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As the SNK World Championship kicked off, Shacknews took the time to check out the latest addition to the Fatal Fur series.
The SNK World Championship took place this weekend with the top 15 King of Fighters players gathered in Los Angeles to battle it out for supremacy. While the festival takes place on stage, SNK also held personal demos for the publisher’s next big fighting game, Fatal Fury: City of Wolves. This is a vital name for SNK, as it marks the first official name for the Fatal Fury franchise released in the 21st century. Shacknews is among those invited to take a first look.
Fatal Fury: City of Wolves introduces a surprising new art style. Beautifully animated scenes complement the sharper illustrated characters that stand out with a more explained cell-shading appearance. A handful of returning characters are in a position to fight again, as well as some newcomers. These characters include:
City of the Wolves promises to bring back a number of old mechanics from Fatal Furious. Just Defense, for example, rewards players who manage to block on impact, allowing them an opportunity to attack. Combined with Hyper Defense (which can create distance from perfectly timed parries), players can respond with a variety of other moves. It’s also conceivable to keep the warring parties on their feet by employing a two-button combo to feint specials and get them to let their guard down. (Selective Potential Gear) provides wrestlers with a special touch while active and can be placed at the beginning, middle, or end of a wrestler’s drill bar.
In terms of new features, City of the Wolves presents the new REV system. This one basically focuses on a meter placed in the back corner, which opens the door to a variety of offensive and defensive mechanics. REV Arts, for example, works with the fighter’s Street EX moves, which allow players to perform an advanced (or slightly different) edit of a special move by completing it with punch or kick buttons. REV Arts moves can also be combined to shape a series of moves known as REV Accel. REV Guard is executed with the shoulder button and puts distance between fighters after blocking an attack. Finally, there’s REV Blow, which can only be used when S. P. G. is active. REV Blow takes precedence over maximum incoming attacks, necessarily negating the incoming hit and delivering a hard attack. The REV Blow attack can also be used on its own as a combo finisher.
There’s a lot to do with the REV meter, but players need to be careful not to overdo it. The REV meter will possibly overheat after excessive use of the REV mechanics. If fighters keep the pressure on an overheated opponent, they can lead to a guard-crushing state and give them a longer recovery time.
The last thing to note is that SNK has realized which way the wind is blowing with fighting games. Classic arcade-style controls are once again the default way to play. However, City of the Wolves also adds a new smart style that assigns an action to the button. This is implemented in component as a way for SNK to welcome players who meet Terry through his cameo in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
SNK expects Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves to be ready for release in early 2025. However, the team is still in the process of gathering feedback. To that end, the first public demonstration will be available at EVO Japan. From 27 to 29 April. An upcoming demo at EVO in Las Vegas is rarely necessarily guaranteed, but anything is worth keeping an eye out for.
This preview is in a personal demo that was played at the SNK World Championship in Los Angeles. The final product is subject to change.
Ozzie has been betting video games since he bought his first NES controller at the age of 5. Since then, he has taken an interest in gaming, though he briefly dropped out of his school years. But he was retired after spending years in QA circles for THQ. and Activision, and spends most of his time helping to advance the Guitar Hero series to its peak. Ozzie has become a huge fan of platformers, puzzles, shooters, and role-playing games, to name a few genres, but he’s also a big fan of anything. with clever and compelling storytelling behind it. Because what are video games if you can’t enjoy a clever story with a new Cherry Coke?