{"id":5594,"date":"2025-04-21T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/?p=5594"},"modified":"2025-04-24T18:20:37","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T18:20:37","slug":"fatal-fury-city-of-the-wolves-review-street-fighters-greatest-rival-returns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/21\/fatal-fury-city-of-the-wolves-review-street-fighters-greatest-rival-returns\/","title":{"rendered":"Fatal Fury: City Of The Wolves review \u2013 Street Fighter\u2019s greatest rival returns"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\"Fatal\t<\/div>
Fatal Fury: City Of The Wolves – a successful comeback (SNK)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Terry Bogard and the gang are back as SNK revive the iconic Fatal Fury series for a new 2D fighter that seeks to challenge Capcom\u2019s Street Fighter<\/a> 6.<\/p>\n

As a new generation of consoles approaches it\u2019s interesting to think what their technical improvements might mean for various genres. That\u2019s assuming the next gen Xbox<\/a> and PlayStation 6 are more powerful and don\u2019t instead focus on a new portable design, as seems possible from recent rumours<\/a>. Whatever happens though, it\u2019s probably a good bet that it won\u2019t matter to fighting games.<\/p>\n

The Fatal Fury series dates back to 1991 and was created by the original director of Street Fighter, Takashi Nishiyama, as a response to Street Fighter 2<\/a>, which he wasn\u2019t involved with. The original was very well regarded, but because it was a Neo Geo game it ended up being much less well known. Subsequent games did make it onto other formats, but the series is probably best known today because of the cameo of frontman Terry Bogard in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For such a long running series there have been surprisingly few entries over the years, but 1999\u2019s Garou: Mark Of The Wolves (the franchise\u2019s Japanese name is Gar\u014d Densetsu, meaning Hungry Wolf Legend) is widely regarded as one of the best 2D fighting games of all time and a close rival to contemporary Street Fighter 3. The subtitle to this belated sequel is clearly meant to be reminiscent of that and the best thing we can say about it, is that it doesn\u2019t betray that legacy.<\/p>\n

Although it was released only a few months after Street Fighter 2, the original Fatal Fury was still remarkably similar to Capcom\u2019s game – despite Street Fighter 1 being very much a diamond in the rough. Right from the start, Fatal Fury had a greater emphasis on storytelling, with the travails of its main characters continuing through not just the sequels but sister series Art Of Fighting and crossover franchise King Of Fighters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t need to know any background lore to enjoy City Of The Wolves but even the Arcade mode has a proper story, of sorts. It\u2019s not exactly The Last Of Us, but each character is given clear motivation and goals and, unlike most Capcom games, a non-joke ending. There\u2019s also a role-playing style single-player mode called Episodes of South Town, where you pick battles from a map and gain experience with each fight, that ups your stats and unlocks new abilities.<\/p>\n

It still lives in the shadow of Soulcalibur 2\u2019s iconic single-player mode, complete with occasionally frustrating limitations on what moves you can use in each battle, but it\u2019s a reasonable effort for what is clearly a fairly low budget game, even if it pales next to Street Fighter 6<\/a>\u2019s World Tour mode. If you\u2019re into SNK lore though it\u2019s an absolute treasure trove, almost turning into a visual novel at times.<\/p>\n

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