FINAL FIGHT: ENHANCED - A far better version of an Arcade classic is coming to the Amiga

For those of you who are looking for a great Commodore amiga news story, will be excited for this announcement. As we have just been given the heads up via Walter Mamo in our Commodore Amiga Facebook group, that Prototron is working on an Enhanced version of the Arcade game of 'FINAL FIGHT'. A game that was originally released back in 1989-1991 but is regarded by many as a BAD port by U.S. Gold. As in the words of one such gamer "Looked great in the mags, looked great during the intro, but everything changed rapidly when the game actually started".

Here's what Prototron says about the latest video shown above "After an almost complete re-write of the entire game code, I thought it was time for a new demo. This features a 2-Player mode with Guy and Cody, plus some new music. There's a few bits and bobs still missing, and some of the larger baddie types are just there to stress test the sprite routine, but the features and correct enemy placements will be there in the final game. Forgive the slightly awkward playing, but I was controlling both characters myself".

Specs:

  • 68000 7Mhz (Cycle Exact)
  • ECS, 2MB Chip Ram

"A 1MB OCS version did exist, and it had all the moves, but unfortunately the Amiga has no hardware ability to horizontally flip a sprite like the Megadrive and SNES, and the real-time CPU X-Flip routine was just too slow with these massive sprites (even when optimised). So, I chose to make it ECS only and make use of the larger RAM capacity to make up for the lack of hardware functions. All the extra memory does is store flipped sprites, which makes for a smoother game as it takes any unnecessary graphical load off the CPU. There's still much to optimise (things get a little sluggish with 4 enemies on screen), but it's getting there".

"PS, I never had an Amiga 1200, and I've no interest in doing a bespoke AGA version, so please don't ask (or go and make it yourself)".

And that's all we know so far, as ever keep checking IndieRetroNews for any future updates!

29 comments:

  1. I hope the game will have 2 buttons, with keyboard control at least, it is necessary to play correct.

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  2. Finally the definitive version on a non Aga Amiga!!! I was waiting for this for ages! It's a pity Is 2mb ECS only but i'm sure It Will Be a fantastic conversion!! Keep up the good work!!!

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  3. If it is not better than the Sega Genesis revised edition.....that would be sad. Amiga games NEVER have any excuse whatsoever to be worse than the Genesis (an inferior system)... and with those black bars at the top, it looks to be worse already and seems to have less colors (use EHB mode people!) and ALWAYS always always set the standard for TV..it has to be overscan so no black borders show.

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    1. I don't understand what you mean by saying "Inferior system". It's a console, so it isn't comparable to a full computer. Has things better and worse than an Amiga, technically.

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    2. Mega drive wasn’t inferior in many ways, the Amiga ram and blotter yeah but the MDs ability to push sprites and colours were far superior.

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    3. Not to start any silly war, I was an Amiga owner but Genesis/Megadrive games were almost always better. More colours, faster scrolling, impressive parallax, bigger and more colorful sprites... even on the most obscure titles. Take the great conversions like Strider, Golden Axe, Super Hang On, Mortal Kombat, Ghouls'n'ghosts (Commodore versions were way worse) and other games like Thunderforce IV, Sonic, Ristar, Dynamite Headdy,Streets of rage and many others. Almost arcade quality. Never seen such things on Amiga. Most amiga games had the squalid copper rainbow as background, smaller sprites, slower scrolling speed, poor or usually no parallax. Genesis/Megadriva was a machine born for games and it shows

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    4. True - Mortal Kombat is always a good example to use. Both Amiga and MD versions were done by Probe, sharing the exact same 68000 source code, the only difference was the subroutines accommodating for the graphical limitations of each platform, and MD version was just better, even if slightly so, and disregarding the lack of joystick buttons.

      The Aladdin and Lion King games are also great to compare, and are MUCH closer between Amiga and MD versions, albeit the AGA versions, not the A500 versions.

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    5. so true, there was a not-so-small gap between Amiga and MD games. It's not a programming skills thing. Sprite, background, blitter hardware was way more powerful for Genesis/MD. Even with AGA the Sega versions were better. As you said Aladdin and Lion King were similar but with some features missing/reduced in the A1200 versions. Less parallax, less animations, slower pace... Just in the sound area Amiga wins. Another example is Thalion's Flink. The CD32 version can't stand with the cartridge. There are youtube comparison videos which can back wat I said. Commodore should have upgraded their chipset better and sooner to compete in a such merciless market

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    6. Dude, the Mega Drive is graphically superior over the OCS Amiga. Only it's sound is inferior. Even the AGA versions of Aladdin and Lion King are watered down Mega Drive ports. Don't kid yourself!

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    7. The Genesis is NOT a Superior sysytem. you guys are failing to notice who ported those SEGA Games to Amiga it wasn't always SEGA. Look at who made Street Fighter II for SNES and Genesis: CAPCOM themselves....now who made it on Amiga? The worst game company of all time US GOLD. this was a common themes on games ported to the Amiga..THAT is why they suck, not because the Amiga was not capable. Take a Look at Zool on Amiga and Genesis and Pinball Fantasies on Amiga and SNES both games utterly sucked on genesis and SNES... See where I am going? Sega and Genesis simply had SUPERIOR 3rd party software developers with experience. But if you want to see that the Amiga can do for example Street Fighter better than a SNES or Genesis look at Elf Mania (64 colors and the floor parallaxes all suer smoothly combined with Body Blows (Large Characters) and Shadow Fighter and Fightin Spirit.... all sucky games on the Amiga each with something done right... combine those teams to combine those elements to expert levels like Capcom....and you will see.

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    8. Elfmania is written around the Amiga's strengths. Completely different thing than porting an existing game. It's also 32 colors, not 64. It also has a limited set of moves because its written around the Amiga's hardware, not to mention the game mechanics are very, very basic (out of necessity due to hardware resources being tapped out).
      Body Blows is 16 colors and only runs at 25 frames per second. Shadow fighter is only 8 colors per playfield.
      As for Amiga versions of Street Fighter, Traveller's Tales did the Amiga versions of Super Street Fighter 2. And they had the Arcade game source code. These people are no schmucks and have a very high pedigree.
      Yes, the Amiga was capable of more than many of its ports suggested, but your examples showcase nothing more than a combination of fantasy and a lack of understanding of what the Amiga can do. No-one who truly understands the Amigas hardware, or development at all would make the points you did in an attempt to suggest the Amiga could do great ports of cps1 games.

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    9. It is going to be hard to be better than than the sega version. Screen resolution Amiga PAL/NTSC of 320x256/320x200 vs Sega 256x224, Instant Sega Cartridge ROM Access, Which is Why Amiga needs 2MB RAM, FM on Sega vs 4channel Paula for Melody, percussion and SFX. Amiga Developer, hobbyist and enthusiast, Sega Developer CAPCOM, Money has access to Source... Game looks amazing :)

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  4. Wow, that's extraordinary!

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  5. Where is the game ?

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  6. Please support 2-button joysticks !

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  7. Same gfx as UsGold version ?

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    1. Which are 16 colors AtariST graphics......

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  8. Predseda of LemonAmiga.com17 March 2023 at 06:49

    This looks great. Is it made in assembler?

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  9. Still looks a million times better than the original Amiga release. The best thing about that release was the intro music. Well done.

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  10. That is actually very impressive programming and development given the hardware and previous versions...

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  11. This is already a good conversion, but it would be great to improve the color palette, especially for the backgrounds of the game that are reminiscent of the old version of U.S Gold.

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  12. Looking great so far, I would say this and Double Dragon are the games I most want as homebrew ports.

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  13. Well what's new? Reminds me of the old conversion of the U.S. Gold by Creative Materials, especially the sprites…
    More colorful backdrops? In-game music? I don't see any noticeable changes...

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    1. Visually yes, but to be fair he is focusing on the gameplay elements the most, as the U.S Gold version's gameplay had massive amounts missing from the arcade version.

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  14. This is at least the third attempt at an Amiga FF remake. I hope this one gets finished!

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  15. Have you seen big blue frontend's pc final fight?

    10 player final fight and frontend

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocu50es0wWw

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    1. Looks cool, thanks for the link.

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