‘Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves' is a bombastic return
Not many prayers are answered these days, but SNK decided to play God and finally release a sequel to 'Mark of the Wolves'. 'Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves' is a 2.5D fighting game that sets out to bring the series forward while maintaining its classic arcade tones.
The plot here isn't essential, but the basics are that the legacy of the series' original villain, Geese Howard, is stolen and put up for grabs in a new tournament happening in South Town. These events coincide with protagonists Terry Bogard and Rock Howard investigating sightings of a ghost of Geese throughout the city.
It's typical fighting game nonsense, yet perfectly in line with the series' storytelling. These plot points are laid out and developed in the 'episodes of South Town' mode, where the player goes around to various nodes on a map. Each node has a fight, which can be against a lone fighter or a group of grunts. Since each fight gives XP and leveling up unlocks new abilities, this mode can be considered an 'RPGlite' experience.
While the mode can feel repetitive, it's also a good way for a new player to get their bearings with the controls and mechanics at a slow pace. The main drawback is that the presentation is very subdued, so don't expect anything on the production level of the 'Mortal Kombat' story modes.
Speaking of easing new players into the game, a simplified control scheme is also on offer here. It makes completing more advanced combos a breeze by just having to press the same buttons in succession. It can give any newcomer a competitive edge, even if they've never played a fighting game before. This sort of thing is becoming more common within the genre, which is great, but it still doesn't do a good job of bridging the gap between a beginner and an advanced player. It seems like only 'Street Fighter 6' is innovating in this field.
Overall, the controls and mechanics are simple and don't take that much time to understand. This makes 'City of the Wolves' an approachable game without sacrificing the potential depth for experienced players. It pairs well with the anime/comic-inspired art style and eye-catching character designs.
The game has all the basic online features a player can expect: ranked play, casual matches, lobbies for groups and full crossplay with rollback netcode. There's also the option to fight 'ghosts,' which are computer-controlled fighters that adopt the tendencies of real players. It's a decent way to practice against something that's closer to mirroring how a human player fights.
Even though 'Fatal Fury' was never one of the world's most popular fighting franchises, it's still managed to have a very passionate cult following, which means this game had big shoes to fill.
I'd say that SNK has mostly nailed it when it comes to bringing a new game forward that retains the classic feel while still feeling modern. 'City of the Wolves' earns 4 stars out of 5.
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