A average game that can still be enjoyed
The beat em up genre was a staple of the NES/SNES generation. Except once the PS1 showed everyone how awesome a polygonal 3D model could be a few developers tried their hand at making a 3D brawler. Most of the time that didn't work out so well but Fighting Force was a exception. Although I didn't know it at the time this was mostly thanks to the fact this game was going to be Streets Of Rage 4 until they lost the rights to it from SEGA. Now that I know that it is easy to see what this game was before they lost the original name. As for the story they don't spend much time on it with the only important fact is that your a elite fighting force that is raiding a criminal masterminds HQ by punching everyone's lights out.
Like many other games in the beat em up genre this one starts off with 1-2 players choosing their fighter. Each one has different stats like Ben who is the slow but powerful bruiser that can take out enemies faster. Once your in the game it has the standard configuration of having a punch/kick button and a special move that takes some health if you use it. It may not bring anything new to the tired beat em up formula yet punching someones lights out is still quite satisfying. Plenty of objects will be lying around to be weilded against enemies like a iron pipe or even a shotgun. These items give the player a way to take down enemies faster although they do break after so many uses. They also give the player a reason to at least play through the game one more time to see some of the alternate stages you could have chosen at certain points
Not everything was as smooth a transfer to 3D like the fact it is possible to attack thin air if you don't line up the player character correctly. Being able to lock on to enemies could have fixed this issue although it didn't come up to often during my playthrough. The limited replay ability may help but Fighting Force is a really short game that can be competed in a few hours. The graphics are also dated as well. None of these negative points take away from the satisfying combat or the rocking musical soundtrack that accompanies you through the streets. If you interested in checking out older brawlers this one is worth playing. But if your not a fan of this type of game this isn't the one that'll show you why people enjoy this type of gameplay.
