Game Description

Fighting Force 64 is the long-awaited and certainly delayed Beat em up more or less translated from the PSX to the Nintendo 64. The story line involves Dr. Dex Zeng, of course he is an evil doctor trying to end the world hiding behind his multitude of employees. Fighting Force allows players to select from four brave warriors risking their life to save the world including Mase, a private eye seeking the truth, Hawker a vigilante who's mind is as much on Mase as saving the world, Smasher a prisoner serving multiple life terms and Alana, daughter of the evil Dr Dex who obviously is not on her father's side.

Fighting Force 64 is set over 25 distinctive 3D locations throughout seven terrifyingly dangerous levels. Locations include bridges, the bronx, offices, lift, subways, streets, slums, car parks, police emergency zones etc. Enemies range from in-suit business men, security guards, leathered chicks, street punks and toughs and thugs just to name a few of the more common enemies. Weapons also come in large numbers, as often players will be able to pick up rather useful tools just lying around or claim them after pulverizing their head into the asphalt. Weapons include pistols, shotguns, bazookas, knifes, bottles, baseball bats, pipes, tires, trashcans, fire axes etc.

Players are also faced with a point system, where bonus points can be awarded from smashing up each location's interactive scenery. Police cars, trucks, vans, doors, vending machines and other objects are often interactive. Special health can also be collected, while bonus points can also be collected in the form of gold, silver and cash. Also enter in two-player co-operative battles taking on the enemies with a friend by your side.

Fighting Force developed by Core and published on the N64 by Crave Entertainment also supports memory cards for saves (though my third party card was playing up) and shock devices for feedback. ~ Brad Penniment, All Game Guide

Review: Enjoyment

Fun for a few hours, but then the game becomes tedious. ~ Brad Penniment, All Game Guide

Production Credits

CORE DESIGN LTD.

Nintendo 64 programming: Alex Davis

Original Programming: Mac Avory, Neil Topham

Audio Programming: Sean Dunlevy

Graphic Artist: Jerry Oldreive, Gary Tonge, Roberto Cirillo, Brian Flanagan, Andy Sandham, Darren Wakeman

Music & SFX: MArtin Iveson

Producer: Ken Lockley

Executive Producer: Jeremy Heath-Smith

EIDOS INTERACTIVE

Producer: Mike Schmitt

Director of Development Operations: James Poole

QA Manager: Michael McHale

QA: John Arvay, Tim moore, Corey Fong, Rudy Ellis, Clayton Palma, Greg Coleman

Vice President of Marketing: Paul Baldwin

Product Manager: Gary Keith

Marketing Support: Sutton Trout, Kelly Zavislak, Susan Boshkoff, Tricia Gray, Michelle Bravo, Lee Wilkinson

Special Thanks:Marc Silvestri and Top Cow productions for their work on the Fighting Force characters and story line. Matt Miller, Tom Marx, Frank Hom, Mike Kawahara,Mike Gilmartin, Eric Adams, Mike McGarvey, Dave Cox, Keith Boesky, John Kavanagh, Jo-Kathryn Reavis

Extra Special Thanks: Adrian & Jeremy Smith, Ken Lockley, Troy Horton, Andrew Thompson, Jane Gilbertson,

Kate Thornton, Candice Uyloan, Ryan Villiers-Furze,Jay Boor, Mike Arkin, Susie Hamilton ~ Joe Lamb, All Game Guide

Review: Overall

Despite its rather generic game design, Fighting Force on the PlayStation became a hit in 1997 due its insanely simple beat-em-up action. In fact, Fighting Force is one of the few free-roaming combat games on a system that has nearly drowned in traditional one-on-one fighting titles since its 1995 release. Now more than two years later, Core has ported over a seemingly unchanged version to the Nintendo 64.

Since the game is a straightforward conversion of the PlayStation original, Nintendo 64 owners should feel cheated. Opponents still walk around as though they have been buried underground for the last twenty years, and no, it's not because they are undead creatures. The locations are also fairly bland, lacking the distinction that could have made this title a little more interesting. The added filtering provided by the Nintendo 64 doesn't help matters, since it makes the already unflattering scenery a bit blurry.

The standard smacks and groans are here alongside the odd bit of music that somehow manages to spice up what is otherwise a fairly lacking audio experience. The atmospheric effects are used fairly well but with sparse application -- you never really feel like you are actually there on the streets.

One-on-one fighting games are the industry standard as of 1999, with very few classic Final Fight-style beat-em-ups appearing in the 32- and 64-bit era. While it is nice to know that this did not stop Core from tackling the genre for maybe one last time, the company never managed to go beyond the limited action found in the 2D greats such as Final Fight, Double Dragon or Streets of Rage. Apart from the 3D visuals, almost nothing has improved -- there aren't nearly enough moves at your disposal, and the action becomes excruciatingly repetitive.

For most, the biggest problem will be the game's replay value; right from the first hour of play, players will notice that the kick/punch/use weapon formula becomes tedious. Things are not helped by the generic design of the enemies you fight, as there is little variation apart from the bosses, and the AI of your opponents is quite hopeless.

On the other hand, the weapons are a nice mix of short-range and long-range street weapons that do add a little more variety to the action. There are also a total of four fighters to choose from, with two males and two females making up the cast. Yet the game's strongest point has to be its two-player cooperative mode. Ganging up on multiple thugs is strangely satisfying when you have a friend along for the ride, and many will want to check this title out just to experience some of these cheap thrills.

Players should be warned about the control scheme, however; this game is the textbook definition of a "button masher," and your fingers will start feeling the wear and tear after fifteen minutes of play. And while the game offers an impressive twenty-five levels to fight through, they are all relatively similar and repetitive in nature. What was once fun (beating up cars and pummeling opponents with street signs) is now old hat, and let's face it, it has been done better before.

Fighting Force 64 is far from a terrible title -- in fact, it's a welcome rental since it is relatively satisfying and easy to get into, not to mention even better while playing with a friend. Is it something worth paying full price? No, Fighting Force 64 is certainly not the game to spend your hard-earned cash on, if only because you can find out everything it has to offer in a single night. ~ Brad Penniment, All Game Guide

Review: Graphics

The graphics are lacking in detail, animation and textures. The overuse of filtering effects is something that is unique to the Nintendo 64 version. ~ Brad Penniment, All Game Guide

Review: Sound

The weak sound effects added to the almost sad music and sparse environmental effects bring down the score in this area. ~ Brad Penniment, All Game Guide

Review: Replay Value

As previously mentioned, the game is good for the night -- nothing more. ~ Brad Penniment, All Game Guide

Review: Documentation

The manual provides biographies on each character and a complete list of moves. Don't expect a long list, however! ~ Brad Penniment, All Game Guide