Summary
It’s finally happening. After twenty-six years of being left dormant, SNK’s original fighting game franchise is coming back on April 24th inFatal Fury: City of the Wolves. People thought the series was left behind, overshadowed by its multi-IP brawlerKing of Fighters. But after years of letting Terry Bogard pop up in other fighting games, SNK must’ve decided to bring his home series back.
The game is looking rather promising, too, as it got fair feedback during its beta tests (controversial guest characters aside). Though it might leave players wondering how it compares to the olderFatal Furygames, or how well the classic games fare compared to each other. How far back should new fans go if they want more Bogard for their bucks? If they want the cream of the crop, then these are the bestFatal Furygames to go for.
The originalFatal Furymight’ve made a bigger splash ifit had come out in 1990. Its three-character playable roster and link-focused, lane-switching gameplay would’ve stood head and shoulders above the likes ofPit Fighter. But it came out in 1991, afterStreet Fighter 2offered eight playable characters (including a woman) and its newfangled combo-based gameplay.
Fatal Fury 2felt more up to date for 1992, as it also offered eight playable characters, with their own woman in the (in)famous Mai Shiranui, and four non-playable bosses. The game expanded the lane-switching gameplay by giving everyone special attacks to knock opponents into other lanes or even obstacles to get the advantage. Though much likeSF2,FF2would be superseded by its own special update.
Fatal Fury 3didn’t use the number just to cement it as the third (canon)FFgame. They also let players move between three lanes instead of two. But they couldn’t sidestep into them like inFF2. Instead, they “overswayed” into them, stepping into the foreground or background to dodge any errant strikes and counterattack. Players could also block in midair and chain combos together a laStreet Fighter Alpha.
UnlikeSFA,FF3also introduced the double lifebar system, giving everyone a yellow lifebar that could drain into a red one. Once a player has been reduced to their red health, they can pull off their super moves. If they were lucky (as in 1-in-1,024 odds), they’d pull off a Hidden Super Move that did more damage than usual. This RNG approach didn’t catch on, but its new characters like Blue Mary and mid-boss Yamazaki would become mainstays of both theFFseries andKing of Fighters.
6Real Bout Garou Densetsu: Dominated Mind
A Neat Curio That Didn’t Last In Players' Minds
Here’s an oddity.Real Bout Garou Densetsu: Dominated Mindis both a kind of sequel toReal Bout Fatal Fury Specialand its PS1 port. Most of the roster and its assets come straight fromRBFFS, but they’re joined by two newcomers in Alfred, a happy-go-lucky pilot, and their new boss, White. Inspired by the classic novel and movieA Clockwork Orange, he’s a classic example ofSNK Boss Syndrome.
If players managed to beat him, which was a tricky feat in itself, they’d have to jump over his last-gasp attack, or they’d be beaten instantly. It would be their only evasive option, too, as the game removed the lane-switching entirely, making it play like a regular 2D fighter. It was neat as an extra, especially if players had the bonus disc. But since it was a Japan-only release, they wouldn’t get much out of it unless they knew Japanese.
Fatal Fury 2left room for improvement, whichFatal Fury Specialprovided. Now, its colorful cast can pull off proper combos, canceling strikes into special moves, and more. It could even help them open opponents up for their super moves, though like inFF2, players had to be down to their last 25% of their health bar to use them. But with a larger roster to work with, including all ofFF2’s bosses and returnees like Duck King and Geese, players had plenty of characters to practice with.
Its biggest surprise came in its “dream match” where, if the player won every match within two rounds, they’d face off against Ryo Sakazaki fromArt of Fighting. Today, seeing Terry fight Ryo doesn’t stand out. But back in 1993, it made him one of the first guest characters in a fighting game, and made SNK consider makinga true crossover experience. Without this entry, SNK might not have created theKing of Fightersseries to let theFFandAOFgangs fight everyone and each other to their heart’s content.
4Real Bout Fatal Fury
Fixing What Fatal Fury 3 Brought To The Table
Fatal Fury Specialis pretty much the best game if players want a purer, old-school experience where players don’t need to keep an eye on super meters, guard meters, burst meters, etc. Though more modern-minded players may prefer the more souped-up likes ofReal Bout Fatal Fury. It’s essentially an update ofFF3, albeit without the RNG-based Hidden supers and the story mode. Instead, it retellsFF1’s events with new controls.
Players could still oversway (which now gets its dedicated button), but they could now smash their opponents out of bounds to get a ring-out victory. Classic characters like Kim, Billy Kane, and Duck King joined the roster, as didFF3’s bosses, Yamazaki and the Jin Brothers. The super moves were also more straightforward, requiring a full super meter and varying degrees of health to pull off. The closer to the brink of defeat the player is, the more powerful their supers will be.
Given howFatal Fury Specialturned out, one would thinkReal Bout Fatal Fury Specialwas also a retweak ofRBFF, which was already a reworked version ofFF3. But it’s not. It’s a fresh game made from the ground up, with new, bold, colorful graphics, redone character sprites, and revamped gameplay. Players were back to switching between two lanes, and they couldn’t win (or lose) by ring-out anymore. Instead, if players cornered their opponents, they could smash them into breakable objects to reveal hazards that would apply extra damage.
The cast is also a veritable who’s who ofFFclassics, including special EX versions of a few like Blue Mary and Andy Bogard. If players do particularly well (beat everyone in two rounds, score over 750,000 points, etc.), they could take on a special version of Geese Howard dubbed “Nightmare Geese,” who lives up to his name. Players only get one shot to beat him, and if they fail, that’s it. Game over. No continues.
Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomersis perhaps the best of the classic lane-switching, pizza boy-looking TerryFFgames, which managed to streamline features rather than adding them. The game went back to the overswaying style of the originalRBFF, where players can dodge into the background and counterattack instead of switching to it. It also got rid ofRBFFS’s EX characters, as some of their moves were given back to their base counterparts.
Aside from them, everyone fromRBFFScame back, and Geese left the nightmare world to become a regular final boss. The newcomers were fun too, withNative American boxer Rick Strowdbecoming a cult favorite despite this being his only appearance.RBGD: DM’sAlfred also appears as a secret boss to promote his PS1 appearance, which suggested he’d be the series’ new hero after Terry settled his score with Geese for good.
Though if Alfred had any fans, they would’ve been disappointed to seeGarou: Mark of the Wolvescrown a new protagonist in Rock Howard, the son of Geese, raised by Terry. They wouldn’t be alone, as the game replaced everyone except Terry Bogard with a new cast of characters. Luckily, the likes of the brutal kung-fu master Gato, the perky pirate Bonne Jenet, and Kim’s sons Dong Hwan and Jae Hoon quickly became fan favorites.
The game junked the lane switching, but its beautiful animations, tactical TOP gauge, and Just Defense skills more than made up for it. That, and it introduced Terry’s iconic Buster Wolf super to the world. The game wasn’t a financial success, since 2D games were de rigueur back in 1999. Yet, like its Capcom equivalentStreet Fighter 3: Third Strike, its graphics and gameplay marked it out as one ofthe best fighting games ever made, let alone the best game in theFFseries.
