Somewhere deep within the bowels of the internet, there has to be some "Pit-Fighter Appreciation Club." The game had some nice ideas and for the time and it certainly raised the bar for graphics. What it failed miserably at was hit detection. It's not fun to see punches fly right through the face of an opponent. Rather surprisingly, the Game Boy version really doesn't have that problem, just a host of others. All three of the playable characters from the arcade are accounted for, as are most of the enemies. The two-button setup is a bit tough to control, but can work with practice. The various stages are absent.
Landing a blow is never really a problem on this meager portable, though oddly, one punch is all it takes to down an opponent. Instead of all the fancy combos, it takes one minor shot and the same goes for the enemy's attacks. That's not fun. You can still pummel people when they're down and perform specials, it's just there's little difference between any of the those attacks. What little strategy the game has is completely lost in this translation.
Amazingly, the sprites remain in their entirety. You really can't pick up much detail (and they can blend in with the background), but their size is pretty impressive. The trade off comes in the form of animation. Nearly everything relies on one frame and nothing more. Speed is also a factor; it's definitely slowed down to accommodate the hardware. Also, the spectators never get in on the action; their blocky and bland appearance is definitely suited for the sidelines.
While the somewhat minor music track has been retained in the background, the voice samples are flat out annoying. In sync with every hit comes a completely garbled "uh!" that can barely be considered audible. It doesn't take long for that to become grating.
No, you really shouldn't expect much from this game on the Game Boy. However, when the Master System manages to pull off a surprisingly decent game of "Pit Fighter," so can the Game Boy. This one lies firmly with the developer.
