This past week saw another retro – re-release. This time the good people at Capcom give us a double dose of side scrolling beat-em up action. Final Fight Double Impact gives Final Fight and Magic Sword the royal treatment. Final Fight I have some fond memories of SNES days, and interestingly enough we actually have a working Magic Sword cabinet in the GamerFront office.
In Final Fight the city’s gangs have taken the mayor’s daughter hostage and it is up to her boyfriend and her father to pummel the streets back into submission with their fists and some “Extra Joy”. Magic Sword takes your skills as a warrior and pits them up against a tower 50 levels tall filled with more baddies than you have quarters (no worries you have unlimited continues). There really isn’t too much to describe here and if you have played either one of these titles in the past 20 years you know what to expect.
I will have to admit that both of these titles show their age a little, but I believe they wear it well. The new fancy HD graphics help liven things up a bit but the game play is as people will remember. For me the draw of these titles in the past was the co-op. With this release players are given the option of taking their game online. This option gives a “virtual” arcade feeling that I find a lot of fun.
For the price of admission ($9.99/800 MS points) I would say go pick this one up. Especially if you’re going to be playing with friends in person or online. Both titles make for good fun without a massive time investment and the addition of the drop in/out multiplayer can present some interesting guests at times.