Fatal Fury 2

Fatal Fury 2

North American Neo Geo CD cover art
Developer(s) SNK (Neo Geo)
Takara (SNES, Mega Drive/Genesis)
Publisher(s) SNK
Magical Company (Sharp X68000)
Series Fatal Fury
Platform(s) Neo Geo, Neo-Geo CD, PC Engine, Sega Genesis, SNES, Game Boy, X68000, PlayStation 2, Virtual Console
Release date(s) MVS version
  • JPN December 12, 1992
Neo Geo version
  • JPN March 5, 1993
Super Famicom/Super NES version
  • JPN November 26, 1993
TurboGrafx-CD version
  • JPN March 12, 1994
Mega Drive/Genesis version
  • JPN June 24, 1994
Neo-Geo CD version
  • JPN September 9, 1994
Virtual Console version
  • NA June 30, 2008
Genre(s) Fighting game
Mode(s) Up to two players
Cabinet Upright
Arcade system Neo Geo

Fatal Fury 2 (餓狼伝説２ ～新たなる闘い～ Garō Densetsu 2 Aratanaru Tatakai, "Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle") is a 1992 fighting video game released by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms. It is a sequel to Fatal Fury: King of Fighters and the second game in the Fatal Fury franchise. In North America, the video game was released for the Super NES and Sega Genesis in 1994.

Gameplay

Fatal Fury 2 was the second game in SNK's 100-Mega Shock series, offering improved graphics and gameplay over the original Fatal Fury. The play controls were modified, this time making full use of the Neo-Geo's four button configuration, by including four attack buttons (Light Punch, Light Kick, Strong Punch, and Strong Kick). The player can also dash back from the opponent to retreat by quickly tapping the lever backwards twice.

The two-plane battle system from the first Fatal Fury has been retained. This time, the player can move freely to the adjacent plane by pressing the Light Punch and Light Kick buttons simultaneously for the "Plane Move". The player can also perform a "Power Attack" that will knock the opponent to the other plane. When the opponent is on the other plane, the player can press either a punch button to jump towards the opponent with a "Low Plane Move Attack" or either a kick button for a "High Plane Move Attack". Certain stages have hazards in the background plane, such as electrified wires or a stampede of bulls, and thus the player cannot change planes but can knock the opponent to the other plane to cause extra damage.

Other specialized techniques have been added as well. After the player guards an opponent's attack, they follow it up with a special counterattack technique known as an "Evasion Attack". The player can also taunt the opponent by pressing the Strong Punch button from a distance. Fatal Fury 2 also introduces the "Desperation Move" (or "Fury"), a powerful type of Special Move which causes massive damage that can only be used when the player's life gauge is at 25% and flashing red.

The Single Player Mode has the player facing against all eight characters (including a clone of the player's character), followed by four non-playable boss characters. After every fourth match, the player will participate in a bonus round for more points.

Plot

After Geese Howard's death in the original Fatal Fury, a mysterious nobleman becomes the sponsor of the new "King of Fighters" tournament. This time, the tournament is held worldwide with fighters around the globe competing. As the Single Player Mode progresses, the mysterious challenger begins defeating the participants from the previous Fatal Fury game, searching for the man responsible for defeating Geese.

Characters

The character roster consists of eight selectable characters: Terry, Andy and Joe from the original Fatal Fury, plus five new playable characters. After defeating all eight playable characters in the single player tournament (including a clone of the player's character), the player faces four non-playable boss characters.

Playable characters:

Boss characters:

Release

Although the Neo Geo was a very popular console in Saudi Arabia in the early 1990s, with home cart sales exceeding 3,000 units a year, Fatal Fury 2 was the first game to be banned due to Mai Shiranui's revealing attire.

In addition to the Neo-Geo AES and Neo-Geo CD home versions, ports of Fatal Fury 2 was released exclusively for the X68000 in Japan in 1993, followed by versions for the Sega Genesis, PC Engine Arcade CD-ROM² (Japan only), SNES and Game Boy in North America in early 1994. The SNES and Mega Drive/Genesis versions were published by Takara, while the X68000 version released only in Japan was published by Mahou Kabushikigaisha (Magical Company). All three versions allowed the player to control the four boss characters. The PAL Sega Mega Drive version, also released in 1994, is very rare and goes upwards of $200 on online auction sites. The PC Engine version was published by Hudson Soft in Japan only and was one of the first games to require the Arcade Card add-on. The Game Boy version is titled Nettou Garou Densetsu 2 (熱闘餓狼伝説２, "Dead Heat Fighters Legend of the Hungry Wolf 2") and released exclusively in Japan on July 29, 1994. This port features "super deformed" style graphics and, like the SNES, Mega Drive/Genesis, and Sharp X68000 ports, allows the player to use the four boss characters. However, due to the Game Boy's limited hardware, all voices have been removed, but in their place the characters have speech bubbles when performing a special attack or Desperation Move. This port also features support for the Super Game Boy peripheral for the SNES. In the Game Boy version, the text in the intro, post match dialogue, and character endings are in Japanese, while the character names, game credits, and menus are in English.

To coincide with the Japanese release of the SNES version, Hori Electric released a special SNES controller called the Fatal Fury 2 Commander. It has the power and super power moves of all the Fatal Fury 2 playable characters programmed in so that they can be triggered with a single button.[1]

The original Neo Geo version of the game is included in Fatal Fury Battle Archive Vol. 1 for the PlayStation 2 (with a choice between the original AES and CD soundtrack). It was also made available on the Wii's Virtual Console service.

Reception

Reviewing the Genesis version of the game, Electronic Gaming Monthly criticized the sound effects but gave the overall assessment that "All the fighters, all the stages, and extra options not in the arcade (like a speed setting) make this another fine conversion of a Neo Geo title." They scored it a 7.6 out of 10.[2] GamePro praised the Genesis version for its six-button controller support and character graphics. They regarded the music as dull but assessed that the game "faithfully mimics the Neo Geo version and knocks Fatal Fury Genesis out of the ring."[3] They panned the SNES version, stating that the graphics are inferior to the Neo Geo version, the audio is terrible, the controls are unreliable, and the gameplay is unbalanced. They recommended that Fatal Fury fans instead hold out for the upcoming SNES port of Fatal Fury Special, which they felt to be far superior judging by the pre-release version they had seen.[4]

In 2011, Complex ranked it as the 35th best fighting game of all time, largely for introducing Mai Shiranui.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "International News". Electronic Gaming Monthly (54) (EGM Media, LLC). January 1994. p. 90.
  2. ↑ "Review Crew: Fatal Fury 2". Electronic Gaming Monthly (61) (EGM Media, LLC). August 1994. p. 34.
  3. ↑ "ProReview: Fatal Fury 2". GamePro (60) (IDG). July 1994. p. 52.
  4. ↑ "ProReview: Fatal Fury 2". GamePro (61) (IDG). August 1994. pp. 52–53.
  5. ↑ Peter Rubin, The 50 Best Fighting Games of All Time, Complex.com, 30 April 2014

External links