An whole era of preventing recreation followers have been born, hit puberty, graduated school, discovered a profession, and presumably began a household within the time between the final Fatal Fury recreation and the upcoming City of the Wolves. The most up-to-date entry, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, was launched in 1999 for arcades (and 2001 for Dreamcast within the West), that means the sequence has been dormant for over 25 years. Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves sees the sequence make its long-awaited return, and it already feels prepared to face alongside the large boys of the style.
I had an opportunity to play over an hour of City of the Wolves on the SNK World Championship Finals final weekend, the place I additionally spoke with producer Yasuyuki Oda. Fatal Fury has been an arcade mainstay since 1991 however hasn’t fairly created the mainstream footprint of Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. With this new entry, Oda says he believes the sequence’ penchant for extra technical preventing, together with trendy revisions to fan-favorite techniques, will assist it stand out within the now crowded house. Additionally, he additionally hopes these tenants assist the sport attraction to unfamiliar youthful preventing recreation lovers who might solely know Fatal Fury by identify.
You eat together with your eyes first, and City of the Wolves seems to be sharp because of a stylized artwork path, with daring, heavy shadows that give the sport a vibrant comic-book-like look harking back to Marvel vs Capcom 3. The returning fighters accessible in my demo have been Rock Howard, Terry Bogard, Hotaru Futaba, and Tizoc. I additionally received to attempt a brand new character named Preecha. This bespectacled, bubble-gum-haired younger lady is a unusual however good scientist. Interestingly, she’s much less all for proving her preventing superiority and extra all for discovering scientific explanations for the way her rivals can carry out seemingly inconceivable feats like capturing fireplace or power out of their fists.
“She’s coming at it at a little bit of a strange point,” says Oda. “It’s almost like [how] a scientist would try to bring a little bit of reality into this world of special moves and telekinesis and all that stuff. So she wants to know exactly why is this possible, how is it possible, and how I can use this.”
Preecha can also be a Muay Thai grasp and star pupil of sequence comedian reduction Joe Higashi. She devastates foes with livid, wind-powered kicks, together with lobbing small cyclones as projectiles. I loved utilizing her probably the most out of the accessible roster, however every character supplied a superb time, whether or not I used to be German suplexing foes because the masked wrestler Tizoc or firing uppercut blasts as Rock. In addition to wanting cool, the roster speaks to a broader viewers, fairly actually, because of a brand new English localization.
The REV system serves as City of the Wolves’ large new addition, giving gamers enhanced assaults to bolster their offense. REV Blows are highly effective, near-unblockable supercharged assaults; REV Guard serves as an enhanced block; REV Arts are flashy cinematic combo assaults; and REV Accel is a speedy assault of kinds. Using these strikes progressively fills the consistently draining REV meter, which replenishes once you land assaults. However, filling the meter sends the fighter into an overheated state, rendering REV strikes unavailable till they “cool off” and the meter empties. Managing this meter creates an attention-grabbing pendulum swing that saved me from counting on REV strikes too typically, lest I lose them completely and provides my opponent a window to unleash their very own REV-based assaults. Thankfully, the REV meter additionally would not really feel restrictive or prefer it discourages REV use total on account of how quickly the meter drains.
The T.O.P system from Mark of the Wolves returns in expanded type because the S.P.G. (Selective Potential Gear) bar. At the beginning of every battle, gamers select to position this bar on the entrance, center, or finish of the well being meter. When your HP falls inside the S.P.G. part, you acquire advantages resembling elevated assault energy, the power to unleash Rev Blows, and well being regen. Thus, the location of the S.G.P. issues. Are you an aggressive participant from the bounce? Place the S.G.B bar on the entrance so you start the match at your strongest. You might place it on the finish to behave as a robust final stand. I benefit from the technique the S.G.B. bar brings, each for myself and for figuring out when to show up the warmth when my opponent’s vitality approaches theirs.
These techniques complement a preventing system that already feels very fine-tuned. Playing matches in opposition to A.I. and different journalists was a difficult blast. I cherished unleashing mixture assaults whereas leveraging my REV meter. You can even execute Feints, particular fake-out strikes to trick your opponent into speeding in or backing off. Braking means that you can cancel out of combos in progress. Using returning mechanics, like Just Defend, during which you block on the final second for a faster restoration, provides to the sport’s pleasing technical-based fight.
In a nod to latest preventing recreation developments, City of the Wolves options an optionally available, streamlined management scheme referred to as Smart Style. This possibility simplifies the execution of dazzling particular assaults by mapping them to a single button plus a directional enter. For veterans, Arcade Style provides the default, extra technical management setup, and it’s good to see Fatal Fury proceed the constructive development of inviting gamers of all talent ranges to its world.
I’ve by no means been probably the most enthusiastic Fatal Fury fan on the earth, however I’m very impressed with how thrilling City of the Wolves is, particularly this removed from launch. SNK has a promising begin, and whereas Oda wasn’t able to expose particulars on different modes and options, the core one-on-one preventing is in a robust place. Fighting recreation followers have feasted properly the previous couple of years, and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves seems to be to supply one other scrumptious serving in early 2025.
