Retro Arena: Final Fight (Super NES) vs Streets of Rage (Genesis)

The console wars are often a competition between two or at times three console providers. For decades gamers of their preferred system and the companies have compared themselves with these features each system offered, so they could claim superiority. Of course, the generation that best exhibits this was from the 16-bit wars between Nintendo and Sega. I'm sure you have heard the same mantra from us Golden Age Gamers numerous times regarding this time. That era of gaming always stood out to me the most unlike today when 2/3s of the console providers are not actual game companies. Its true that Sony has dished out stronger first and second party IPs lately especially against Microsoft. However, it doesn't come close to the magic I felt when Nintendo and Sega faced off in a legendary match. That brings us to a new segment I wanted to bring to Retro Corner. It's called Retro Arena and in these editorials I compare two games of the same kind to find out who's the better game.

In this first edition, we compare Capcom's Super NES port of Final Fight to Sega's Streets of Rage on the Genesis. I already reviewed both games on this site about two years ago when I started writing. Unlike today where the consoles are trying to emulate PC gaming. The home systems in the 80s and 90s tried emulating the arcade experience as a selling point. It's among the reasons both the Super NES, and Genesis had arcade ports and if not games built around their concepts on these consoles. The games both come from the brawler genre or beat 'em ups as another way to call them. Technōs Japan might have made brawlers popular with Double Dragon, but I believe it was Capcom and Sega who left a greater impression on the genre. Final Fight and Streets get paired up for a reason, so who will prevail in this retro match up?

Retro Arena: Final Fight (Super NES) vs Streets of Rage (Genesis)