

If this attacks hits, then the next normal will be a Base attack with a slightly different animation. This is pretty much the same thing, but with a different animation. When performing two consecutive Base attacks from the same range without them being blocked, and then following up with a third normal from the same range, then this normal will become an Alternate attack. The basic normals are called Base attacks. There is also a very odd attack chaining system in Fatal Fury. Attacks that would normally knock the opponent to the other plane instead make him collide with some kind of obstacle in the background, bounce off of it and land back on the ground. This is more of a novelty than anything else, but it is interesting and it does set it apart from other fighters. It’s not yet allowed to just switch planes at any time, but certain moves knock one of the combatants to the other plane. During play, the CPU will often jump into the background and pushing any attack button makes the hero jump at them and attack. The original Fatal Fury is probably most well known for introducing the line switching system, where fights can move between the background and foreground. This is debatably the worst flaw of the game, but opposed to the original Street Fighter, it’s possible to get the moves right every time when paying attention, so the game still stands up pretty well. The game’s physics are relatively intuitive, but the joystick motions for specials are a bit awkward, with too many diagonals for their own good. The controls are very simple, with A for punches, B for kicks, and C for throws. Yes, this is a pretty small character selection, but each character is excellently designed with their own individual feel and a large number of moves.

After these four are defeated, more bosses follow, which ends with fights against Billy Kane and Geese Howard, in that order. The first opponent can be chosen from a set of four. Years later, the two brothers enter Geese’s King of Fighters tournament with the goal of confronting the man himself to avenge their father’s death.įor those familiar with Street Fighter II it was probably off-putting that only the two Bogard brothers and their friend Joe Higashi can be selected to play as, with every other character being a non-playable boss character. Tung Fu Rue would take in Terry and raise him, while the other Bogard brother, Andy, was sent to Japan to learn martial arts from Hanzo Shiranui. This event was witnessed by one of Jeff Bogard’s children, Terry. When Tung decided to make Jeff his successor Geese developed resentment toward both men, and after becoming Southtown police commissioner, he killed Jeff. Geese intended to exploit his teachings to gain influence over Southtown’s criminal element, which Tung Fu Rue did not approve of, despite continuing to teach Geese anyway. Several years prior to the events of the game, two young men named Geese Howard and Jeff Bogard were being trained by a martial arts master named Tung Fu Rue in the American west coast city of Southtown. Street Fighter director Takashi Nishiyama even referred to Fatal Fury as “my Street Fighter II.” So the game’s similarities are the result of them being different re-interpretations of the same source. What’s more, all of SNK’s fighting game operations were helmed by Takashi Nishiyama and Hiroshi Matsumoto, who had formerly created the very first Street Fighter for Capcom in 1987.

While often inaccurately perceived as a Street Fighter II clone, Fatal Fury (known in Japan as Garou Densetsu: Shukumei no Tatakai, or “Legend of the Hungry Wolves: The Fated Battle) was actually in development at the same time as Street Fighter II.
