We visited SNK's "FATAL FURY: Cityof the Wolves " booth at EVO Japan 2024, a fighting game festival held from April 27 to 29, 2024. FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves" was SNK's major IP and one of the most popular fighting games of the 1990s, but no new titles have been released since 1999. However, it has remained a popular IP, with the main character Terry Bogart competing in Super Smash Brothers Special and characters from the FATAL FURY FURY series competing in KOF 15.
We are pleased to present our review of "FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves," the latest title in the series, which is being released for the first time in 26 years!
The system inherited from the previous title
The "dodging attack," "just defense," "guard cancel," and "breaking" features of "FATAL FURY MOW" are still present. Just Defense was personally difficult for me and I never used it consciously, so I remember how happy I was when I happened to get a Just Defense.
Smart style that even beginners can enjoy playing fighting games
Speaking of fighting games, those who are not good at inputting commands may feel that the barrier to entry is high, but in GARO DENSETSU CotW, there are two modes to choose from: "arcade style" and "smart style". In "Smart Style," you can easily perform combos by repeatedly pressing buttons or perform super special moves with simple commands.
The "Smart Style" mode is similar to KOF's Rush in terms of SNK titles, but the advantage of this clear distinction between the two styles is that it is less likely to be mishandled. In recent years, many gaming titles, such as Fatal Rush in Koei Tecmo Games' " Dead or Alive 6," have been designed to be enjoyable for beginners and players who do not usually play gaming. I feel relieved that SNK has implemented it in FATAL FURY.
The new system is the unique "REV System", which is one line like the previous title.
FATAL FURYAN DENSETSU is famous as a game with multiple lines, but "REAL BOUT FATAL FURYAN DENSETSU SPECIAL DOMINATED MIND" has one line (I had RB Special and RB2 on Neo-Geo CD, but I bought it to use Alfredo, White is not allowed). The previous title "FATAL WOLF MARK OF THE WOLVES" (hereafter referred to as "FATAL WOLF MOW") also had one line. The game is a popular title, but it is no longer possible to have multiple lines, especially since SNK has released so many different gaming titles that require a unique system to make the game unique.
The main feature of "FATAL FURY CotW" is the "REV System". The REV System consumes the REV Gauge and allows for various actions such as REV Blow, REV Arts, REV Accelerate, and REV Guard. In simple terms, the REV Gauge can be used to enhance normal moves and special moves, to perform a series of moves that make it easier to connect to combos, and to use powerful guards that nullify guard shields. The gauge is an important point in a gaming title, but what I personally like about the "REV Guard" is that if you have a low gauge at the end of a match, there will be times when you need to finish off a fighter by shaving off his energy. You may think that you can just use REV Guard every time, but if you abuse it too much, your REV Gauge will decrease rapidly and you will overheat. Overheat is recovered not only by conventional attack hits, but also by passing time or moving toward the opponent, so it is easier to accumulate than the normal power gauge.
T.O.P. becomes S.P.G.
The "T.O.P. (Tactical Offensive Power)" system in "FATAL WOLF MOW" has been renamed "S.P.G. (Selective Portal Gear)". During S.P.G., the "Hidden Gear" can be used for powerful special moves that, when hit, restore the REV Gauge, but the commands are secret. I was wondering if Rock Howard's "Hidden Gear is a deadly rave! " and I was going to try it, but the name of the move is "Power Gazer typeR" ... I couldn't find it during the test play. I wanted to see Rock's Power Gazer... I wanted to look for hidden commands while looking at the command list... It's 2024 and you're already in the 90s, SNK! (I mean that as a compliment.)American comic style animation that would be popular overseas.
Expectations for popular characters as well as new characters
Six characters have already been announced as of now. It's only natural that Rock and Terry would be announced at the same time as the title announcement, but SNK knows what they're doing by bringing Futaba Hotaru to the announcement of the first entry. (Well, her brother and Jenny are also participating in KOF 15.)
At EVO Japan 2024, it was announced that "Marco Rodriguez" would be joining the tournament, and we can expect to see more characters from the previous games, but we also have new characters such as "Pritcha," Joe Higashi's apprentice. We look forward to more announcements of new characters in the future.
By the way, today is the 26th birthday of Ms. Mainaka Ishimi, who plays Hotaru Futaba, the same age as Hotaru Futaba (as in FATAL FURY WOLF MOW)! Congratulations!
Extra: Two shots with Terry at the end of the day!
After playing the game, we took a commemorative photo with life-size Terry. If you were not able to play the game that day, please check out the "FATAL FURY : City of the Wolves" play guide for EVO Japan 2024!
This is our first report on "FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves!