Speed Demos Archive - Final Fight

Final Fight is a telling of the story we all know and cherish. It's the tale of a kidnapped girl and her father's murderous, bloody rampage to get her back. This game has seen many home iterations. More notable releases: Final Fight One was released in 2001 for the Game Boy Advance. This version recreated the missing parts of the original Final Fight game that was released on the SNES in November of 1991. However, Final Fight was released yet again as part of the Capcom Classics Collection Volume 1 in 2005 for the PS2 and Xbox, but this version changed very little and is the closest to arcade perfect of any of the home releases.

It's back to one of DK28's favorite genres, the beat 'em up. I've been ready to do this game almost from day one. The problem is, it wasn't until recently that I finally got a Game Boy Player. I've spent many hours crushing this game while on road trips for work. So in a way, my job paid me to run this game. Imagine that.

I would like to take a time out to give thanks to SDA and crew, for all the tireless work, including all of the new changes going on around our community of SDA. To Mike, for accepting my submission, even though we both know we need a run of the classics collection version as well. And to Nate, for all the video work that no mere mortal would be able to pull off.

I also need to mention the hilarity of my Wife's commentary. I wish I had recorded it. It included many great conversations, the best of which goes as follows:
*Starting a new game after having to reset*
Me, explaining the storyline as I begin, and Damnd is holding Haggar's daughter: See, he has her right there and I have to get her back.
Wife: Oh, I thought she was a prostitute. Why is she dressed like a whore?
*Reset again due to laughter and loss of all concentration*

Note: You'll notice of lot of the "Extra Joy" or spinning kick move. I do this for a few reasons. First, it does crazy damage, most enemies die in one hit. Second, it covers about half a screen length, which allows me to kill a lot of enemies off screen. Third, if you've played this game, you know that almost all enemies play cat and mouse with you, moving back and forth so you can't get them, sometimes they never let up. Doing the spin kick eliminates this completely as they are not programmed to run from it. This is also faster on the enemies that take two kicks rather than chasing them down.

Slum - Pretty straight forward. The entire level was near perfect. Damnd gets murdered quick.

Subway to Park - Spin kick of justice, here you really notice the effectiveness of this move, especially on the J's and Two P's. They love to twitch around. Also, the Axl's and Slash's can't block it like they do everything else. The whole level was pretty awesome though, including the quick infinite on Sodom and his double Katana.

Bonus Stage Car - Epic, with the double hit on the left. "Oh! My god car"

Westside - Yes, you must knee through at least one of the club doors. I had an early bump getting caught between the Jake and Two P. Both were shy about dying. The chaos in the cage goes perfectly with double Andore. After exiting the club, I swear I hit "R", stupid wavebird cutting out. But it's still another great level overall. And you should reject a Final Fight run if the player doesn't get Edi's gum.

Industrial Area - Had to plan here, the fire is one of the few major threats in the game. No problem though as the enemies were oddly coming straight to me. It's necessary to fight everybody off screen in the beginning to be quick. And allow me to explain the hallway mess. It looks sloppy, but by using just a little extra time, you avoid extra enemies. I had a Slash come out, but if done wrong, you can also end up with a Jake and an Andore. I was also able to end the hallway with only two Flame Hollywoods instead of four. The elevator was perfect. Sorry Rolento, but I am the Leader.

Bay Area - This is normally the hard level for me and it went great. I especially liked my knife fight with the Hollywoods and El Gados. With a name like Abigail, you need to die. And let's say I killed the last J myself.

Bonus Stage Glass - Very smooth. My best is six seconds remaining, this was more than acceptable.

Uptown - All things considered, this level was near flawless. This was probably one of, if not my best, runs through this level. I almost get kicked over by the Dug at the end of the Boss fight, but I take it like a Champ and send Belger out the window for one of the best arcade death scenes ever.

And there it is. I single handedly killed the entire gang, all 316 of them, and threw their boss out of a thirty story window. Justice, in the best way.

Cody deserves some love.

Back to Final Fight, one of the best beat down games EVAR. Published by SDA, with the best staff EVAR. Thanks to you all. It was a while ago when I did my Cody run, so now I'm finally getting around to finishing the other characters. Guy was always on my 50/50 list, but if I'm going to do a Cody and Haggar run, I might as well do all three right? So sit back, relax and enjoy some long combos.

At this point, I think my Wife is getting too into this. She was watching me and actually critiqued me for trying to rush it. The funny part is she was right. Moving on to the run...

Slum - Perfect level to start things off. You'll notice it takes a little longer to kill people. Even Alpha Guy still has relatively weak offense, the benefit is the improved defense. You'll also notice less use of the extra joy. It doesn't own nearly as much as Cody's and is used sparingly except where it's a one hit kill.

Subway Park - Things go great getting into the train. You may think I lost some time on that Hollywood, but you have to wait for Sid to pop out anyway. The level is really perfect minus a small mess up on that last Billy before Sodom. The Samurai falls to the Ninja. Only one knock down is good, two is average unless you play really conservatively, which takes longer. The infinite is also longer than knees to the solar plexus.

Car Bonus - I lose a couple seconds finding the double spot. This is normal, for some reason, Guy has a hard time getting there. I rarely get it first try.

West Side - Things go well breaking into the night club. I encounter some trouble inside, but I start handling all of 'em. And we go into the cage. The Andores do not cooperate well. One gets in deep ruining the infinite. I resort to the sword to cut time. I don't like the sword, because Guy is so slow with it, but I don't get chest bumped so there is minimal time lost. I get knocked down by fat ass leaving the club. I don't know what it is about that spot that troubles me. Edi E dies nobly.

Industrial Area - A little trouble in the start, but the enemies are timed, so no real loss. I'm able to avoid all of the extra enemies after the barrells through proper timing. Win. And I avoid more at the end of the hall. Double Win! The elevator is a waiting game and Rolento gets the infinite to sleep.

Bay Area - Great beginning to the long walk down the pier. Stupid barrel messes up my combo on Andore, that's just stupid. Things continue going well afterwards. I win in the bathroom, take that as you will. Now, I have no idea why I stood under that El Gado during the knife fight. Whatever. Things proceed properly to Abigail. In addition to this being the hardest level for me, Abigail is also the biggest run killer. I get crazy lucky here with J walking around. This fight alone is just icing on the cake for the run at this point.

Glass Bonus - Some stubborn panes here, but I make due. Acceptable.

Uptown - Yes, I do a lot of eating in the beginning. But there is no time lost and the AI is more prone to attack while you're grabbing. And Guy is hungry this late in the game. The pool side walk goes great and I hope you're entertained by me getting set ablaze. Not much else to do to pass the time. Once inside, you realize that El Gado really had it in for me. Geez. The rest of the level goes very well. Minor hold up at the end of the last terrace, but you have to wait for Billy anyway. It takes a couple seconds to get Old Man Belger into place, but he was amazingly cooperative. I pitch him out the window as a thank you.

Overall the run is great and I'm very pleased with it, especially using the Bushin Ninja. Pretty much all the areas where I may have been able to do quicker kills had no time lost since it's a timed event for the next thug to come out. And on top of everything else, my incredible luck with Abigail and Belger seal the deal. Guy still doesn't get the girl, but he's a bad ass Ninja, so it all works out.

Although, he's not very stealthy for a Ninja....

I'm going to be quick. Thank you to the SDA crew for being amazing at what they do. And we're off to the run already. Why? It's MIKE HAGGAR! This run is for everybody who loves MIKE EFFIN' HAGGAR and piledrivers. This run is also for you Emptyeye. I know you'll appreciate this one.

Slum - We start things off with a PILEDRIVER. And yes, I did a piledriver everywhere I could that it didn't waste time. Enjoy! Level is owned hard.

Subway Park - A perfect trek to and in the train. We also get our next PILEDRIVER. The infinite fails on Sodom. This is common, I still try it though as the headbutts are only faster if you do not get knocked down at all. I resort to headbutts and do not get knocked down at all. Loving life right now.

Bonus Car Stage - Finding the double is hardest with HAGGAR, if it doesn't work I just do it one at a time. He is so slow, you waste time looking for the sweet spot. It costs me around three seconds.

West Side - The fight goes absolutely swimmingly to the club and on to the cage. HAGGAR is so Pro with the Masamune. Always with the trouble leaving the club. What the H? The Edi E fight requires HAGGAR luck not dropping during the head ramming. I nail the fight where it counts.

Industrial Area - The flame zone is no problem, I show my leetness here. Then we not only get our next PILEDRIVER, but I obtain the after barrel enemy skip. Oh yeah! And then more enemies skipped at the end of the hall. I think I'm getting good at this game. On to the elevator, BONUS PILEDRIVER! Now here's Rolento. He can't get the infinite and my headbutt luck was bad, making this the down point of the run. I handled it well. The worst part was him getting out of that last grab, losing me a couple seconds to come back down. Still acceptable, but a little frustrating.

Bay Area - PILEDRIVER! Good start, but that Andore punch out of the air was absolute filth. Screw him, I hope he dies, oh wait, he did. HAGGAR marches on to the bathroom. I get lucky coming out with the hidden tire burger. This allows me to go for it through the knife fight. The home stretch poses no problem. I get so damn lucky on Abigail. Infinite to the extreme.

Bonus Stage of Glass - I lose on purpose here. HAGGAR wins with only a couple seconds to spare making it take longer to tally your score than failing.

Uptown - Easy start, but I get the no damage early and it costs me a chandelier to the dome. Of course the one time that happens it gives me a jewel instead of meat. I was hoping to meat whore. I have a little trouble getting into the elevator. Things get a little close by the pools. Avoiding fire is critical. I eat as soon as I get back inside. Game on. I leave a wake of destruction heading to the Boss. Belger gets destroyed as I manipulate his health bar to ensure his time running away by the window is as short as possible. Fatality.

Some notes for the run. Haggars standard combo doesn't kill most thugs. It leaves a sliver of health which is why you have to end with the suplex. You also have to be lucky with the headbutts. Haggar will randomly drop enemies before delivering all three. You should notice I get very lucky and handle all of this well. Haggar deserves the best. I hope this run does him the justice that he deserves. We would all vote for him anyway.

MIKE HAGGAR, enough said.

So this is Final Fight arcade. I play using Cody since he has by far the most strengths out of the cast. Most of whats going on in this run is explained in the audio commentary, so I would advise listening to it if you are interested in all the details of the run.

Notes about game mechanics and several other details are layed out on the knowledge database (https://kb.speeddemosarchive.com/Final_Fight)

Since I am running on factory defaults and require a 1cc, I am only allowed 2 deaths in this run. In this particular run, the first death happened during an autoscroller where it could not have costed time, and the second happened during the most difficult fight in the game, where dying actually sets up the fight to be significantly more possible, so I am very satisfied with that portion of the run. While I am a bit disapointed that Belger escaped me for a while, the luck on the Abigail fight and the fight before the elevator in Uptown more than make up for that.

I hope everyone enjoys this, and hopefully I'll have some more Final Fight stuff to share in the future.

So this is Final Fight arcade. I played using Guy, since he's like Cody except basically entirely worse, but he's still not Haggar. Oh and he has a walljump. Woo. Most of whats going on in this run is explained in the audio commentary, so I would advise listening to it if you are interested in all the details of the run.

Notes about game mechanics and several other details are layed out on the knowledge database (https://kb.speeddemosarchive.com/Final_Fight)

Since I am running on factory defaults and require a 1cc, I am only allowed 2 deaths in this run. In this particular run, my only death was on the autoscroller where it cannot possibly have costed time.

I hope everyone enjoys this, and hopefully I'll have some more Final Fight stuff to share in the future.