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

[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.

[CelticJobber]

As a kid I always loved Final Fight, even the sub-par port on SNES (as it was my first exposure to the series, I had no idea how stripped down it was from the arcade).

But for some reason, I never enjoyed Final Fight 2 nearly as much. Maybe it was because Cody was my favorite character and he wasn't in the sequel.

And I didn't like it because the character sprites were smaller, which sounds kinda weird but it's also one of the reasons I preferred Final Fight to the Streets of Rage series.

And I always wanted to play Final Fight 3 after it's release, but I never could find it back then. Same with FF Guy (though apparently I didn't miss much with that one).

[Tanooki]

I don't see where there's even a conspiracy theory worth it on Final Fight like that.

Final Fight was released as is because Capcom was being a cheapskate and trying to rush and it's pretty clear at that. They went with a small chip to keep costs down and as a result they had to do cuts. They removed Rolento and his entire stage, they also gutted out Guy which was inexcusable as much as removing 2P mode which the arcade was a key draw around, and then they neutered it putting in stickboy trannies instead of the girls. While it ticked people off who were old enough to care we have to keep it in perspective of 1991 when most here probably with SNES were teens or kids in the pre-internet era so they'd have no clue of being shafted so I don't see how FF1 hurt FF2's sales. FF Guy was retail in Japan and was basically just a re-skin of their cheapskate port of the original, Blockbuster saw a rental opportunity and was able to work with Capcom to exclusively rent those things out in the states as it wasn't a retail purchase. Final FIght 2 popped up after that rental in this country, but it was made before FF1 got reskinned as FF Guy. Final FIght 2 was on par or even in some ways depending on tastes superior to other brawlers and it has the lack of multiplayer corrected. Capcom wasn't hurting for rep as they had other potent titles at the time too like Captain Commando. I don't even see how arguing about the Genesis is relevant as most people were single system owners in that era, it isn't the period of now where game junkies have at least 2 if not all 3 of the big fish so if you had a Genesis you got Streets of Rage 1-3, and if you had SNES only you were a Final Fight 1-3 type guy or played others from Capcom or other developers on each.

[SparTonberry]

They went with a small chip to keep costs down and as a result they had to do cuts.

Final Fight was 8 megabit which was actually large for a game released in 1990 (in Japan). SFII was considered "huge" when it was released with 16 megabits in 1992.
At the beginning of the year, Konami released Ganbare Goemon Gaiden 1, which (I'm pretty sure) was actually the first 4-megabit Famicom game. (yeah, I know Phantasy Star was a 4-meg game made in 1987, not sure why it took over 2 years for the FC to catch up. Chip shortage?)

[wiggyx]

Final Fight was 8 megabit which was actually large for a game released in 1990 (in Japan). SFII was considered "huge" when it was released with 16 megabits in 1992.
At the beginning of the year, Konami released Ganbare Goemon Gaiden 1, which (I'm pretty sure) was actually the first 4-megabit Famicom game. (yeah, I know Phantasy Star was a 4-meg game made in 1987, not sure why it took over 2 years for the FC to catch up. Chip shortage?)

Not to mention that it was a VERY early 1st generation title. It wasn't like Capcom had 3-4 years if SFC/SNES programming experience behind them at that point.

[starsoldier1]

I don't see where there's even a conspiracy theory worth it on Final Fight like that.

Final Fight was released as is because Capcom was being a cheapskate and trying to rush and it's pretty clear at that. They went with a small chip to keep costs down and as a result they had to do cuts. They removed Rolento and his entire stage, they also gutted out Guy which was inexcusable as much as removing 2P mode which the arcade was a key draw around, and then they neutered it putting in stickboy trannies instead of the girls. While it ticked people off who were old enough to care we have to keep it in perspective of 1991 when most here probably with SNES were teens or kids in the pre-internet era so they'd have no clue of being shafted so I don't see how FF1 hurt FF2's sales. FF Guy was retail in Japan and was basically just a re-skin of their cheapskate port of the original, Blockbuster saw a rental opportunity and was able to work with Capcom to exclusively rent those things out in the states as it wasn't a retail purchase. Final FIght 2 popped up after that rental in this country, but it was made before FF1 got reskinned as FF Guy. Final FIght 2 was on par or even in some ways depending on tastes superior to other brawlers and it has the lack of multiplayer corrected. Capcom wasn't hurting for rep as they had other potent titles at the time too like Captain Commando. I don't even see how arguing about the Genesis is relevant as most people were single system owners in that era, it isn't the period of now where game junkies have at least 2 if not all 3 of the big fish so if you had a Genesis you got Streets of Rage 1-3, and if you had SNES only you were a Final Fight 1-3 type guy or played others from Capcom or other developers on each.

Good points but that's not really my issue. It appears the character Carlos was originally suppose to be Guy and Capcom delayed development on FF2 so they could slap together a cheap cash-in like Final Fight Guy. It was a little too easy for me to edit in Guy in Final Fight 2 for example.

[starsoldier1]

As a kid I always loved Final Fight, even the sub-par port on SNES (as it was my first exposure to the series, I had no idea how stripped down it was from the arcade).

But for some reason, I never enjoyed Final Fight 2 nearly as much. Maybe it was because Cody was my favorite character and he wasn't in the sequel.

And I didn't like it because the character sprites were smaller, which sounds kinda weird but it's also one of the reasons I preferred Final Fight to the Streets of Rage series.

And I always wanted to play Final Fight 3 after it's release, but I never could find it back then. Same with FF Guy (though apparently I didn't miss much with that one).

You're not the only one, many had mixed review on Final Fight 2 despite how popular the first one was and actually still is.

[starsoldier1]

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.

I always thought that was weird too since Capcom was still making side scrolling beat em ups in the arcades at that time like Knights of the Round and the Punisher. If Final Fight 2 was released to the arcades first, maybe Capcom could have poured more effort into it.