I generally always preferred Cody, but I dusted off the game after our recent discussion and found that I now think it’s alot easier with Haggar. I could never beat it without adding extra lives, and this time I set it on 8 lives (6 is the default) and beat it with Haggar and I think I had 2 lives left after every boss. If I didn’t then it was Abigail (although I’ve gotten past him with 6 before). Abigail is the hardest boss, IMHO. Katana (Sodom) and the two Andors in the cage fight on level 3 are good examples of parts that are alot easier with Haggar. I think I just decided Cody was better when I first played it as a kid because he’s faster than therefore takes less timing to use, and have been under that delusion ever since. Haggar takes the enemies out faster though. And he has a significantly longer reach.
I’ve never played the arcade version so I have no opinion on Guy. I’m just talking about the first game. Guy is in 3, but Cody is only in the first one. Haggar is in all three.

Have you ever played Mighty Final Fight?