Fatal Fury (universe)

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Fatal Fury (universe)
Developer(s)	SNK
Publisher(s)	SNK
Designer(s)	Takashi Nishiyama
Genre(s)	Fighting
Console/platform of origin	Neo Geo MVS
First installment	Fatal Fury: King of Fighters (1991)
Latest installment	Garou: Mark of the Wolves (1999)
Article on Wikipedia	Fatal Fury (universe)

The Fatal Fury universe (餓狼伝説, Legend of the Hungry Wolf) refers to the Super Smash Bros. series' collection of characters, stages, and properties hailing from the series of fighting games developed for the Neo Geo. One of SNK's premiere fighting games, the series' success laid the groundwork for other SNK fighting game franchises, most notably its prequel series Art of Fighting and the long-running crossover series The King of Fighters.

Franchise description

Directed by the creator of the original Street Fighter, Fatal Fury was designed as a spiritual successor to the game, being developed around the same time as Street Fighter II. To help differentiate this new game from the competition, the developers implemented a two-plane fighting system, letting players dodge attacks by moving between the foreground and background. The game also has a greater emphasis on story. After selecting from a roster of only three playable characters ⁠— Terry Bogard, his brother Andy, and their friend Joe Higashi ⁠— the player is tasked with going through the titular King of Fighters tournament taking place in the city of South Town against various foes to avenge the murder of Terry's adoptive father, Jeff, by the tournament's criminal organizer, Geese Howard. Short cutscenes play between each match, and the game also supports two-player co-op.

In 1992, SNK released the first entry in its prequel series, Art of Fighting, as well a sequel, Fatal Fury 2, featuring the three playable characters from the first game in addition to five new characters. Fatal Fury 2 continues the story from the original, with a new antagonist, Wolfgang Krauser von Stroheim, who internationalizes the tournament to bring in the world's strongest fighters. An updated version of the second game, Fatal Fury Special, was released in 1993, containing several gameplay changes such as an expanded character roster, a new combo system, and a new hidden boss character: Ryo Sakazaki from Art of Fighting. Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory was later released in 1995, featuring a further expanded character roster, a new three-plane fighting system known as "Oversway", and a new story focusing on the search for three sacred scrolls.

A follow-up game in a new subseries, Real Bout Fatal Fury, was released in the same year, retaining the "Oversway" system while adding ring-outs (similar to Virtua Fighter), a simplified control scheme, and a Power Gauge feature; similar to the "special moves" featured in contemporary games, the gauge will fill up over time and can be unleashed for unique, powerful attacks. Real Bout also notably concluded the storyline introduced by Fatal Fury, with Geese Howard's canonical death occurring at the end of the game's campaign. This was followed up by Real Bout Fatal Fury Special in 1997, which returned to the standard two planes and replaced ring-outs with breakable walls, and Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers in 1998, which removed breakable walls and simplified the system into a "main" line and a "sway" line used only for dodging.

The final game in the Fatal Fury series, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, was released in late 1999 and serves as a ten year time-skip from the events of Real Bout, greatly revamping the gameplay and removing the two-plane system in favor of expanded defensive options. Terry is the only returning character in this installment, with the rest of the cast being newcomers; the game focuses on Geese's son, Rock Howard, whom Terry adopted at the end of Real Bout. The main antagonist is Rock's uncle, Kain R. Heinlein, who hosts a new King of Fighters tournament in an effort to locate Rock and lure him into his control. While this game marked the end of the Fatal Fury series, the characters still make regular appearances in other SNK games, including the alternate continuity crossover series The King of Fighters, based on the tournament originating within the series.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

All of the content for this franchise is scheduled for release in November 2019 as part of the version 6.0.0 update.

Fighter

• 74. Terry: The Legendary Hungry Wolf and the main KOF timeline's core leader of Fatal Fury Team joins the battle as the fourth downloadable newcomer from the Fighters Pass. He is scheduled for release in November 2019 along with one stage, several music tracks, and several Spirits as part of Challenger Pack 4.

Cameos

• Ryo Sakazaki: The main protagonist of the prequel Art of Fighting. He is the “Dragon” of the fictional Kyokugen Karate, a heir to the mantle of Mr. Karate, and the leading core of Art of Fighting team within the main KOF timeline. He appeared as a bonus boss character in Fatal Fury Special and Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition, as well as being a regular character in AOF offshoot game Buriki One. He appears in the Fatal Fury stage as a background character.

Stage

• The stage is a stadium based on "The King of Fighters" tournament. The tournament originated from Fatal Fury, but the stage resembles its appearance in The King of Fighters series. It appears closest to the Stadium Stage found in The King of Fighters XII. Notably, the "KOF" logo in center stage uses the Smash logo instead of an "O". It is scheduled for release in November 2019 as part of Challenger Pack 4.

Music

• "Kurikinton": A new arrangement of Kurikinton, Terry's stage theme from Fatal Fury 2/Special, The King of Fighters '98, The King of Fighters 2002, and The King of Fighters XIV (as Kuri Kinton Flavor). It was first heard during the Nintendo Direct broadcast on September 4th, 2019, after Terry's reveal trailer was played.

Trivia

• The Kirby and Fatal Fury universes both have stars as their series symbols.
• Fatal Fury is the second fighting game universe to have a playable character, following Street Fighter.
• Masahiro Sakurai revealed in an interview that his all-inclusive design ethos stems from an incident when he won at The King of Fighters '95, only to learn afterwards that his opponent was a mere beginner.
• Several mechanics in the Super Smash Bros. series appear to originate in the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series, such as dodges and short hops, as well as the general concept behind Squad Strike.