Fighting Force (1997)
Fighting Force is a 1997 fighting video game made by Core Design.
Fighting Force is a beat-em-up built for four players to pick up and smash through. The setup is direct: Dr. Zeng, a criminal mastermind with a doomsday fixation and a private army, needs stopping, and the four playable characters each have personal reasons to be the one to do it. The game moves through urban environments and science-fiction corridors, with enemies arriving in waves and the scenery offering improvised weapons at every step: bottles, chairs, fire hydrants, and eventually guns. It is the kind of game that rewards holding the controller a few inches too tight.
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A few thoughts on Fighting Force
The Fatal Raid captures a similar energy in live action, with a squad pushing through hostile territory and combat that is physical, direct, and not especially interested in subtlety. For something with the same street-level brawling spirit in a more stylized package, The Black Panther Warriors fits the mood.
Taking down a criminal mastermind's private army with your bare hands
Fighting Force sends four fighters after Dr. Zeng's doomsday army, and none of them are doing it for a paycheck: every one has a personal score to settle. The Fatal Raid and The Punisher: One Last Kill run on the same fuel, one crew or one man clearing out a criminal operation because it is personal. The Furious and Mortal Kombat II keep the same stakes.
Beating through wave after wave of mooks to reach the real boss
Fighting Force clears bottles, chairs, and fire hydrants off every street corner on the way to Dr. Zeng, one wave of goons at a time before the boss even shows up. The Turtles, Rurouni Kenshin, My Hero Academia's teams, and One Piece's crew all fight through the same kind of crowd. God of War keeps Kratos swinging through Norse hordes on the same rhythm.
A small crew that keeps getting handed a bigger fight
Fighting Force starts its four heroes on ordinary streets and ends them inside Dr. Zeng's fortress, the threat scaling with every level. The Walking Dead's survivors, The Boys' vigilantes, Avatar's Team Avatar, and the kids of Stranger Things all face the same climb: a small group whose enemy gets bigger and stranger the longer the story runs.