Fighting Force

1997 · Beat 'em up · PlayStation

About Fighting Force

Fighting Force (1997) is Core Design's 3D beat 'em up, first pitched as Streets of Rage 4, in which four heroes fight through a doomsday cultist's army with soda cans, knives, car engines and guns.

Fighting Force in Depth

Dr. Dex Zeng, a criminal mastermind with an army at his command, predicted the world would end in 2000. When New Year's Eve 1999 passes without the apocalypse, he decides there was an error and sets out to destroy the world himself. Four characters with their own reasons take him on, starting at a police cordon around his office skyscraper and moving through a shopping mall, a subway and a Coast Guard base to the top of his island headquarters. Players choose a route through some territories.

Hawk Manson and Mace Daniels are all-rounders, Hawk the stronger and Mace the faster. Ben "Smasher" Jackson is a big, slow bruiser who can lift and throw car engines, and Alana McKendricks is a fast but light-hitting teenager with an effective jump kick. Each has a special move that costs a portion of health. Waves of enemies are fought with fists and whatever comes to hand, from soda cans and knives to cars and guns, through urban and science fiction settings full of destructible scenery. Critics overwhelmingly enjoyed the large amount of scenery to smash and scavenge but felt that, despite the move to 3D, the play differed little from older 2D brawlers; GameSpot called it "basically a 3D version of Capcom's classic, Final Fight", while EGM's Shawn Smith asked, "when the 3-D works, why not go with it?"

Making Fighting Force

In 1996 Core Design described it to Sega Magazin as a 3D game inspired by Streets of Rage, with up to five characters on screen, destructible environments and indoor and outdoor areas, then developed solely for the Saturn. When Sega declined, saying it had its own plans for the series, Core made it a standalone multi-platform game. Announced soon after Tomb Raider's success, it was highly anticipated and commercially successful, released by Eidos for PlayStation and Windows in 1997, with Crave publishing a Nintendo 64 version in 1999. Reviews were mixed; Next Generation found it "very fun" despite its derivative nature. A Battle Arena mode was cut, and Fighting Force 2 followed.

Fighting Force Trivia

Core Design first pitched it to Sega as Streets of Rage 4, but Sega declined.
Marc Silvestri created the story and character designs.
Dr. Zeng was inspired by the Heaven's Gate cult.
Ten coders from EA Japan collaborated on it.
A completed Saturn version was cancelled by Sega Europe, though French magazine Mega Force reviewed it.