While SNK’s annual King of Fighters hasn’t missed a beat since its 1994 release, Fatal Fury hasn’t seen the light of day in quite some time. After more than 25 years, the studio’s inaugural and, arguably, most iconic series is making a triumphant return. Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is the second in the “Wolves” sub-series. And, while staying true to SNK’s tradition of deep and complex mechanics, Fatal Fury tries to welcome players unfamiliar with its systems, succeeding in some ways but falling short in others.
The wolves are back in South Town
Episodes of South Town is Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves‘ character-driven single-player campaign. It most closely resembles World Tour from Street Fighter 6, except without an actual interactive world to explore. Instead, most of the “exploring” occurs on a static map of South Town, divided into three regions. Markers are sporadically placed around each map that you select to enter into a battle of various, pre-determined difficulties and match-altering variables. Win a match and you gain experience — increasing your own level and, sometimes, earning stat-boosting perks to equip.
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You can play Fatal Fury‘s Episodes of South Town with anyone on the roster. While the map and its layout stay the same, each character has their own fleshed-out story to follow. But don’t expect anything too fancy. There are no cutscenes here — just text-based conversations to read along with. For those looking to unlock artwork and other Fatal Fury memorabilia, you’ll have plenty to dive into here. Otherwise, if you’re looking for a bit more visual storytelling, you’re better off playing Arcade Mode.
Essentially, the offline content is a bit underbaked, which may or may not be a surprise to longtime SNK fans. Despite that, Fatal Fury has enough meat on its bones to compensate for its single-player shortcomings.
Fierce mechanics – ‘Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves’ hits hard
Let’s talk about what we’re all here for — the fighting. SNK games typically have deep systems, and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves isn’t shy toward complexity. There are plenty of tools to work with in Fatal Fury, and they’re mostly centered around City of the Wolves’ REV system.
Blocking, using REV Arts (EX versions of special moves), or using REV blows fills up your REV gauge. Use too many, and you’ll enter Overheat status, preventing you from using it further until you cool off. You’ll also be susceptible to a crumple if you take too much damage while Overheated. It’s all very similar to Street Fighter 6‘s Drive Gauge system, except in reverse.
The S.P.G. Meter, or Selective Potential Gear, is a special state your fighter enters depending on their current health. You select when it activates — whether the first third of your health, the middle, or the last third — and while you’re in it, you’ll dish out extra damage and have access to REV Blows and your Hidden Gear, otherwise known as your super super move. It’s an interesting system that screams “SNK”, even if it feels a bit weird to only have access to a character’s full potential for a third of any match.
A grounded fighter that rewards patience
Fatal Fury‘s neutral game is more grounded than other fighters, rewarding thoughtful defense over haphazard aggression. There’s no Drive Rushing here, so opening up your opponent’s defenses means reacting and punishing appropriately when the opportunity arises. Blocking behaves how you’d expect, but REV Guarding allows you to negate chip damage and push your opponent back further at the expense of REV gauge. Time a normal block just right with an opponent’s attack, and you’ll perform a Just Defense, which you can follow up with a REV Blow if you’re quick enough. There are even a few types of Dodges available which, if predicted correctly, can help avoid an opponent’s attack and quickly open them up for a punish.
When you’re on the offensive, you’ve got a few tricks to spice things up. Most special moves can be cancelled mid-animation, allowing you to string flashy combos together for as long as your REV gauge permits. You can even feint attacks, which I absolutely despise! And no, it’s not because they keep tricking me (yes, it is).
‘fatal fury’s classic two-lane return
Fatal Fury‘s signature two-lane system returns to City of the Wolves after a 25-year absence. Like earlier games in the series, characters can hop in and out of the foreground, avoiding attacks and jumping back into a lane with their own.
As of release, there’s only one stage that actually utilizes the two-lane system. During review, I fought in a handful of ranked matches and custom lobbies, but never on the two-lane stage. So, I’m not entirely sure if it’s a one-time gimmick or a feature intended to fit into online competitive play.
growing pains
When fist meets face, Fatal Fury feels incredible to play. Unfortunately, some of its most unique systems are hindered by an incomplete onboarding experience and a sluggish menu system.
The tutorial, for instance, feels oddly minimal. While it teaches the basics of Fatal Fury‘s various systems, it fails to elaborate on topics that desperately need it. I know the essentials, like REV cancelling and Just Defense, but I don’t know why I’d use some of those tools, or the proper ways to follow them up. Hyper Defense, as an example, is another risky, reaction-based method of blocking. The tutorial has you perform a Hyper Defense once and then just.. drops it. Never mentioning it again, the tutorial quickly moves to the next topic. There are no examples of how to follow up after a Hyper Defense and, to this day, I still have no idea why I’d ever use it over Just Defense.
Other fundamental fighting mechanics in City of the Wolves, like rolling wake-ups, are entirely absent from its tutorial. Did you know there are five different ways to wake up after being knocked down? Me neither, I had to learn it from Twitter, because there’s no mention at all in the tutorial. There are a few basic necessities, like brief character guides, completely absent from the game as well. Instead, they can be found in places like the official SNK YouTube channel.
Teaching old wolves new tricks
Each character does have various training missions that help teach their basic combos, but unfortunately, there are only five for each fighter. If you want a deeper understanding of any fighter’s strengths and weaknesses, you’re on your own. Also, and possibly the most criminal of all, your REV gauge behaves like it would in a normal match in those combo trials.
So, if you’re practicing a combo trial with multiple REV Arts moves, you’ve got about two good attempts before you risk Overheating. Once that happens, you’ll have to sit and wait for your character to cool off before you can start practicing again. Or, you can open up the menu, hit “Restart,” sit through a loading screen, wait for another countdown, and then try again. Pick your poison. Why your REV gauge isn’t infinite in a combo trial is beyond me and, frankly, feels awful.
Speaking on Fatal Fury, FGC content creator Brain_F explains convenience is the “number one factor that makes a fighting game sticky to the consumer.” I tend to agree. As it stands, City of the Wolves feels fantastic in action, but tends to forget what makes a fighter more approachable for a wider audience.
Despite some rough edges, ‘Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves’ shines bright
There are a few extra, much-appreciated knick-knacks in City of the Wolves that allow for robust customization. Jukebox, for example, stores just about every soundtrack in the series’ long-running history. With complete track lists for each, you can create your own custom playlists to jam out. And this extends beyond the main menu, even allowing you to choose the music for individual stages and screens throughout the game. Thank you, SNK, for giving players a bit of agency in the tracks they’ll repeatedly listen to rather than locking the feature behind a paywall. Lookin’ at you, Capcom.
Additionally, Color Edit mode offers a surprisingly detailed character editor akin to Tekken 8‘s. Only, without all the silly props and effects available. Fatal Fury‘s entire roster is available here (save for a certain guest character), with the freedom to change the colors (and sometimes patterns) of individual pieces of clothing, hair, and facial features. Again, props to SNK for just making this immediately available rather than gating recolors behind some arbitrary ticket system.
Underneath a few blemishes and missteps, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves offers an undeniably rich and technical fighting game experience. It’s a big step forward for SNK — in my book, at least. Both visually (we don’t talk about King of Fighters XV) and from a mechanical standpoint. While its single-player content and onboarding process leave much to be desired? Those looking for a deep, competitive, and rewarding 2D fighter to sink hundreds of hours into need look no further.
Verdict: Highly Recommended
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves will be available on April 24, 2025, on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5. A code was provided by the publisher for the sake of review. Reviewed on PC.
