Final Fight 3 was released exclusively for the Super Nintendo in 1995. Rumor has it that Nintendo requested for Capcom to make another sequel, as they had with Final Fight 2. The Super Nintendo still hadn't got any really good scrolling beat 'em ups, although the genre had begun to die down in terms of popularity. But even so, a new Final Fight was made, and it actually feels like a true sequel, unlike the previous game.



Let's start with the good things first. There are four playable characters in the game, each one having a large move set -there are many more moves for each character than in Final Fight 2. Dash combos, special moves, super moves and more throws for everyone. Many of the levels have multiple routes, and to see everything will mean playing through the game several times. Whilst the 2 player mode is still present, there is also a new mode which lets the CPU take control of the second player, letting your play through the game with two players even if you don't have a friend with you. The music is also excellent, which far many more memorable tunes than in the previous game -some of my favorites include "For Metro City", "Smeared Graffiti" and "Wrath of the Skull Cross".



But the major problem with Final Fight 3 is the slowdown. There was slowdown present in both the original game and the sequel, but the slowdown in Final Fight 3 is far worse than either of those. In the single player mode it isn't that bad, but in the two player mode it becomes unbearable.

In the previous games, you'd only get up to three enemies on the screen at once. Final Fight 3 breaks new ground by sometimes managing four enemies on the screen at once, but only is a few specific locations. And the game normally slows down when you get four enemies on screen. In comparison, Streets of Rage 3 for the SEGA Genesis had things get as hectic as this happen frequently without any problems, and that game was for an inferior system when compared to the Super Nintendo. What was the problem?



Clearly Capcom put a lot more effort into this game than they did with Final Fight 2. With all of the extra moves and multiple routes, Final Fight 3 feels like a proper sequel, and I'd like to say that it is the best scrolling beat 'em up on the Super Nintendo. But the slowdown issues mentioned above really hurt the game, and two players aren't going to enjoy it because of that.

When Final Fight 3 was released it saw a lot of average reviews, and didn't sell anywhere near as many copies as Final Fight 2. Despite the poor sales at the time, the game has gone on to be one of the rarer ones in the series. Whilst copies are on eBay all of the time, the prices are always high. The European version seems to be the most expensive of them all, as it was released in limited quantities by Laguna Video Games.

It was available as the Wii, Wii U and 3DS Virtual Console as a downloadable game, but the Wii version is no longer available, whilst the Wii U and 3DS versions are due to be removed soon.