April 23, 2025

This week brings us the highly anticipated release day for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. It’s been over two decades since the previous entry in this beloved fighting game franchise and I’m very excited to get a chance to play it soon!

This game has a lot of hype buzzing around it – but it’s also faced some… negativity. The lead up to release for this game was one of the strangest promotional campaigns I have ever seen. However, despite the oddities surrounding it, I’m very hopeful for the potential that this game presents. Here are a few of the prospects of this game that I’m excited or hopeful for!

A New Solid Fighting Game

Fighting games, as a genre, are in a weird spot right now. Three of the biggest games, Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, and Mortal Kombat 1 have all run the gamut recently of experiencing their fair share of problems. I think what excites me the most about Fatal Fury returning in concept is that it allows a legacy series to return and, hopefully, avoid some of the trappings that modern games are falling in to.

From some initial reviews I’ve read, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves does not shy away from being a challenging, traditional fighting game. It has a robust roster, in-depth mechanics, and prioritizes traditional controls. That idea, especially in today’s fighting game climate, really excites me! I’m not really one to detract from modern fighters, as I’ve enjoyed my time with each of the aforementioned series, but I think a game that’s unabashedly classic will be a nice change of pace.

The Crossovers… But Not the Ones in the Game Already

Yeah, so, a lot of discourse has surrounded the inclusion of the oddball crossover characters of real world humans Cristiano Ronaldo and Salvatore Gannaci taking two character slots in the base roster. I am usually a big fan of crossover characters in fighting games, but even I am a little bit hesitant about these two’s inclusion. Real people just feel a lot different than including some iconic fictional characters.

However, this has not stopped me from being super excited about the crossover characters on the horizon – Ken and Chun-Li from the Street Fighter franchise. SNK and Capcom have been super friendly again recently and seeing yet another mark of good will between the companies is super exciting. I think the two characters chosen are wonderful and will fit perfectly in the world and art style of Fatal Fury. I am especially excited about Ken – his aesthetic of Street Figher 6 will be perfect in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves (and I am a little biased as a big Ken fan).

SNK Branches Back Out

SNK hasn’t been dead over the past few years, far from it really. But this game really feels like a great, reinvigorating direction for the company to go in. Resurrecting Fatal Fury was a great choice and it really makes me excited for the future of SNK’s releases! And with SNK and Capcom on good terms again, who knows… maybe another CvS or SvC game? This game really makes the possibilities feel endless to me and I hope SNK capitalizes on this momentum!