This is a strange little package by Capcom. It includes one of the most classic Beat ‘Em Ups ever, Final Fight, and the largely overlooked Magic Sword. Rather than remakes or upgraded ports, those are basically just the ROMs from the arcade version, with  addedonline capabilities and a few visual options.

So this will be a rather short review, but it’s still a game I want to comment about a bit.

So read on!

Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Date of Release: April 15th 2010
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360 (PS3 version reviewed)

Genre: Beat ‘em up
Players: 1-2 (online compatibility)
Rated T for Teen

Both games share some similar functions. The first is the display options. You can see the game as if it was an arcade machine, with the arcade front panel bordering the screen, or you can have the image stretch out to fill up the screen. And there’s various visual options, to have crisper/sharper graphics, or a view simulating seeing the game from a CRT screen with scanlines and all, just like playing on an actual arcade cabinet. None of those really make the games better or worse, but it’s nice to see visual filters that can make them look just a little bit better.

In addition, both games feature arcade-style online. Meaning, if you turn on the option (it’s turned on by default), people can jump into your game to help you out at total random. It only happened to me once for now, but it’s a pretty fun feature. Randomly getting help to finish a game is nice and useful. You can also invite friends to join your game. It’s a great feature for sure. The other online feature it has is the leaderboards, where you get ranked against other players depending on your score, though your number of continues used and number of lives lost, are also displayed.

Another function both games have is the Vault. After completing various conditions in-game, you get access to various pieces of art. Concept arts, comics, other art, some of which is pretty nice. And getting some of those require being really damn good at the game. Some require finishing levels really fast, or completing levels by dying as little as possible, or getting certain scores… it’s not always easy. The Vault is separate from trophies so there’s extra challenges for those.

Final Fight
Final Fight is one of the top Beat ‘em ups ever. No doubt about it. It has all the elements of a great Beat ‘em up. The nice graphics, varied enemies, simple gameplay, high difficulty, co-op gameplay… it’s just really good. The game took a slight drop in quality in its SNES incarnation. Some enemies were removed, some were renamed (Sodom renamed to “Katana”), co-op gameplay was gonna, one of the 3 playable characters just disappeared… overall it was inferior.

Here you get the actual arcade version. Poison is there, Sodom gets his proper name, there’s co-op gameplay, all 3 characters are there… This is Final Fight as it was intended to be played. Just less expensive then playing it at the arcades (if you know a place that actually has a Final Fight machine), since here you have infinite credits. But it’s still pretty hard. The fire part of the industrial stage will probably make you use a few continues to get through. Since it’s an arcade game, it was basically made to make you waste tons of money to get to the end, so in this case you’ll be using a lot of continues. And getting a good spot in the leaderboards will be a huge challenge, since using a continue resets your score.

The gameplay itself is quite simple… since it’s a Beat ‘em up. One attack button, one jump button. Hitting both buttons are once launches a special attack that hits all around you, and, if it does hit, you lose a bit of your life bar. Pressing forward while touching an enemy makes you hold the enemy and then you can hit him or throw him. The games biggest feature though is the difficulty. It’s really hard. Enemies are strong, there’s traps everywhere, and sometimes there’s so many enemies it’s hard to manage them all. So you have to learn how the AI works and what strategies to use against which enemies. It’s a simple game, but it’s tough and requires a good amount of skill to get good at.

Magic Sword
Magic Sword is a largely overlooked Capcom arcade classic. But it’s a very good game. It’s rather simple. Like Final Fight, you have one attack button, and one jump button. But it’s a lot simpler than Final Fight. It’s a side-scrolling platformer, and the goal of each of the 50 levels is to get to the end, or fight a boss. Each time you beat a boss, or reach a certain part of the tower, you get a new sword, which is more powerful and has different magic attacks.

You have one attack: swinging your sword. If you wait long enough between each strike, your magic meter increases, giving different levels of magic attacks. Each level is filled with respawning enemies, chests, and doors. The doors lead to prison cells, which you can open to liberate an ally, who, if you touch them, will follow you and attack when you do. There are 8 different allies that can follow you, each with different powers, as well as pros and cons. The only ally I found that isn’t gotten from prison cells is the Lizardman, which you must defeat, and, if you have a diamond ring equipped, you’ll be able to recruit him. Each ally can be leveled up for stronger or slightly modified attacks. You can also find items either dropped by enemies or from chests. Each item has a different effect, most of which I don’t know. Some give you protection from attacks, some make you attacks stronger, some give you better magic for a limited time. Some items are piece of equipment, and you can only have one of them at a time (picking up another removes the one you have). There’s a good variety of different effects and using the items properly or according to your style of play can really help.

Just like Final Fight, this is a hard game, especially if you want the tougher trophies and Vault challenges. While the gameplay is simple, learning exactly how your characters move and how to deal with different enemies is required to properly progress through the game. Sure, you have infinite continues, but you’ll never land a good spot in the leaderboards if you keep dying.

Overall
This is a very nice package. Not only does it include the best version of Final Fight, it also includes the very under-rated Magic Sword. Both of those games contain huge replay value, with secret to find and Vault Challenges that require getting better at them. The leaderboards alone can offer tons of replay value once you’re done with the challenges. Both games are really short with infinite continues, but you’ll keep going back to them because of how fun they are. And the inclusion of very solid online elements make both games that much more fun.

Both games are really simplistic, but really damn fun to play, and both are great experiences. Oh, and the soundtracks are remixed and they sound great.

The Save Factor
Considering getting the SNES version of Final Fight, which is much inferior to this one, would cost at least $5 (+shipping)… $10 for the best possible version of the game PLUS Magic Sword… It’s definitely worth the money. So the Save Factor is $10, the package’s full price! This is a bargain.

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