Our heroes break the window outside to get in and the inside of the door is that staircase! Unless that staircase has hollow inside to allow passage through that door but that's very awkward interior concept!
Ok, let's cast aside that weird architecture and let's enjoy Guile fighting the henchmen. Beside the usual somersault and sonic boom, Guile has forward combo like Fei Long or Kyo Kusanagi from King of Fighter. But i feel like he's not good perhaps due to his super Sonic Boom that is close range akin to the one in Street Fighter Ex 2.
I didn't expect King from Art of Fighting or King of Fighter to be the one inside the cell. Also i don't know why she put her arm high to cover her breast. She should put the arm lower unless her nipples become visible. Thus i put censor on her. These goons actually brilliant. King more than able to fight back when she's about to be kidnapped unless while she's changing. She's too busy to cover her breast and that's the right opportunity to catch her alive without much resistance. Luckily, i'm here and willing to break open her cell door. Glad to help, ma'am.
Yeah. Yeah, spidey. Your spider sense is tingling because of the upcoming rolling drums. It happens often in this game or any Capcom's beat em up game in that regard so i don't need super sense to detect it.
Somehow, Spidey get crushed by Kingpin and turns to gibs despite his spider sense. I say he deserves that because he doesn't rescue King. Soldier_HatOverHeartTaunt03.wav
Here's the super move: Sonic Typhoon. It's close range projectile move that less impressive than Maki's super projectile. It goes without saying that i have quite hard time against Kingpin and his henchmen here. Funny thing is Kingpin also has super projectile move and it's better than Sonic Typhoon! I though he is going to fire laser from his thin cane stick like in the original game but no. He throws explosive cigar. Demoman_positivevocalization01.wav
Another funny thing is this Castle Pantaberde is supposed to be home of Bruno and not Kingpin. So why Kingpin is here? At first i though Bruno Costa is the custom character for the game but after bit of research i find out that he's the one who responsible for killing Frank Castle's family. That murder is crucial moment because that what makes Frank Castle turns into The Punisher that i know and love. There's bit lesson of American Comic there, reader.
After killing Kingpin (thus making Marvel's universe slightly better place to live), i encounter this mysterious bonus stage. Why mysterious? Because i don't know what to do here. This Yan Lee emits fiery aura like everyone in Dragon Ball Z that can instantly knock me back if i try to punch him. I try parry but only works once. Then the timer runs out. Oops!
This is obvious. I have to choose
Final Fight's path thus making the
"Final" part of the title make sense because this game is
supposed to be Final Fight and
Jessica most likely in there. Sniper_battlecry01.wav
See? Jessica is held firmly by Belger. She turns away from the boss of Mad Gear because he smells terrible.
So i have to fight the clown again. Fun. [Medium Sarcasm]
Do you know the rule of thumb of chandelier in every video game will fall down? That happens in here too. So be careful of that chandelier. It will falls if you stand near it.
No offense to every guile fans out there but Guile sucks quite bad here so i switch to T. Hawk again. I fight better as him.
Oh, look! Black is here and he's back. I don't come up with that, he said that himself. If you don't know Black, i don't blame you for that. He's the final boss i Final Fight 3. He like to spin around with his arm stretched out and you can parry that childish move of him or rather you have to because that move covers long distance..
There's the glass panel from that bonus stage in original Final Fight. It contains full-heal potion but breaking it already make me level up and get full recovery. Very funny, game.
Then finally, i encounter Belger himself and he did some sick drifting with his wheelchair while saying typical dialogue from any anime antagonist.
As per usual he has bunch of Andore to back him up. In the original version, it's annoying routine. But here knowing Andore's attacks can easily be parried and recover some mana upon successful parry, it's bliss. Would you take a guess which one is winning between the power of pet hawk or the auto crossbow?
Suddenly i get level up while doing Double Typhoon! Heavy_award08.wav
Then the history repeats itself. Not really. Instead of getting kicked/punched by Cody, Belger thrown out of the window with Mexican Typhoon. At least he get spicier death experience from the original Final Fight.
I bloody knew it! It's like Konami's tradition of "ending only for medium of higher difficulty". But my main question: Is it really possible to finish the game with no continue? The game is not easy or rather difficult even. I mean the original Final Fight is also very hard but you can get continue as you budget will allow (or completely free if you play it in emulator :P). I think the main factor of difficult is the lack of health recovery item. So i have to rely on auto-recovery when level up. I mean the RPG element is welcome feature but relying on the level up full-recovery feels wrong and unfit in beat em up game such as Final Fight. Or at least they can give us partial health recovery after finishing a section/sub-level. Just take a look on Streets of Rage 2!
Maybe i have to play it like 1CC elitist and exploit the auto save but i don't know if i can do it.
However...
I replay the game as T. Hawk in normal difficulty obviously and i manage to defeat M. Bison along with his Andore escorts. I thought there's more than that like in previous run with extra level from other Capcom's Beat em Up games but no. I pressing button too many that i almost skip this epilogue. Thank God, i managed to take screenshot of Cody punching M. Bison here. I don't if there's additional message beside this epilogue but thing for sure is i unlock Street Fighter Alpha character although there's no Rainbow Mika my favorite. :(
However (again)...
On next run, i play again as Maki and Akuma sequence happens again. After finishing the bonus stages and defeating Belger for real. Another ending rolls this time. It's mostly about senseless joke/comment about poison and i won't tell that in detail. There's this part featuring Maki and Carlos. Then Maki smugly says that she know that she's awesome because she's featured in Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Capcom vs SNK 2. Carlos can't do nothing but grumbling and feel annoyed. There's also part featuring Lucia and Dean saying Final Fight 3 is awesome but Lucia states that they're only filler character and people most likely pick Guy or Haggar. I agree with that. Meanwhile Commando team from Captain Commando and Cyber Blue from Battle Circuit having debate about time paradox that happens after Mad Gear and Shadaloo defeated. Speaking of the antagonists...
Akuma and M. Bison having debate because neither of them are the final boss. If i i'm being honest, Akuma is the easiest final boss compared to M. Bison and Belger due to the absence of backup. He's honorable fighter that has commendable sportsmanship and i very appreciate it. M. Bison has line of Andore to back him up. While Belger is the worst. Not only Andore but also Neon-colored Sodom clones are ready to assist him.
After the epilogue, you get presented with congratulation screen along with Poison picture. Later there's photographs of presumably LNS team crew cosplaying as various character including Mayor Mike Haggar. Good for them!
But then...
I load the save and i'm forced to take on Street Fighter's route. Fighting dozens of Shadaloo grunts and Cammy's ex-comrades. Then i end up fighting Seth! At this moment, i haven't defeat them. So let's end the review in this hanging point to make it intense. :P
That's lots of characters out there! I love me some crossover art. :D
LNS team's Final Fight LNS Ultimate is hidden "gem" and it's free. But i have to say that it's not something that you can easily enjoy. You have to play the hard. Really very hard. I mean you can play it in easy difficulty that -in my opinion- is the fairest way to play it. But you won't get the ending and new characters to play. I already said about the lack of healing. The other problem is lack of continue. In easy difficulty, you get 10 credits and extra life for every 100K score points. While in normal difficulty, you get no credits and extra life for every 200K score points. That's really harsh. I mean there's some number between 10 and 0. They should give the player -for example- 5 credits in normal difficulty. A credit gives you 2 lives which is measly quantity. Due to no continue, you're forced to master one character that you think up for the task in normal difficulty and that makes the game boring, tedious, yet monotonous. I don't see the reason why there's no continue and lack of healing item. Is it to pad the gameplay time? That's unnecessary. There's lots of branching paths and unlockable characters already. They're enough to pad the gameplay time.
I also want to complaint about the constant content of the drums. It's not 100% the same but the contents have same amount of score point or health recovery. I get it. It's for the memorization. There's randomness on loot dropped by fat enemies. Lesser chance of dropping feces, would be nice. Or more enemies drop food or score item also nice. There's section in The Punisher that spawn too many enemies that i get time out several times! But in final boss section, one of extra enemies drops a clock that refresh the timer which is nice of them. Also. You know in original Final Fight, that you always get something from breaking drum/barrel or at least 90% chance of that. But in this game, 60% drum/barrel are empty! Maybe if you play the game with more player, there will be more items inside of them. But that means the game is less friendly for one player mode! And that's just not fair. Another annoying thing is all bosses have temporary invincibility after getting knocked down! Plus the later bosses already have tons of health, so boss fights are tedious and miserable. Meanwhile, we don't get any post hit invincibility at all.
There's some awful jokes on the game (including the insensible jabbering about Poison and the "iconic" shout from certain suicide bomber terrorist plays in Baby Commando's super move. To be honest, i'm extremely offended with the latter example and for that i can't get to play as Baby Commando in this game. The jokes leave bad taste. The exclusion of Warriors of Fate or Knight of The Round also bothers me but not in awful way. The absence of any weapon also thing for my complaint. Throwing knife or container is good basic crowd control. One can argue: but you get special projectile move. Well, not all of the characters are zoner or shoto-clone, you know? So you're forced to rely on throw or the "Capcom throw". I'm very adept at that but what about the other player? Then there's occasion where enemy can juggle you in mid-air. However in the in-game instruction there's way to prevent that. After getting knocked out, hold the up direction button and press attack button to perform aerial escape. After successfully doing so, you character will perform their desperation upon safely landing on ground. It won't cost your health because you already pay the health cost in advance by getting knocked out by enemy's attack.
Picking score item become more important because not only you can get extra life if your score reach certain number but also to increase the experience bar and eventually you get free healing upon leveling up. The mishmash of graphic from Capcom game is definitely wonderful fanservice like in Metal Slug Defense. The sound effect is gorgeous and the music, some is great and one or two is just barely good. They also put their dubbing on some character like T. Hawk or Akuma. Yeah, imagine when i fight Akuma that speak english fluently while Maki's voice is Japanese line, ripped from -maybe- Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max. Kind of funny. The auto save is kind of double-edged sword, on one side you can play the game into the completion without worry to lose your progress. On the other hand, your status is locked within the autosave so if you happen to low on health or life after finishing sub-level, you're pretty much screwed and might as well as start from the beginning. Turns out, you can have more than one save slot with simple file manipulation. Just copy and rename save file in the directory folder. Easy! The game feels overly long but it facilitates you to muster necessary level ups for the final confrontation. Because of the autosave and the overly long stages, the intermission loading is noticeably long.
Final Fight LNS Ultimate is the lovely answer for the absence of Capcom's Beat em Up game. But it's not as beautiful as you would expect especially with the tasteless joke and frustrating difficulty. But tell you what? I'm grateful to LNS team for this amazing indie game despite all that. I can't training Touhou Project game (the vertical shmup ones) over and over again to get the best ending. But in this game, i can do that and in fact i already invested lots of time for this game. Beat em Up Game is simply my passion. Not aiming to be 1CC elitist but i still love the genre regardless and i can play this same exact game over and over again. Besides this indie game can satiate my need more than what Streets of Rage 2 hack can offer. Overall, i can recommend you to play this game if you're hardcore Capcom's side-scrolling brawler fans like me. You can also play the game up to 4 players. That will be very radical!
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