Garou (Fatal Fury) Mark of the Wolves
The next generation
Fatal Fury as a whole has always been something of the other game, even in SNK’s pantheon, eventually being overshadowed by its mainline game, King of Fighters. Who knows why, but it's just been happening as we breathe air. This will, however, change in a few days when Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves will be released to gamers everywhere. So, I thought if you were curious about the game that came before it, I would cover it a little bit.
Also, it will be a shorter post than normal as I am trying something new for this one: video in the posts. This is more due to my PS5 pausing when I want to grab pics mid game, so I want to see how this is gonna work going forward, at least I can show some interesting gameplay instead of cut scene pics, the game will not pause as a result of it.
So with that, let’s get to it…
The Stats:
played on: PS5 via a copy from the PS4 digital
Paid: I think it was on sale for 10 dollars at the time
Played with: the new arcade stick I just got
TL:DR: One of the games of the twilight of the golden era of 2d, the game still holds up and can have a rather hard difficulty for people who are not used to old SNK games
Gameplay: T.O.P of the class
The gameplay of Garou is classic SNK; you have a meter that builds up and is aimed at aggressive combat. One of the new features in this game that has become a staple of future games is the just defend mechanic. It is sort of like the parry added into Street Fighter 3, with the difference being that timing your block right doing so will give yourself a slight bit of life meter back. It’s something to this day I have not been able to get a handle on, but I can see that whatever it does, it comes more and more as time goes on.
The second of the new features is the T.O.P. System, Before you begin a match in versus or an arcade run, you will have to select a place on your meter for this to sit. Moving the joystick up and down can adjust how much top you want, from small to standard. When you enter this state, your moves become a little more powerful, and you also gain a new move that is sort of a mini super that can be used at any time during the active T.O.P. System. By pressing the two high attack buttons together.
As for the feel and flow, well, it’s an SNK game from the 2000s, this is not gonna exactly be slow, and the speed is gonna be seen. I do like the aggressive and variety of the mechanics in this game, the super moves feel powerful, and when the just defend kicks in, it feels like you did something right. That said, it is, as I said, an early 2000s SNK game, so that means SNK boss syndrome is in full effect, though as you progress. You will feel the difficulty amp up and rather quickly if you are not ready.
Visuals
Mark of the Wolves was released on the Neo Geo Arcade machines of the 90s, that’s right, this thing was pretty much running on the thing that played the original Samurai Showdown AND Fatal Fury 1. SO when I say this game looks great, it is almost like SNK sold their souls in the late 90s to make this look as good as it did. The animation is smooth, and the transitions between matches have little intros for the stages and characters as well. The sunrise on the train still sticks out in my mind as one of the best intros I’ve seen in an arcade to this day.
Final Thoughts
This was a shorter review, I admit, but it’s hard to cover this game given how much it probably has been covered over the years. In fact, Electronic Gaming Monthly reviewed the Dreamcast version at an 8 in 2002. Citing the release as a bare bones basic approach to content, but also cited its mechanics as very good, and praised the visuals. Granted, it is well past the actual release date. I remember hearing rumblings for this game and finding out it was released, ran out to my Gamestop, and got my copy.
As time has moved on, the game has maintained well, and it’s a great game, should you just want to see what SNK was doing at that time, and also to just enjoy a good and well-tuned fighting game. I’ll be curious to see what comes with City of the Wolves in the week ahead and what may have been kept or advanced. It’s now a 25-year-old game roughly. Mechanics have moved on and improved, but Mark of the Wolves can still be enjoyed and not feel old at all.
-The Chaos Director