Burning Fight

Did You Know?

• A re-release version of Burning Fight is included in SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1, released for PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Wii in 2008.
• The game's plot follows Duke Edwards and Billy King, two New York City Police detectives, who track a Japanese crime syndicate and are joined by a police officer and martial arts expert named Ryu Saeba.

Gameplay

Burning Fight follows a formula common in beat 'em up titles: balanced character selection, objects and weapons found on the ground cause greater damage to opponents, and semi-interactive environments allow players to damage objects like phone booths and street signs. The game is set in a fictional version of Osaka city, with a train station scene showing an "Umida" station sign. Five levels must be completed, with Casterora as the last enemy.

Reception

In June 1991, Burning Fight was the eighth most popular arcade game in Japan according to Game Machine, while RePlay ranked it second for that month. Critics have generally given it mixed reviews, often comparing it to more famous beat 'em ups. On GameRankings, the Neo Geo version scored 55% and the Nintendo Switch version 30%. AllGame's Kyle Knight called it a lower-quality Final Fight clone, criticizing its stiff character animations, limited enemy types, and repetitive combat, though he liked the controls and audio. Consoles Plus writers Loulou and El Nio Nio compared it to Final Fight and Streets of Rage but praised its presentation, graphics, animations, hard rock soundtrack, gameplay, and longevity. Computer and Video Games' Paul Rand and Tim Boone also saw it as a Final Fight rip-off, with Rand noting similarities between two playable characters and Cody and Guy from that game; they commended the visuals, sound, gameplay, and longevity but disliked the AES version's lack of unlimited continues. GamePro's Slasher Quan found it visually and mechanically similar to Final Fight but appreciated the presentation and music. Joypad's Steph and Joystick's Jean-Marc Demoly compared it to Final Fight, Ninja Gaiden, and Streets of Rage, praising the audiovisual presentation and controls. Player One's Cyril Drevet likened its two-player mode to Double Dragon while praising the visuals, animations, audio, difficulty, and longevity. Sinclair User noted a dullness, calling it "a competent journey along the usual beat-'em-up road." More recent critics have been similarly mixed. Eurogamer's Dan Whitehead called it a blatant copy of Final Fight and Streets of Rage. IGN's Lucas M. Thomas compared its gameplay to Double Dragon but found it more playable than Ninja Combat. Nintendo Life's Damien McFerran and Dave Frear criticized the Virtual Console and Switch versions, comparing the characters to those in Final Fight, with McFerran specifically faulting the poor character animations.