Ever since Street Fighter II, fighting games had become the rage – so many carbon copies, plus an inspired ultra-violent take on the platform with Mortal Kombat and even Pit Fighter, body-slammed and axe-kicked arcades with a vengeance. But there was only one game studio that wanted to stand out above the rest, carving its way into the combat: SNK, with the father of their fighting games, Fatal Fury.
And wouldn’t you know it? Fatal Fury’s coming back with its latest edition, City of Wolves, after a long 26 years of waiting! And not a moment too soon as both Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat are still going strong to this day.
The Character to Remember Here – Kevin Rian
Sure, everyone dug the likes of Terry and Andy Bogard, for sure. They were like our very own Ken and Ryu, our very own Sub-Zero and Scorpion. Not to mention we had the ever-presently ‘visible’ Mai Shiranui somehow managing to defy physics in her “uniform” and still kicktail.
But the classic Fatal Fury? That belonged to a character by the name of Kevin Rian, resembling the likes of Street Fighter II’s Guile when you do a double take (minus a mohawk). It turns out gamers are quite happy about his resurgence with a trailer already featuring how he pummels opponents to a pulp.
The Fatal Fury History of Kevin Rian
Kevin, while a beast on the battlefield, stands as a hound of justice in the town of Second South. However, he’s also a pal to both Terry Bogard and Rock Howard. So, no doubt, the guy’s not a heel by any stretch (of course, Street Fighter II’s Guile wasn’t either). A rugged police officer, he was, but was his favorite fighting method simply pulling out a gun?
By any means, no! Traditionally, his character in Fatal Fury featured the Sambo fighting style, yet opting for more direct strikes over grappling. Often we would see his friend’s son Marky cheering him on as he fought against anyone daring enough to meet him in an SNK screen near you.
But Kevin Rian was, deep down, more than just a patriot of the blue shield he shined, the badge he brought. In the 1999 edition of the game franchise, Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves, revenge motivated Kevin Rian, much like how it motivated Sonya in Mortal Kombat. Freeman, one of the villains in the franchise, had murdered Rian’s partner.
Now Comes Fatal Fury: City of Wolves
Resembling a lot of the colors and style of Street Fighter, it’s a certified banger. Complete with hard-hitting hues of combos like Killer Instinct, popping opponents up for continued airborne strikes from hell until more than half of that life bar’s depleted-it’s simply glorious. Calling from the very best of the greats, like Street Fighter and Capcom’s other fighting games, SNK doesn’t disappoint. This is one doing the Fatal Fury franchise justice and then some.
After all, back in the 1990s when this fighting game boon hit hard, it was Fatal Fury as a horizontal platformer with Terry and Andy Bogard along with Japanese Muay Thai champion Joe Higashi seeking to bring down a South Town Kingpin by the name of Geese Howard (very much like Double Dragon, Final Fight or Streets of Rage). Then Fatal Fury 2 was released a year later, featuring the title’s first female fighter Mai Shiranui (we all remember her for a lot of reasons), and that’s when the 2-player competition model dropped a big atom bomb.
Yet another year saw the release of Fatal Fury Special, a free-for-all of insanity echoing the likes of Capcom’s crazy fighting game titles bringing a host of other characters together (like X-Men vs. Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom).
Fatal Fury Returns
And you better believe it! SNK’s Fatal Fury hadn’t stepped into a pixelated ring or battleground in almost three decades. Fatal Fury: King of Fighters was first released for the NeoGeo arcade system. The franchise returns in Fatal Fury: City of Wolves as they bring characters of the past, like Kevin Rian, into the present. The game will be released in early 2025.
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