Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves

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Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
Fatal Fury City of the Wolves.jpg
Developer(s) SNK
Publisher(s) SNK
Director(s) Hayato Konya
Series Fatal Fury
Engine Unreal Engine 4 [1]
Platform(s)
ReleaseApril 24, 2025 [2]
Genre(s) Fighting
Mode(s)

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves [a] is an upcoming fighting game developed and published by SNK. It is the first new entry in the Fatal Fury series in 26 years, following the release of Garou: Mark of the Wolves (1999), and serves as a continuation of that game's story. The game is scheduled to release for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on April 24, 2025. [3]

Contents

Gameplay

Gameplay in City of the Wolves is similar to that of its predecessor, with combat taking place on a two-dimensional movement plane. Several mechanics from Mark of the Wolves are retained in City of the Wolves, including the T.O.P. system, renamed the "Selective Potential Gear" (S.P.G.) system; and the "Just Defense" mechanic, which features an expanded "Hyper Defense" variation designed to protect against attacks that hit multiple times. In addition to basic normal moves and special moves, players can also gain access to "Gear" super attacks by filling two meters at the bottom of their screen. Spending one meter will perform an Ignition Gear attack, while both meters can be spent to perform a more powerful Redline Gear attack. The most powerful super move, the Hidden Gear, requires both bars to be spent while the S.P.G. is active. [4]

A new mechanic introduced in the game is the "Rev System". Players can perform multiple types of Rev abilities, including "Rev Arts", enhanced versions of a character's special moves; "Rev Blow", an attack that can help put distance between the two characters; "Rev Accel", which assists in chaining attacks together to create combos; and "Rev Guard", a defensive block which pushes opponents away as their attack connects. Using these techniques will gradually cause the character's Rev Gauge to fill; when full, the character will enter an Overheat state and be unable to use any Rev abilities until it fully depletes. The affected player will be able to drain their gauge more quickly by actively approaching and attacking their opponent. [4] The game offers two control schemes for players to choose from: "Arcade Style", which features traditional controls akin to previous entries in the series, and "Smart Style", a simplified control scheme that allows players to perform attacks and combos using only basic directional inputs and single button presses, though certain abilities are inaccessble in Smart Style. [4]

In addition to the standard arcade mode, the game features a single player mode called "Episodes of South Town". This mode features RPG mechanics and has players selecting challenge missions scattered around a South Town map to earn experience points and additional skills for their chosen character. [2] Progressing in this mode will unlock new outfits, colors, and patterns with which to customize the characters in the "Color Edit" mode; music from other Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting games can also be played during battles or using an in-game jukebox. [2] The game supports online multiplayer, including rollback netcode and cross-platform play. [2]

Playable characters

While the previous game, Mark of the Wolves, featured an almost entirely new roster of playable fighters, City of the Wolves marks the return of several characters from the earlier Fatal Fury games, along with new characters. The game is set to feature 17 characters in its base roster, with an additional five planned as part of its first season of downloadable content. [2]

The first season of DLC is also set to include two guest characters from Capcom's Street Fighter series, making them the first third-party characters to appear in a Fatal Fury game. [5]

Newcomers are marked in bold, while guest characters are marked in italics.

  1. 1 2 Downloadable content

Development and marketing

In 2005, during the KOF Year-End Party fan event, SNK illustrator Falcoon mentioned that a sequel to Garou: Mark of the Wolves was around 70% complete for the Neo Geo by the SNK team. Falcoon also confirmed that one of the new characters meant to appear was a student of legacy Fatal Fury character Joe Higashi. [14] In July 2006, SNK reported that they were still working on the sequel, saying that they would use modern high-resolution graphics instead of the resolution quality level seen in the original game. [15] During an interview in March 2008, SNK USA developers commented that there was not any concrete schedule of demands for the game and that they planned to make the sequel with some new technology. [16] In June 2016, SNK revealed artwork and sprites of the cast of the cancelled Neo Geo version. [17] SNK director Nobuyuki Kuroki stated in February 2020 that he was personally interested in 'reviving' the Fatal Fury series. [18]

During EVO 2022, it was revealed that a new Fatal Fury game was officially in development at SNK. [8] At EVO 2023, SNK announced the game's title to be Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, and revealed a first look at the gameplay, demonstrating it would be a 2.5D fighting game similar to their other contemporary fighting games Samurai Shodown (2019) and The King of Fighters XV (2022). [19] In March 2024, the game was officially announced for a 2025 release. Additionally, it was announced that City of the Wolves will be the first Fatal Fury game to feature an English-language voice track, and the first SNK game to do so since The King of Fighters XII (2009). [10]

Release

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is scheduled to release for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on April 24, 2025. [2] It will only be available in a "Special Edition" format, [20] which includes the base game and the first season pass. [2] Players who pre-order the game will receive an additional costume for Terry based on his appearance in Fatal Fury 2 (1992), along with three days of early access. [21] A promotional campaign involving professional athlete Cristiano Ronaldo was teased in September 2024. [22]

At the 2024 Tokyo Game Show, it was announced that Ken and Chun-Li from Capcom's Street Fighter series would be added to City of the Wolves via post-launch downloadable content, following Terry and Mai's similar appearance as DLC in Street Fighter 6 that year. [5]

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: 餓狼伝説 City of the Wolves, Hepburn: Garō Densetsu: City of the Wolves, lit. "Legend of the Hungry Wolf: City of the Wolves"

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Fatal Fury, known as Garō Densetsu in Japan, is a fighting game series developed by SNK, first released on the Neo Geo system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Bogard</span> Fictional character

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References

  1. ↑ Reynolds, Ollie (2024-03-18). "Fatal Fury: City Of The Wolves Looks Slick As Heck In New Character Trailer". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on 2024-03-18. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Fanelli, Jason (August 20, 2024). "Fatal Fury: City Of The Wolves Launches April 2025, New Solo RPG Mode Revealed". GameSpot. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  3. ↑ Romano, Sal (June 7, 2024). "Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves adds B. Jenet and Vox Reaper; confirmed for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series, and PC". Gematsu. Archived from the original on June 7, 2024. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 Fanelli, Jason (2024-03-18). "Fatal Fury: City Of The Wolves Makes A Strong Case For The Series' Return After 25 Years". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2024-03-18. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Romano, Sal (September 26, 2024). "Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves DLC characters Ken and Chun-Li from Street Fighter announced". Gematsu. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  6. 1 2 Romano, Sal (2023-04-01). "New Fatal Fury / Garou game adds Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard, and Joe Higashi". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 2024-04-07. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  7. 1 2 Fanelli, Jason (June 7, 2024). "Newcomer Vox Reaper And Series Vet B. Jenet Join Fatal Fury: City Of The Wolves Roster". GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 7, 2024. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 Reeve, Justin (2022-08-07). "Fatal Fury Series Returns After 20 Year Hiatus". TheGamer. Archived from the original on 2022-08-07. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  9. ↑ Romano, Sal (December 21, 2024). "Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves adds Gato". Gematsu. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Romano, Sal (March 17, 2024). "Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves launches in early 2025". Gematsu. Archived from the original on April 7, 2024. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  11. ↑ Fanelli, Jason (July 20, 2024). "Kevin Rian Returns In Fatal Fury: City Of The Wolves, Vice And Mature Join KOF XV". GameSpot. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  12. ↑ Romano, Sal (October 27, 2024). "Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves adds Kim Dong Hwan". Gematsu. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
  13. ↑ Makar, Connor (2023-04-27). "Marco Rodrigues is back in action-packed Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer". VG247. Archived from the original on 2024-04-28. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  14. ↑ "2005 KOF-party". SNK Playmore. Archived from the original on 2009-04-26. Retrieved 2009-01-24.
  15. ↑ "SNK Talking About the Future". PSX Extreme. 2006-07-25. Archived from the original on 2009-01-09. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
  16. ↑ "Interviewed at the SNK Offices in Wall, New Jersey on March 7th, 2008". SNK - CAPCOM dot com. 2008-03-07. Archived from the original on August 22, 2008. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
  17. ↑ "新生SNKのモノ作りはここから始まる。「餓狼MOW2」の話題も飛び出した，「THE KING OF FIGHTERS XIV」開発陣インタビュー" [The new SNK's creation starts here. An interview with the developers of 'THE KING OF FIGHTERS XIV' where the topic of 'Garou MOW2' also came up] (in Japanese). 4Gamer. June 13, 2016. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
  18. ↑ McFerran, Damien (21 February 2020). "Feature: Samurai Shodown Director "Cried Out In Surprise" When He Saw The Switch Version". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on 22 February 2020. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  19. ↑ Bankhurst, Adam (August 5, 2023). "Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves Announced at EVO 2023". IGN. Archived from the original on August 6, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  20. ↑ "FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves". Steam. Retrieved August 20, 2024. FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves will only be available in this Special Edition format. There are no plans at this time to sell the base game and Season Pass 1 individually.
  21. ↑ Capetanos, John (August 20, 2024). "Mai Shiranui Returns in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves". Siliconera. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  22. ↑ Richman, Olivia (September 22, 2024). "Is Cristiano Ronaldo Really a Fatal Fury Fighter?". Esports Illustrated On SI. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
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