SNK announced at Gamescom that Mai Shiranui would be returning in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. Although it’s not particularly surprising, fans are still going to be pumped for her new appearance.
Who is Mai Shiranui?
Mai Shiranui has long been a staple of the Fatal Fury and King of Fighters franchises. She is a kunoichi (female ninja) with a quick and agile fighting style, but for those not in the fandom, she is probably most recognizable for her distinctive costume and idle animation. Although it’s unclear whether it’s entirely true or a matter of canonized urban legend, Mai Shiranui may have originally been designed to be distracting to her opponent, based on a purported kunoichi tactic.
Mai uses fans as her signature weapon. She’s able to throw them as projectiles and produce a theoretically limitless number of replacement fans from an unknown place on her person. Aside from that, her most notable ability is her power to create and control fire, which she seems to be able to do only with limited range.
History of the Character
Mai Shiranui was introduced in Fatal Fury 2, just under two years after Street Fighter 2 hit arcades. As one of the first ladies of fighting games, she is an icon equal to Capcom’s Chun-li. Since her introduction, she has missed only a single entry in the Fatal Fury franchise, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, and only a single game in the King of Fighters series. Mai has also been included in every entry in the Capcom vs. SNK crossover series and has made a number of guest appearances, including in Dead or Alive 6. She will even be featured in the upcoming season of Street Fighter 6.
Changes for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
The most immediately apparent change to Mai Shiranui for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is that of her character design. In lieu of the revealing bright red outfit, SNK seems to have taken a page out of Capcom’s book and has given her a more modern look. Her new default costume features her in tight jeans and a cropped jacket, zipped low of course. It could be that the change in design is with televised competitions in mind, which have banned certain skins in the past. For fans of the classics, though, her original costume is still available as an alternate.
Overall, Mai Shiranui’s gameplay seems to be largely unchanged. All of her trademark specials are on display in the announcement trailer. It’s still too early to see how the new Rev System in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves will affect Mai’s game. However, with the idea that the Rev System allows players to fight at full strength right from the beginning of each round, it will most likely only serve to accelerate her gameplay, pushing her even harder into the rushdown archetype.
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