Burning Fight


is a beat 'em up arcade game released by SNK in 1991 for the Neo Geo MVS system. Introduced to capture a share in the then-popular beat 'em ups market, it was meant to compete with Technōs' Double Dragon, the leader of the genre at the time. Three years after its release in the arcades and on the Neo Geo AES, it was released on Neo Geo CD as the only other home version.
The game is produced by Eikichi Kawasaki, one of SNK's founders and the man behind various well-known SNK titles, such as Fatal Fury and Samurai Shodown series.
A re-released version of Burning Fight is included in SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1, which was released for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Wii in 2008.

Gameplay

Burning Fight follows a formula and concepts commonly seen in titles of this genre, such as Streets of Rage, Double Dragon and Final Fight: balanced character selection, objects and weapons found on the ground cause greater damage to opponents, and semi-interactive environments. The game is set in a fictional version of Osaka city.
There are three playable characters, each with their own levels of strength, agility and special moves: Ryu is quick but weak, Billy is slow but very strong, and Duke is a more balanced hitter. One element that helps the game stand out from its competition is mini-stages, where the player must defeat some enemies in a short period of time in order to win prizes.
Antagonists are members of Heiwa-Gumi, a Japanese yakuza gang, though there are a few Caucasian bosses and mid-level bosses, and the final boss is Italian mob boss Castella. Moreover, the game has no individual endings, no matter which character has been chosen. After defeating Castella, players are presented with various scenes of the game along with the credits, and finally a group picture of the main characters.

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed Burning Fight on their June 15, 1991 issue as being the eighth most-successful table arcade unit of the year, outperforming titles such as Raiden. While the game was successful critically, it received a lukewarm welcome by fans of the genre. The lack of popularity led the game to fail to have the impact SNK was hoping for and it was left behind its better known competitors. Sinclair User highlighted this sense of dullness by giving the game a rating of 74 and stating that, "Burning Fight is a competent journey along the usual beat-'em-up road..."

Retrospective reviews

Burning Fight has been met with a much more mixed reception from critics since its release.