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REVIEW: Fatal Fury (1991)

Fighting games in the mid to late 80’s were a mixed bag of ideas, with varying levels of quality and execution. Outside of the beat ‘em ups that were prevalent in the arcades, “versus” fighting gams were still in their infancy, but a number of titles wee starting to gain traction, giving players a glimpse at what the genre had to offer going into a brand new decade.

Originally intended to be named “Real Bout” (a name that can still be seen throughout the game’s stages, and eventually implemented into the later sequels/updates), Fatal Fury was developed in 1991 by a team that included Takashi Nishiyama, the original designer of the first Street Fighter game, so in a way felt like a spiritual successor to the style of that release.

Funnily enough, Street Fighter’s actual sequel from Capcom was also released in the same year (you may have heard of it…).

So, with the game’s impressive pedigree of talent at the helm, was Fatal Fury any good?

Let’s investigate…

Gameplay

The core controls of Fatal Fury are incredibly basic, with a system that is comprised of just three attack buttons; punch, kick and throw.

Special moves are also available for each of the playable roster, with each character receiving four unique moves ad a throw. The inputs here are standard fare for a 2D fighting game of this era, with a mix of charge attacks, quarter circle manoeuvres and some button mashing techniques sprinkled in for good measure.

In lieu of a traditional “versus” mode, when a second player joins the game, they team up with play one and must help defeat the current opponent at the same time. It’s a feature that is borrowed from the beat ‘em up genre that makes the game feel less like a competitive experience and more story-driven.

Another key feature of Fatal fury is the “Lane System”. Instead of relying solely on the singular plane that the vast majority of 2D fighting games use, players can now hop into the background to avoid attacks and bring an extra layer of strategy to a fight.

The problem here, though, is that players must wait for the computer controlled opponent to make the jump first, as this cannot be performed manually. As the AI does jump around a fair bit in the game, this means that the system does get used quite often, but it still would’ve been nice to have more control over it.

Story

The main storyline of Fatal Fury centres around the Bogard brothers, Terry and Andy, as they enter a tournament in South Town known as the King Of Fighters tournament, in an attempt to get revenge on the event’s organiser, the crime boss known as Geese Howard, who murdered their father in front of them when they were just children.

This storyline establishes an in-game universe that future games from SNK would associate themselves with, namely the Art Of Fighting series and King Of Fighters series, and feels very much like a plotline to a standard sidescrolling beat ‘em up game rather than what you’d expect from a traditional one-on-one fighting game.

It’s not a million miles away from something lie Final Fight, but does give the game a bit more of a “cinematic” feel when compared to its peers.

Roster

Fatal Fury has three different fighters to play as;

Terry Bogard - the main hero and protagonist of the game; a young man who, as a child, witnessed the death of his father at the hands of Geese Howard, and swears revenge on him.

Joe Higashi - a Muai Thay champion and a hurricane manipulator, he has who heads to South Town to prove himself in the King of Fighters tournament, where meets the Bogard brothers.

Andy Bogard - Terry's younger brother, who also witnessed the death of his father. He decided to perfect his own martial arts technique in Japan in an attempt to differentiate himself from his older brother.

The game also features a range of (non-playable) opponents to face off against before the final showdown with the game’s boss;

Duck King - a friendly and outgoing American punk, who lives to dance and party.

Tung Fu Rue - the legendary master of Hakkyokuseiken, who has trained many fighters.

Richard Meyer - a Brazilian Capoeira master that uses his abilities to entertain the masses.

Michael Max - a former heavyweight boxer champion who also participates in street fighting.

Raiden - an Australian professional wrestling, known for his ruthlessness in the ring.

Hwa Jai - a former Muai Thay champion that vows to defeat his rival, Joe Higashi.

Billy Kane - Geese Howard’s bodyguard and right hand man.

Getting past all of these unique fighters brings you to Geese Howard, the powerful crimelord of South Town, and organiser of this particular King Of Fighters tournament.

While there is a nice variety of interesting characters in Fatal Fury, the fact that you can only choose from three characters to actually play as really drags the game down. The SNES and Mega Drive ports of the game did include a fully fledged Versus mode that allowed players to choose from (almost) the whole roster, but this version, the original arcade release, suffers as a result of missing this option out.

Graphics

Fatal Fury’s graphics are one of the biggest highlights of the experience.

It boasts some vividly coloured backgrounds and the large cartoonish fighter sprites that are bursting with character, and looks great when certain special moves are pulled off.

However, with that being said, the animations of the characters are a little bit janky and unimpressive, which is a shame when you consider that Fatal Fury is arguably the better looking game out of the two main releases in 1991.

Stages

There are a total of eight stages to fight on in Fatal Fury;

Pao Pao Café – Richard’s stage is a landmark of entertainment in South Town; A restaurant that features an Asian décor while the stage hosts a Capoeira roda surrounding the fighters.

South Beach – Michael’s stage is South Town's favourite beach, famous for their seafood restaurants and nightlife.

Howard Arena – Players will fight Tung in the patio-area of a Chinese temple/arena that's owned by Geese Howard.

The West Subway – The battle against Duck takes place outside the subway station, where a live band can be seen in the commercial area surrounding the station.

Happy Park – Hwa’s stage is a commercial and entertainment area famous for its upbeat nightlife.

Dream Amusement Park - Players face off against Raiden in South Town's legendary amusement park. The battle takes place in an esplanade that's among the park's attractions.

South Town Village - The fight against Billy is at the gathering point for the final round right at the end of the bridge connecting South Town with Geese Tower.

Geese Tower - The final battle of Fatal Fury against Geese Howard takes place on the rooftop of a building, decorated in an oriental style with Japanese statues overlooking the whole city.

One of the most interesting parts of these stages is that most of them change their looks from round to round during a match, ranging from the time of day to the weather conditions. It’s a nice little touch that helps a game that’s relatively thin on content feel like it has a lot more variety.

Replayability

Fatal Fury doesn’t really have much in the way of unlockable content or extra game modes, but it does contain some entertaining bonus rounds in between certain fights.

This arcade-centric bonus match sees players take on a first-person perspective and take on a machine in an arm-wrestling contest.

In order to win the round, players must mash away at the punch button in order to overpower the Hulk Hogan-esque character onscreen, with more points being awarded for players who have the most time remaining on their counter.

If successful, players are rewarded with tips and hints for their chosen fighter, such as special moves.

It’s a fun little distraction and does an alright job at bringing an extra bit of variety to the experience, but it’s nothing too special either.

Final thoughts & overall score

Fatal Fury is a prime example of “style over substance” in the early stages of the fighting game boom of the 90’s.

There is a handful of cool ideas brewing in this first entry of the franchise, and the game’s visuals look pretty decent as well - with the large character sprites and vividly coloured stages being a particular highlight - but the lack of choice when it comes to choosing a fighter, paired up with a general lack of depth in its gameplay, makes the first Fatal Fury game feel like a basic demo of something much better.

Do you agree with our review of the original Mortal Kombat?

Let us know in the comments section below!

#Review #Fatal Fury #Fatal Fury: King Of Fighters #SNK #1991

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