Don't be like that.

Yeah, mechanically this game was the worst out of all the popular brawlers. No moves aside from "punch" and the terrible special power system that was limited used AND punished you by depleting your health. Final Fight came out a whole 3 years earlier and was still Dark Souls in comparison.

The only reason it's remembered at all is the license and 6 player cabinet.

This game rules. Haters take the train.

oh good god

the game is fucking fine

Konami made the best beat em ups in the industry at this time. Yeah, most were licensed, but they were full of personality and surprises and did a lot with their limited hardware. Games like TMNT and The Simpsons really went out of their way to capture the unique vibes of their respective franchises and the results were games that you kept playing just to see what surprises and cameos they threw at you next.

Final Fight is honestly just Double Dragon with bigger sprites. Overrated. I feel like people mostly remember it because it was a Super NES launch title.

Final Fight is only remembered as a SNES launch title? Huh?

but the REAL answer to anyone who knows anything about the history of arcade brawlers:

Of course it was Capcom who made all the best ones. Final Fight was the jump from previous brawlers to the same degree of Street Fighter 1 to 2, and that was three whole years before X-Men which was just barely above stuff like Combatribes from 2 years prior.

From there, Capcom released Knights of the Round and the holy trinity of brawler masterpieces that have yet to topped: Aliens vs Predator, Dungeons & Dragons (Tower of Doom & Shadow over Mystara), and Armored Warriors.

"Konami made the best beat em ups in the industry at this time."
shut the fuck up

Did Konami kill your dog or something.

Something I love about this game is how the special abilities have almost nothing in common with the mutants' normal powers. Wolverine shoots an energy beam from his claws, Colossus sort of explodes, Nightcrawler... zips around the screen as a rainbow? It takes a lot of imagination to make any of it make sense.

it's because they didn't care. this lack of caring permeates the entire game.
my favourite part is how juggernaut has a gun for some reason.

xenocide: worse than that - they made bad licensed arcade beat 'em ups in the 90s. exceptions: asterix is legit, bucky o'hare is good (but not really a beat 'em up) and simpsons is at least varied and charismatic. violent storm is really awesome, but not licensed.