Final Fight One on GBA, an honorable port of Capcom's beat'em up. Metro City in the palm of your hand. Less visually impressive than the original but gameplay remains intact and satisfying.
Your verdict
Category
Beat-'Em-Up4 players12+
Co-op
Description
GBA port of Capcom's arcade beat-em-up Final Fight, published in Europe in June 2001. Mayor Mike Haggar, Cody and Guy traverse the six districts of Metro City to rescue Jessica from the Mad Gear gang. Memorable bosses including Sodom, Edi E. and Abigail, recoverable ground weapons and recurring enemies including Poison and Andore. Three playable characters with distinct styles, two-player link cable mode to fight Mad Gear together and two selectable difficulty levels.
Final Fight One review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
2/5
Story
★★★★★
"Classic"
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
Roaming the streets of Metro City fists flying, picking up a pipe or a knife and sending hordes of thugs reeling: the beat'em up rediscovers all its instant rage here. Two-player co-op multiplies the fun and the laughter. Faithful to the arcade while staying snappy and readable, a street-fighting classic ideal to savour in tandem.
The European release of Final Fight One shows an unusual value profile: loose and CIB stay affordable, but sealed copies climb sharply, a sign of genuinely scarce factory-sealed PAL stock. This Capcom port of the 1989 arcade beat 'em up remains sought after by series fans and GBA brawler enthusiasts. The PAL box, distributed across several European markets in summer 2001, is less iconic than the Japanese edition but offers the easiest route to the title in Europe, supporting steady underlying demand.
Is Final Fight One still worth playing in 2026?
A GBA port of Capcom's Final Fight, Final Fight One brings back the benchmark beat them up that defined the genre in arcades, with Haggar, Cody and Guy clearing the streets of Metro City. The conversion is surprisingly faithful, restoring the impact of blows, the level breakdown and the readability despite the format's constraints. The smaller screen and the lack of two player co-op weigh a little, but the pleasure of pummelling stays intact. For a retro beat them up fan or someone curious about a genre classic on handheld, the title keeps a raw, gratifying effectiveness.
