The Rumble Fish 2 Review ([I'MGAY] BFH)
the only reason to have this is if training mode is worth $40 to you
(EDIT 3/2/2023)
I still can't recommend this, but I desperately hope it gets there rather than just languishing.
An update launched that addressed some of the many issues. Crucially, the online play appears to have lobbies now, fixing what is probably the biggest overall problem with this port. Additionally, the original 4:3 version's wall distances are now available in the options as "combat range: short" but with no sidebars, still displayed in 16:9, with bizarre invisible walls following the characters around. Not ideal, but at least the resolution concern was acknowledged in some way.
But the fact is that resolution issues make this a straight-up useless port for competitive players, and the premium price point (with chunks ripped out and sold as DLC) make it a poor choice for casual players. On top of that I don't have a lot of faith in the developer of this port, and I'll tell you why.
To any longtime fighting game fan, every issue with this port is something we'd already learned from the history of the genre. We've HAD wack ports with problematic widescreen modes and even ones that behave like this port's new "short" option, way back in 2008, and they were all rightly derided every single time.
The developer's messages addressing all the patently obvious shortcomings of this port are transparent lies covering up "we made this on the cheap and we knew it wasn't gonna be a big hit so we're gouging the ones who do buy it."
See also: porting TRF1 as well without any new features, but locking it away behind the purchase of a Limited Run Games collectors edition.
See also: not having keyboard controls because they wanted to "preserve the arcade feel."
See also: ripping out characters to sell as DLC because it's just like when the arcade operator had to put in codes to unlock the bosses.
TLDR, as I see it, the market for porting an old fighting game that never came to the home market is two kinds of people:
1) hardcore fighting game fans who want to play it competitively, for whom this is useless.
2) casual fighting game fans, who would just be getting an barebones port of the arcade version.
If it's fixed up to be useful for the hardcore fans, it'll still be overpriced and barebones.
If it's not fixed, you're just being ripped off.
Given how good the core fighting game here is and how little availability it's had historically, that's a crying shame.