The Capcom Conspiracy: Why did they ruin Final Fight 2 and FF Guy?

[starsoldier1]

I know a lot of people hate the new Capcom and some stupid marketing decisions like charging for DLC already on the game and destroying the franchise of Mega Man but they were screwing up in the 16-bit era at the peak of their popularity too. Take the Final Fight series for example: the famous arcade beat 'em up was a huge hit on the Super Nintendo and to follow it up they planned the grand sequel to be a Snes exclusive. Problem was the Final Fight 2 game flopped big time and you hardly see anybody talk about it anymore while the original is still considered a classic.

Now there are several reasons to why the sequel was so lackluster but maybe the biggest reason may be my little conspiracy theory here: GUY WAS SUPPOSE TO PLAYABLE IN THE GAME! If you don't know who Guy was (especially if you played only the Snes Final Fight) he was the very quick ninja character that even got his own spin off title but oddly enough if you look at the rather generic character Carlos he has a very similar style to Guy in Final Fight 2. Hell, even the story line is heavily focused on Guy in the game yet he's off training while his wife to be is kidnapped. I can't confirm this but it looks like at the last minute the higher ups at Capcom removed Guy from FF2 so they could quickly made a cheap cash in title called Final Fight Guy. Am I crazy, or did Capcom screw over one of their most promising franchises? What's your opinions?

[The Adventurer]

Now I'm not a Final Fight expert but I'm pretty sure if Final Fight 2 is one of the most well-regarded side scrolling beat em up on 16 bit consoles. Superior to the first SNES game due to it's two player multiplayer.

I'm also pretty sure final fight guy was a rental exclusive, so not really a cash in. And just as inferior as the first Version due to being single player only.

[starsoldier1]

Now I'm not a Final Fight expert but I'm pretty sure if Final Fight 2 is one of the most well-regarded side scrolling beat em up on 16 bit consoles. Superior to the first SNES game due to it's two player multiplayer.

I'm also pretty sure final fight guy was a rental exclusive, so not really a cash in. And just as inferior as the first Version due to being single player only.

Final Fight 2 is superior to the poor Final Fight Snes port in several ways I agree but that doesn't mean it was well-regarded as a classic. Sadly when FF2 was released in 1993 it got lost in the shuffle to other more polished beat em ups like Streets of Rage 2. Final Fight Guy was a retail release in 1992 in Japan which was odd.

[Gameguy]

Final Fight 2 is superior to the poor Final Fight Snes port in several ways I agree but that doesn't mean it was well-regarded as a classic. Sadly when FF2 was released in 1993 it got lost in the shuffle to other more polished beat em ups like Streets of Rage 2. Final Fight Guy was a retail release in 1992 in Japan which was odd.

It doesn't really make that much sense, people avoided buying Final Fight 2 because a slightly better fighting game was released on a different console, back when most people only owned one console at a time?

If anything Streets of Rage 2 sold more copies because it was a pack-in game at one time. It was produced by Sega so they could afford to do more with it. I do like both series though, they're all good games.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55DgKIKwdg

Final Fight Guy was produced because Guy wasn't inlcuded in the original Final Fight due to space restrictions, people wanted Guy so they made a game including him. Final Fight was more popular in Japan than in America so it makes sense why it got a retail release there first, it's basically the same game that everyone already bought in America so why would they re-release it mass produced? Especially when the sequel was just coming out. Even so while it was originally a Blockbuster exclusive, from what I've read it was eventually given a limited release.

It did get some negative reviews saying that it was repetitive(it's a beat' em up so that's a given), but really it didn't sell as well because Street Fighter II was out by that point. Everyone focused on those types of games at that time.

[starsoldier1]

It doesn't really make that much sense, people avoided buying Final Fight 2 because a slightly better fighting game was released on a different console, back when most people only owned one console at a time?

If anything Streets of Rage 2 sold more copies because it was a pack-in game at one time. It was produced by Sega so they could afford to do more with it. I do like both series though, they're all good games.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55DgKIKwdg

Final Fight Guy was produced because Guy wasn't inlcuded in the original Final Fight due to space restrictions, people wanted Guy so they made a game including him. Final Fight was more popular in Japan than in America so it makes sense why it got a retail release there first, it's basically the same game that everyone already bought in America so why would they re-release it mass produced? Especially when the sequel was just coming out. Even so while it was originally a Blockbuster exclusive, from what I've read it was eventually given a limited release.

It did get some negative reviews saying that it was repetitive(it's a beat' em up so that's a given), but really it didn't sell as well because Street Fighter II was out by that point. Everyone focused on those types of games at that time.

OK, maybe some people never got the chance to play SOR2 back in the day since it was on a different console but older magazines would have and their reviews would reflect other titles in the genre. Also I compared to FF2 to TMNT Turtles in Time in the video which was a super release as well.

I can see your point, Final Fight Guy was a decent enough game idea in theory but it also came at the cost of making Final Fight 2 a great game instead of a indifferent, decent one when it looks like Capcom had Guy as a playable fighter removed.

[treismac]

To be honest, I always viewed Final Fight 2 & 3 as inferior to the original because they never graced the arcade before coming to the home console like the original. They were direct-to-video, man; this lowered my view of them back in the time when arcades were king.

With this said, I never played either sequel as a kid back in the day, and I was sore at Capcom for making Final Fight a one player affair on the SNES, so I didn't want to give them another chance with their sequels.

[Parodius Duh!]

I know a lot of people hate the new Capcom and some stupid marketing decisions like charging for DLC already on the game and destroying the franchise of Mega Man but they were screwing up in the 16-bit era at the peak of their popularity too. Take the Final Fight series for example: the famous arcade beat 'em up was a huge hit on the Super Nintendo and to follow it up they planned the grand sequel to be a Snes exclusive. Problem was the Final Fight 2 game flopped big time and you hardly see anybody talk about it anymore while the original is still considered a classic.

Now there are several reasons to why the sequel was so lackluster but maybe the biggest reason may be my little conspiracy theory here: GUY WAS SUPPOSE TO PLAYABLE IN THE GAME! If you don't know who Guy was (especially if you played only the Snes Final Fight) he was the very quick ninja character that even got his own spin off title but oddly enough if you look at the rather generic character Carlos he has a very similar style to Guy in Final Fight 2. Hell, even the story line is heavily focused on Guy in the game yet he's off training while his wife to be is kidnapped. I can't confirm this but it looks like at the last minute the higher ups at Capcom removed Guy from FF2 so they could quickly made a cheap cash in title called Final Fight Guy. Am I crazy, or did Capcom screw over one of their most promising franchises? What's your opinions?

Dude....did you make up all this research yourself? Final Fight Guy came out BEFORE 2......Final Fight 2 was highly regarded and still is to this day.

[wiggyx]

Where's Captain Picard when you need him...

[SparTonberry]

Dude....did you make up all this research yourself? Final Fight Guy came out BEFORE 2......Final Fight 2 was highly regarded and still is to this day.

Final Fight Guy was a retail release in Japan, and released before Final Fight 2.
But in the US, Final Fight Guy was released to rental only after Final Fight 2.

For some reason though Final Fight 2 was not released on the Wii VC in Japan (though the other two were, and other regions got the full trilogy).

[starsoldier1]

Final Fight Guy was a retail release in Japan, and released before Final Fight 2.
But in the US, Final Fight Guy was released to rental only after Final Fight 2.

For some reason though Final Fight 2 was not released on the Wii VC in Japan (though the other two were, and other regions got the full trilogy).

Yes, I think Final Fight 2 got a lot of mixed reviews and that's why I think Capcom is not porting it to a lot of systems like the Gameboy Advance, PSN and Xbox Live (eventhough they got the original FF).

[starsoldier1]

Dude....did you make up all this research yourself? Final Fight Guy came out BEFORE 2......Final Fight 2 was highly regarded and still is to this day.

Yup, I said in the video both Final Fight Guy and Final Fight 2 were released in just months apart in Japan but in North America the situation got reversed when Blockbuster released the NTSC version in 1994. Although many like Final Fight 2, I find many don't LOVE the game for being a safe but weak sequel.

[ShinobiMan]

Dude....did you make up all this research yourself? Final Fight Guy came out BEFORE 2......Final Fight 2 was highly regarded and still is to this day.

Yeah, I walked into this thread thinking the same thing. Final Fight 2 is a classic. Now 3... a bit of a misstep IMHO. Streets Of Rage 2 will always top this game however in style and gameplay... well music too. EVERYTHING.

[starsoldier1]

Yeah, I walked into this thread thinking the same thing. Final Fight 2 is a classic. Now 3... a bit of a misstep IMHO. Streets Of Rage 2 will always top this game however in style and gameplay... well music too. EVERYTHING.

I'm not saying Final Fight 2 is really a bad game and I even gave it a passing grade in a review. I'm just saying it's odd how Guy may have been omitted from the game originally since the story line is so focused on his character yet he's not playable. Ohya, and I agree that Streets of Rage 2 is awesome!

[Captain_N77]

You are really reaching with this conspiracy, but at least you got folks talking about Final Fight!

Personally, I really like FF2. Yeah, it stinks having no Guy or Cody, but the game plays well and has co-op. I do feel FF3 is a step down, but still playable and fun.

I still occasionally play FF on SNES. It was my first FF game and despite all of the cuts we know are made to the game...it's still fun. I love the setting, music, characters, and the tight controls. True it would have been great to have Guy and co-op, but that's just the way the old cookie crumbles sometimes.

[starsoldier1]

You are really reaching with this conspiracy, but at least you got folks talking about Final Fight!

Personally, I really like FF2. Yeah, it stinks having no Guy or Cody, but the game plays well and has co-op. I do feel FF3 is a step down, but still playable and fun.

I still occasionally play FF on SNES. It was my first FF game and despite all of the cuts we know are made to the game...it's still fun. I love the setting, music, characters, and the tight controls. True it would have been great to have Guy and co-op, but that's just the way the old cookie crumbles sometimes.

It's a long shot but I still think it's very odd how similar Carlos and Guy are to one another. Again, I don't hate the game Final Fight 2 but when I reviewed it, the sequel just felt like it was missing something. There seems to be a lot of love for FF2 but it's odd that Capcom themselves only re-released the game on the Wii VC so far and not the other systems.