The SNES version is missing the Industrial Area stage and the Rolento boss fight, as well as the two-player cooperative mode, rendering the game as single player only.

Blood and alcohol was removed entirely in the American SNES version.

The final boss of the game, Belger, is seen sitting in an electric wheelchair, though he is perfectly capable of walking without it. The exact reason why he needs the wheelchair is unknown. Some players theorize that Belger uses a wheelchair to trick his enemies into thinking that he is frail and helpless, or to discourage them from attacking him, as it would look uncivilized or cowardly to physically assault a "disabled" person.

In order to avoid the associated controversies, the wheelchair was digitally redesigned into an executive office chair for the game's western SNES release. The international SNES version also adds new frames of animation for Belger walking, just to make it clear that he isn't disabled. In the Japanese version, he has no walking animation and merely hops around the room.

The SNES version is missing the character of Guy. A later version of the game was released called Final Fight Guy, which replaced Cody with Guy and made up a new story to explain Cody's absence to the game. The game was sold in stores in Japan and was a rental only at Blockbuster in America.