Making its mark.
It’s likely not controversial to say that fighting games have never been in a better state. With Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8 offering players some of the best one-on-one battles in the genre, to old classics like the Marvel vs Capcom series dropping one of the best collections in history, there are countless outlets to get one’s fix in the fighting game genre. And, after nearly 26 years, Fatal Fury has returned, providing a sequel to Mark of the Wolves that satisfies on nearly every level. Well, almost..
Leading up to the game’s release, there was some controversy regarding its character roster. While fan favorites like Terry, Rock, and Mai would obviously be part of the main cast, two real-life people, who are not attached to Fatal Fury whatsoever, apart from one being part of the game’s soundtrack, are part of the starting cast. This means characters like Andy Bogard and Joe Higashi, and countless others, would be part of DLC. Bosnian-Swedish DJ and Record Producer, Salvatore Ganacci, and Portuguese Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, would be launch characters joining the roster of beloved icons. And with Ronaldo having a controversial past, his involvement here just didn’t sit well with many purists who have wanted an all-star Fatal Fury cast to be part of this new entry.
Rounding out the cast, apart from those two new additions, is Billy Kane, Hokutomaru, Kevin Rian, Jenet, Marco Rodrigues, Terry Bogard, Rock Howard, Vox Reaper, Kain R. Heinlein, Tizoc, Gato, Hotaru Futaba, Mai, and a brand new character to the Fatal Fury universe, Preecha, who is an absolute delight. What I do find bizarre is that while Terry and Mai feature entirely new costumes, changing the look each of them has had for decades, Terry is the only one of the two to have their original outfit selectable. In contrast, Mai’s classic outfit is only part of one of her special attacks. As a huge Mai fan, this is the only aspect of the game that I feel is drastically disappointing. And hearing her say “You know, I used to wear a different outfit..” feels like such a blatant tease.
What is also quite bizarre about the inclusion of Ronaldo is that he doesn’t have a presence in Arcade mode or the Story mode in Episodes of South Town, meaning he feels like a last-minute addition with no thought put into why he is there. That said, Salvatore Ganacci is present throughout all these modes, complete with his own cheesy story. With some impressive DLC down the road to add to Arcade mode and potentially Episodes of South Town, having the likes of Ken and Chun Li from Street Fighter is wildly exciting.
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves features a remarkably well-designed and entirely new fighting system, and with both “Classic” and “Smart Style” control options. This allows new and veteran players a way to benefit from all the new moves, fighting mechanics, and deep-level play with the new REV and SPG systems. It’s a lot to take in and how each system works, so let’s talk about that now.
The REV system is a risk/reward mechanic that will change the pace of a match and cap off matches with some exciting finishers. In the bottom corner, each fighter will have a half-circle meter with two bars below the meter. As you attack normally, the bottom bars will fill up, while special attacks will charge up the REV gauge. From Special Moves to REV blows, Ignition Gears, you also have REV Arts and REV Accel that add to this gauge. REV Arts enhance a character’s special attacks, whereas the REV Accel mechanic lets you chain those REV Arts into some insane combo strings. However, this can cause the REV gauge to overheat if you perform those moves too much in succession.
The meter can be lowered to prevent overheating by simply landing normal strikes against your opponent. Being able to balance the REV gauge is the way to achieve victory without giving your opponent too much of an advantage. Should you overheat, you’ll lose access to REV Arts. While you can still block, this can still put you at a disadvantage. It all comes down to balancing this meter, as I’ve just mentioned. While some players will likely revel in being overheated to have that initial barrage of attacks, your kit will have fewer abilities as a result.
With a new system like the REV gauge being a huge factor in how the game plays, you also have access to new special moves called Ignition Gears, as well as being able to fake certain special attacks to end them early, catching your opponent off guard. However, the SPG mechanic, which stands for Selective Potential Gear, allows you to place a meter within your health bar to benefit from boosted attack power and more moves. You can place it in the middle or at each end. Do you want to start off with this new power, have it in the middle of the match, or use it as a last resort to survive? It’s a clever system, since players can have it wherever they want, making certain online bouts unpredictable.
In addition, you also have Just Defence. This prevents chip damage from special attacks and supers, and in turn, recovers a small amount of health. This also reduces the REV gauge drain as well. Just Defence is a perfect-timed block that offers more benefits that just your normal typical block. This is performed by blocking an incoming hit during a particular frame window. By achieving a Just Defend, it will be illustrated by a blue shield with the accompanying sound effect. Just Defence allows for Guard Cancels with special moves, super moves, or the REV Blow.
At launch, Fatal Fury is fairly basic when it comes to what you can get from it. You have online and offline matches, complete with Arcade mode, as well as Episodes of South Town, a story mode that is far deeper than what you get from Arcade mode. Apart from a Jukebox, Gallery, and the ability to edit the colors of your outfits, or dabble with various tutorials, that is pretty much it.
Episodes of South Town feels like a much lower-budget version of Street Fighter 6’s World Tour Mode. Instead of being able to walk around South Town, you engage with it via battles against random fighters that are simply icons on a map. Some battles will have conditions, but you ultimately are pushing through these battles to watch a narrative unfold of the character of your choice. Mai, for example, is attempting to track down Hokutomaru and ends up running into the likes of Terry, Vox Reaper, and more. What is interesting about this mode is that you’ll level up your character to take on the three areas present across South Town; Central City, East Island, and Second South. Each area will have a central goal, with numerous battles spread out across the city that are leveled to indicate their difficulty. The mode is fine enough as it is, but the dialogue cutscenes lack presentation. Had it flavored its story with comic-book-like artwork, given that is the overall presentation across the game, then it could have made a bigger impact than just generic and boring dialogue boxes.
Online is where this game is going to resonate with its audience given that Fatal Fury isn’t really a mainstream title. The bulk of its buyers are going to be those who love the brand, engaged with King of Fighters, and those who have wanted to see where Terry and Mai are from, given their appearances in others games. Hell, most of the FGC and the fan base are younger than the gap since the last true Fatal Fury entry. While story and arcade mode will certainly peek the interest of some players, its online modes are likely the features that will get the most workout out of its fanbase.
Online has both casual and ranked play, rooms to create custom matches, your online player profile, a leaderboard, replays, or being able to train and fight clones of other players. Casual matches allow your to adjust your difficulty by assigning an appropriate rank. You’ll choose from Newcomer, Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced. Matches, for the most part, were pretty damn good for netcode and while I had a few matches with some latency, it was extremely minimal. While the rest of the offerings here are pretty basic, having a strong online infrastructure is great here, giving it the chance to be as big as Fatal Fury should be, given the history of the franchise and its beloved characters.
While it certainly shares some similarities to King of Fighters XV due to its overall color scheme, the visuals are entirely fresh and offers a comic book-style that allows it to stand out from Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, and countless others. Characters have solid shading, and the color choices across its cast and stages are fantastic. From fighting aboard a moving train, a populated park, a fitness club, or out front of the Heinlein villa, these stages are vibrant and alive. With nearly 20 stages, there is a decent crop of solid areas to do battle in, complete with a pretty great soundtrack, comprised of fan favorites, as well as a deep collaboration with several popular DJs such as Afrojack, Steve Aoki, and especially Salvatore Ganacci, who not only is in the game, but served as the game’s music advisor as well.
While the presentation of Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is top notch, with its REV and SPG systems being solid additions to the series to have it stand out, the limited modes and questionable additions of real-life people, can be some odd choices to accept. Still, with solid online, some fan favorites in the cast, and a fantastic soundtrack, Fatal Fury is a true competitor to Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, and several others that are taking the fighting game landscape by storm. Fatal Fury is back, and better than ever.
Developer - SNK. Publisher - SNK. Released - April 24th, 2025. Available On - Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC. Rated - (T) Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence. Platform Reviewed - Xbox Series X. Review Access - A review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
Jeff is the original founder of Analog Stick Gaming. His favorite games include The Witcher III, the Mass Effect Trilogy, Hi-Fi Rush, Stellar Blade, Hellbade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and the Legend of Heroes series, especially Trails of Cold Steel III & IV.