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Fatal Fury (餓狼伝説 or Garou Densetsu in Japan) is a fighting game series developed by SNK for the Neo-Geo system. It is SNK's second oldest fighting game (the oldest is Street Smart, which was released in 1989), and was once a rival to Capcom's Street Fighter series.
Gameplay The main fighting game feature that the original Fatal Fury was known for was the two-plane system. Characters would fight from two different planes, and by stepping between the planes, attacks could be dodged with ease. Later games drop the two-plane system, replacing it with a complex system of dodging. Characters often had moves that could attack across the two planes, attack both planes at once, or otherwise attack characters attempting to dodge. Later Fatal Fury games experimented with various other gimmicks, such as "ring-outs", where a character loses the round if the character is thrown into the edges of the fighting backdrop, and single-plane backdrops, where the element of dodging is eliminated altogether, and moves that sent opponents to the opposite plane instead did collateral damage. The most successful of these gimmicks were the Deadly Rave, a super combo used by several characters that, after execution, a player must press a preset series of buttons with exact timing for the entire combo to execute, and the Just Defend, a type of protected block in which players regain lost life. Story The Fatal Fury series chronicles the rise of the "Hungry Wolf" Terry Bogard (hence the Japanese title, which translates to Legend of the Hungry Wolf), and the simultaneous fall of the criminal empire of Geese Howard. Like many other SNK titles of the time, the first installment takes place in a fictitious American city called Southtown. Brimming with violence and corruption, Southtown forms the ideal backdrop for the annual King of Fighters fighting tournament, organized by the notorious crimelord Geese. No fighter has ever managed to beat his right-hand man and appointed champion, Billy Kane, until Terry arrives on the scene. The second installment of the series features Geese's half-brother, Wolfgang Krauser, who internationalizes the formerly Southtown-only tournament in a bid to take on the world's strongest combatants. The King of Fighters tournament is no longer a part of the storyline by the third game, having been spun off into its own series. Instead, the third installment centers around Terry Bogard's attempts to stop Geese from obtaining an ancient scroll that would give him the powers of a lost and dangerous martial art form. After the third game, the series is renamed to Real Bout Fatal Fury. In the first installment of this "new" series we see the final and decisive battle between Terry and Geese. Note that King of Fighters tournament also held in this game. The second installment, which is named Real Bout Fatal Fury Special, features the return of Wolfgang. Finally, Garou: Mark of the Wolves takes place a generation later. It focuses on Rock Howard, Terry's protégé and son of Geese, who makes a shocking discovery about his past when he enters the King of Fighters: Maximum Mayhem tournament. The Interconnecting Plots Fatal Fury and its two sister series, Art of Fighting and The King of Fighters, often influenced each other in different ways. The storylines between each series share many similarities, but have many differences (one of the main differences between the storylines of Fatal Fury and KOF is whether Geese Howard remained alive). For some time, it was believed that, as new KOF games were being created each year, and games in the other two series were appearing with less frequency (or, in the case of Art of Fighting, not at all), that KOF was a continuation or a retcon of previously established storylines. However, it is currently believed that Fatal Fury, along with Art of Fighting and The Last Blade, is part of a universe separated from the KOF storyline. However, this is only speculation at this point. Games Canonical games These are the games that are considered part of the Fatal Fury story: also known as Garou Densetsu: Shukumei no Tatakai - Japan The first game of the Fatal Fury series allowed players to select one of three characters, Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard, and Joe Higashi, as they battled a gauntlet of computer-controlled opponents ending with Billy Kane and Geese Howard. When two players were playing, players had the option of either playing cooperatively against a computer opponent or competitively against each other. This game was later ported to Genesis and SNES by Takara. also known as Garou Densetsu 2: Arata-Naru Tatakai - Japan Capitalizing on the popularity of Street Fighter II, this game had the characters fight each other in locales around the world. Like Street Fighter II, there were eight selectable characters and four computer-controlled bosses, each of which had similarities with a corresponding Street Fighter II character. Also this game was later ported to the Genesis and SNES by Takara. Fatal Fury 2 was one of the first fighting games to include super moves. When the player had low vitality, they could execute a Desperation Attack. also known as Garou Densetsu 3: Haruka-Naru Tatakai - Japan With the King of Fighters tournament spun off into its own series, this game focuses on the main characters as they try to stop the mysterious Ryuji Yamazaki and the Jin Twins: Jin Chonshu and Jin Chonrei. Basically Fatal Fury 3 is the story of the 3 Hidensho (secret scrolls) just prior to Geese obtaining all 3 of them. Various new characters are introduced, including fan-favorite Blue Mary. also known as Real Bout Garou Densetsu - Japan Continuing the story of Fatal Fury 3, the cast of the previous game returns along with three returning characters (Kim Kaphwan, Duck King and Billy Kane), as they try to stop Geese Howard from claiming the mysterious Jin scrolls for himself, culminating with the ultimate demise of Geese. Basically this game is the story of the final battle against Geese (who now possesses all 3 secret scrolls. Ported to Japanese Sega Saturn and PlayStation by SNK and PAL PlayStation by SCEE. A port of Real Bout Special which adds Alfred (the hidden boss in Real Bout 2) as a playable character, and includes an all new boss character named White, based upon Alexander de Large, a character from the 1971 Stanley Kubrick movie A Clockwork Orange. The story of this game is the story of White's brainwashing of Billy Kane and attempted takeover of Southtown's underworld in the power vacuum left by the death of Geese in Real Bout Fatal Fury 1. An interested thing to note is that Geese Howard sports a halo over his head in this game, a reference to his passing in Real Bout 1. Dominated Mind also featured new moves, hidden unlockable super moves, super cancelling (known in the game as "Final Impacts"), and removed the line-sway system from the game. also known as Garou Densetsu: Wild Ambition - Japan A 3D fighting game that retells the story of Fatal Fury, but with many of its established characters. The story of this game does not replace Fatal Fury 1 because they both represent the same story and series of events. It's just that not all the events/characters of FF are depicted in FFWA, and vice-versa. This game was later released in the US on the Sony PlayStation. In what was considered to be the Fatal Fury equivalent to Street Fighter III, this game takes place a full generation later, and like SF3, discards many of the recurring characters in favor of new ones. Like SF3, the game was known for its graphical brilliance, being able to push the capabilities of the Neo-Geo to its limits, as well as for its highly technical gameplay. Some had considered Mark of the Wolves to be the "last great SNK game" as the production quality of SNK's later games began to take a nosedive as the company's financial woes increased. This game was later released in the US and in Japan on the Sega Dreamcast. A Playstation 2 version has also been released in Japan. Non-canonical games also known as Garou Densetsu Special - Japan An update of Fatal Fury 2 that adds three characters from the original Fatal Fury (as well as Ryo Sakazaki from Art of Fighting) into the mix, in addition to making the bosses into playable characters. This game is one of the most popular games in Japan in 1993. It has been said that, as a result of the popularity that ensued from Ryo being a hidden character in this game, The King of Fighters as a series was born. This game was later ported to the Game Gear and SNES by Takara, to the Sega CD by Victor Interactive Studios/JVC Digital Studios, and to PC Engine CD by Hudson Soft. More recently, SNK Playmore announced an Xbox 360 port, due to be released sometime in 2007 on the Xbox Live Arcade.* also known as Real Bout Garou Densetsu Special - Japan Like Fatal Fury Special before it, Real Bout Special reintroduced many of the characters from previous games, most notably Wolfgang Krauser. Ported to the Sega Saturn and PlayStation by SNK in Japan. also known as Real Bout Garou Densetsu 2: The Newcomers - Japan Real Bout 2 is not part of the official storyline, but introduced two new characters, Li Xiangfei and Rick Strowd, the former of which would later appear in The King of Fighters series. The game also featured a new hidden boss named Alfred. In "ALL ABOUT SNK Taisen Kakutou Game 1991-2000" (ISBN 4-88554-677-X), the game is specifically stated to have no relevant story in the Fatal Fury universe, and the events depicted therein are not canon. also known as Garou Densetsu: First Contact - Japan An adaptation of Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers. Featured exclusive character Lao, playable only in vs. mode. Related games These games are not part of the Fatal Fury series, but involve characters from Fatal Fury: also known as Ryuuko no Ken 2 - Japan also known as Nettou Garou Densetsu 2 - Japan also known as Nettou Real Bout Garou Densetsu Special - Japan also known as SNK vs. Capcom: Gekitotsu Card Fighters - Japan also known as Nettou The King of Fighters '95 - Japan also known as Nettou The King of Fighters '96 - Japan also known as The King of Fighters '98: Dream Match Never Ends - Japan Characters Fatal Fury contained many characters, some appearing in other series as well. These are the characters who appeared in a fighting capacity at some point in the series, listed in alphabetical order: Characters from Art of Fighting Characters with appearances outside this series These include characters that have appeared in The King of Fighters series, as well as the SNK vs. series and Neo Geo Battle Coliseum. also known as Big Bear (ビッグ・ベア) also known as The Griffon (グリフォンマスク, Griffon Mask) - Japan Other characters also known as Marco Rodriguez (マルコ・ロドリゲス) Abbreviation confusion Like Capcom's game trilogy, Final Fight and Tecmo's survival horror series, Fatal Frame, the Fatal Fury series may be confused with Square Enix's popular Final Fantasy series if abbreviated FF. To prevent abbreviation confusion in general gaming circles and in role-playing game circles, the game series title would sometimes be abbreviated FFu or GD instead, and the name of Final Fight would be abbreviated FFi, and Fatal Frame wouold be abbreviated FFr. Usually, the name of Fatal Fury or its Japanese name Garou Densetsu are spelled out in the role-playing video game circles. One exception is that Fatal Fury Special is normally abbreviated FFS, and that Real Bout Fatal Fury is abbreviated RB1. Fatal Fury Special is abbreviated FFuS in the SPC audio archives. Fighting game specific Internet forums use FFa as the abbreviation for Final Fantasy. Movies The Fatal Fury franchise also prompted the release of three movies. In North America they were released by Viz Video. It should be noted that the first two were released on a single DVD titled Fatal Fury: Double Impact, which features a scene Viz originally removed from Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle on VHS due to be considered "too violent" at the time. The movies are as follows: Trivia Official Sites Non-official sites | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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