Final Fight 3

Overview

Final Fight 3 (known in Japan as Final Fight Tough) is a 2D belt-scrolling brawler developed and published by Capcom for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System on December 21, 1995.

Set after the events of Final Fight 2, this game brings the action back to Metro City as a new threat starts a riot: the Skull Cross Gang. Joining mayor (and former pro wrestler) Mike Haggar and Bushin ninja Guy are two new allies: street brawler Dean and police detective Lucia Morgan.

The last in the Final Fight trilogy of 2D beat-'em-ups, Final Fight 3 adds new abilities (such as dashing forward and new dash attacks), character-preferred weapons (such as nunchaku for Guy), a Super Gauge (which gives access to a devastating Super Move), and the option to fight alongside an A.I. player.

The game was later digitally re-released via the Virtual Console for the Wii (on January 4, 2010), Wii U (on October 3, 2013), and New Nintendo 3DS (on September 22, 2016).

Plot

After the demise of the Mad Gear, a power struggles occurs among the many street gangs of Metro City. One gang known as Skull Cross reigns supreme. Mayor Mike Haggar gets a visit from Guy, one of the playable characters from the original Final Fight, after he returns from his training session. The reunion is cut short as a explosion occurs just outside of Mike Haggar's office. A police detective named Lucia Morgan enters Mike Haggar's office and tells him that a full on riot has begun between all the street gangs of Metro City. Lucia enlists the aid of Mike Haggar and Guy to put things under control, as they head on out, a mysterious street fighter appears and offers to help.

As soon things cool down, the heroes find out the riot was just a distraction for the heroes and the police for the Skull Cross to break several member of Skull Cross out of prison; several prison inmates were former Mad Gear members, such as the Andore family. The mysterious person from the beginning introduces himself as Dean, a street fighter whose family was murdered by the Skull Cross for refusing to join their gang. Dean seeks revenge on Skull Cross for the death of his family.

The heroes' journey leads them through areas of Metro City while doing battle against members of the Skull Cross. They head into a cargo ship that belongs to Skull Cross and discover a huge stockpile of weapons. They soon infer that Skull Cross was smuggling weapons for someone, they also see the words "Sim Inc." written over the cargo. The heroes head out to other areas of Metro City. The clues they uncover along the way lead them back into the city, to a building that's considered to be the tallest building of Metro City.

As the heroes of Metro City wage battle against members of Skull Cross, they finally made it to the roof of the building and see whom is behind the whole catastrophe. A helicopter lands on the roof of the building and a man jumps out; the president of Sim Inc., Black. The heroes defeat Black and give him the final blow by knocking him into electrical wires - electrocuting him to death.

The four heroes save the day once again. Dean goes off on his own but thanks Haggar for his help on getting revenge on Skull Cross.

Gameplay

The game uses the same buttons from the first two games; two buttons, attack and jump, a special attack can be performed by pressing both buttons at the same time (a single button can be used for a special attack). The special attack will drain the player's health when used.

Final Fight 3 introduces more attacks moves to the formula. The player can now run by tapping on the D-Pad twice, and with a combination with the attack button, can perform a dash attack. The player can also grab an enemy from behind and perform attacks from that position.

Holding a shoulder button allows the player to lock-in the direction they're facing, making it possible to "moonwalk" (retreat without turning one's back on the enemy) or take a defensive, retreating hop backwards by double-tapping the d-pad in the opposite direction.

A special meter that is found in fighting games such as Super Street Fighter II Turbo is introduced in Final Fight 3. The special meter fills up when the players attacks, and once the meter is filled the player can perform a special attack on an enemy by using a short combination of buttons.

The game allows the player to take different directions at points in the story. Some alternate areas would result with different enemies for the player to fight.

Two bonus stages appear in the game. The first stage takes place on the docks and the objective is to defeat a member of Skull Cross who is on a bulldozer who is also trying to push the player off the docks; the player must defeat the member of Skull Cross before it's too late. In the other bonus stage the player must destroy a computer, but must go through an area where multiple barrels are falling down on the player first. The player must get through the falling barrels and destroy the computer before the time runs out.

Like the previous games, items can appear in the stages. Health will allow the player heal his or her character up. Other items are weapons for the player to use against enemies. Each of the playable characters specializes on a weapon; for example, Guy can specializes on nun-chucks and will use them in a different fashion than the other characters.

Each enemy in the game differs from each other. For example, Joe - a little person on skates - can move very fast and jump on the player to unleash damage on him or her; and Hunter - a man in a baseball uniform and hockey mask - can attack the player with a baseball bat.

Co-Op play allows two people play the game simultaneously. Final Fight 3 lets the player play the Co-Op alone with a computer control A.I.

Characters

Mike Haggar - The mayor of Metro City is called into action once again as a new gang society named Skull Cross tries to take over Metro City.

Guy - Back from his training session, Guy returns to Metro City but his welcome return is cut short as trouble arises in Metro City and he is called into action once again.

Dean - A street fighter who was invited to be a member of the Skull Cross gang. But he rejected their offer, and a result, his family was killed by Skull Cross. Dean seeks revenge on the Skull Cross gang for the death of his family.

Lucia Morgan - A police detective Metro City SCU - Special Crime Unit. She was accused of corruption but was cleared with the help of Mike Haggar.