There’s no doubt that in the annals of beat-em-up history, Final Fight is among the titles that has remained one of the most memorable and iconic. Though there have obviously been others that have contributed to the genre in a variety of ways, there was just something about the art style, strange characters, and small touches that helped it stand out. In terms of the current generation, while the genre got off to a bit of a slow start, there have been some outstanding titles over the years, proving it still very much has legs.

Final Vendetta is one of those games where it feels like it is skirting the boundaries between an homage and a bit of a rip-off, though if you’re a classic Final Fight fan you may not mind. On a general level the moves between the varied main characters you can play as mirror the classic pretty well, and while the characters and locations you’ll visit do have some differences they’ll feel quite familiar nonetheless. To some degree this doesn’t have to be a bad thing, especially when the nostalgic feels you can get are nice, but it also then seems like it lacks a distinct identity of its own most of the time.

Taking a step back and contrasting it even with other retro-styled or inspired games already in the eShop, the lack of attempts to innovate or step up gameplay from a title released 25 years ago starts to sting a bit though. Whether expanding the moveset, adding in roguelike elements for some unpredictable spice, or throwing in a variety of unlockables to incentivize deeper play, the competition hasn’t been resting on its laurels. Yes, Final Vendetta does feature both a Survival and a Boss Rush mode, but aside from those being somewhat stock these days, and the fact that they’re stingy about unlocking them in the first place, they may be features most people will get bored with the game before even having a chance to enjoy.

In the end, this isn’t a bad beat-em-up, and I have most certainly played worse on the system. The people behind it obviously have a grasp of the essential elements that they needed to bring together for a good time, but it just feels like once they satisfied their base checklist they decided to call it a day. In my mind, that’s a shame as there are some great bones here, and cribbing off one of the cornerstones of the classic genre isn’t a bad idea. It would just be a mistake to dismiss the fact that quite a few competitors have really taken things to the next level, clearly leaving an effort like this bloodied and beaten on the rough streets of genre competition to stand in its top tier.