Fighting Force is a Good Beat’em Up on the PS1

Fighting Force is a 3D beat’em up from the team that created Tomb Raider. I previously played the N64 version, which I thought was good but not anything special. It was a fun game, and it made me want to play the PS1 version and the sequels on the PS1 and Dreamcast.

I remember liking the story, controls, and graphics from the N64. After getting some things explained about the game, I think I’m ready to play this version. It will also be interesting to see what people thought of the game back in 1999.

I’ve been trying to find more beat’em ups on the PS1 and N64. This genre is one that I normally associate with the 8 and 16-bit consoles. It is always fun when I find one of the consoles from the mid to late 1990s.

TLDR: A Good but not Great Beat’em Up.

Narrative

The story for Fighting Force is pretty wild. Stories for the games in this genre are normally over the top, but I think this one stands out a bit. I like the overall story of this game.

A mad scientist thought the world was going to end in the year 2000. When it didn’t, he went crazy and decided to end the world himself. Somehow, he got a bunch of people to go along with his plan, and you have to defeat him.

I love how, in all of these games, the rest of the world cares so little about what is happening that no one helps our heroes. It is just hilarious to me that the plan hinges on four people being able to defeat an army of bad guys. No wonder there are sequels to these games.

Gameplay

The gameplay in Fighting Force is very good. Like many beat’em ups, the game can be repetitive, but you can save the game and return to it later. That probably sounds like an odd thing to praise, but it was something new for a beat’em up in 1997 when the game was released.

The manual is available online. This is nice if you only have the disk. This is one of the few games on the PS1 that I don’t have complete, so having access to the manual is awesome. Most of what is in the manual can be found in the game, but I like being able to look at these preserved.

There are four characters, which is a nice change from the usual three. I didn’t notice a big difference between them; it feels like this is just a personal preference on which character you want to play as.

I’m so glad someone told me about the run button. It makes the game much easier. It is a shame there isn’t a block button.

Like most beat’em ups, you get a bunch of items and weapons to help you along the way. For some reason, the developers decided to have points and bonus points in the game. This is something that wasn’t necessary.

I know this is a holdover from arcade games, but Fighting Force was never in the arcades. It is just a strange thing that doesn’t need to be here. This is a very minor thing, by the way.

Overall, this is a great beat’em up on a system that doesn’t have too many beat’em ups. The PS1 has over 2000 games in its library; some genres are under-represented. If you’re looking for a good beat’em up and don’t want to deal with emulation or imports, check this out.  

Visuals

Like many games released in the mid-1990s, the camera is your biggest enemy. It isn’t too bad in Fighting Force, but it becomes an issue when the enemies get guns. They can be off-screen shooting you, and maneuvering to see them can be a pain in the ass.

For a game released in 1997, Fighting Force looks pretty good. The character models are understandably blocky, and their movements are a little awkward. It is what you should expect from a 3D game from this time.

The levels look very good for 1997. It is easy to tell what you can destroy and where the items might be located. Weapons on the ground are also easy to find.

Targeting opponents is fairly easy. I had some issues when enemies gathered around me, but this was more of a genre trope than anything else. This part of the visuals doesn’t negatively impact the game.

The graphics and visuals are good. My biggest issue is the camera. It isn’t the worst camera in video games, but it does create some issues.

Reviews at the Time

The reviews for Fighting Force were average. With reviews like this, I would expect this game was rented a lot. I picked out four reviews to look at for this game.

Three people reviewed the game for GameFan. All three expressed disappointment with the game because of their high expectations. This sounds a little strange to me. I can only guess they wanted something innovative, which is odd for a genre of games that doesn’t do that.

Game Informer gave the game a 6.5/10. It is a strange review that invokes the title of “hard-core gamers” while seemingly taking a shot at Die Hard: The Arcade game. This isn’t a long review, and it comes off as elitist. They praise the graphics and gameplay and complain about load times.

IGN gave the game a 5.5/10 and suggested that players should “rent before you buy,” which is something you could say in every review from the 1990s. They praised the graphics but called the game repetitive. This is something you could complain about with every beat’em up, but I don’t think it should be a big problem with a game like Fighting Force.

GameSpot called the game an “uninspired stab at making a 3D Final Fight or Streets of Rage.” Some of what he said is fair, but meanders into hyperbole more often than not. It seems like the author is suggesting you rent this game instead of buying it, even if that statement isn’t in the review.

These reviews were a little strange. I should point out that, at the time, these review scores were average and not bad. None of the reviews I looked at called this a bad game; they only suggested that you rent the game first.

I don’t fully understand the “repetitive gameplay” comments. This is something you could say about many video games. It is a comment you could make about every game in the beat’em up genre. I would’ve complained more about the lack of a block button.

7.5/10. I like this version of Fighting Force more than the N64 version. It might be that I know how to play the game now, but I enjoyed this version a little more.

Pros

• Good Controls
• Fun Gameplay
• Fun Story
• Good Graphics

Cons

• Repetitive
• Bad Camera

Conclusion

This is one of the many games that I feel like I missed out on. I’m not sure how much I would’ve liked it back in 1997, but I might have liked it if I had rented the game. Fighting Force is a solid beat’em up.

If you liked this post, please check out my other posts about beat’em ups, such as Fighting Force on the N64 or Soul Fighter.