Mighty Final Fight by Capcom, released for the NES in 1993.
Here's an odd little game for you. Capcom's big brawler Final Fight which had previously been a hit on the arcade scene, and of course it was a staple of the early SNES lineup as well. To everyone's (sort of) surprise, they eventually released this version on the lesser-powered 8-bit hardware, too.
Seeing this previewed in magazines, I was immediately suspect. Though "SD" versions of "full" games were not so uncommon in their native Japan, it was not exactly the rule over here. Being that 16-bit was in full swing, I was hard-pressed to get so excited about this throwback of a title, it just seemed like a cash-in to me.
To complicate things further, Capcom already plundered the Final Fight name with their Street Fighter 2010 game (subtitled "The Final Fight") a couple of years earlier, likewise on the NES. That game really had nothing at all to do with either of the games it referenced; though it was a cool game, it was not really what they were trying to make you believe you were buying.
Anyway, I have known about this title for ages and it's had good reception and kind of a legacy; picking it up, I am satisfied to see a nice Final Fight"side story" of sorts, or comedic reworking of the source material to be more precise. Rather than trying to ape the original tit-for-tat, they had a little fun with it and played a little fast and loose. The same Double Dragon-inspired gameplay is there, of course, and they even tweaked it a bit with a leveling-up experience system. Nice touch.
Overall, not a bad game, and quite colorful/full of personality, especially for a late-date NES game. I was not too excited to see it then, but now I can appreciate it and have a good time with it. Also, this game is no pushover - see how far you can get! If they went the extra distance and went 2-Player with this, I think it would deserve some classic status; as it is, the game is alright, fun to divert with for a spell.