Fatal Fury 2

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: King of Fighters. 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 can 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 first Fatal Fury game, searching for the man responsible for defeating Geese.

Fighters

The character roster consists of eight selectable warriors: Terry, Andy and Joe from the original Fatal Fury, plus five new playable newcomers. 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 bosses.

Playable fighters:

Bosses:

Home versions

In addition to the Neo-Geo AES and Neo-Geo CD home versions, a port of Fatal Fury 2 was released for the Sharp X68000 in Japan in 1993, followed by versions for the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive, PC Engine CD, SNES and Game Boy in early 1994. The SNES and 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 PC Engine version was published by Hudson Soft only in Japan and was one of the first games to require the Arcade Card add-on. To coincide with the Japanese release of the SNES version, Hori Electric released a special controller called the Fatal Fury 2 Commander which has the power and super power moves of all the game's playable characters programmed in so that they can be triggered with a single button.

The original Neo Geo version of the game was later included in 2006's Fatal Fury: Battle Archive Volume 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 in 2008.

Related media

Several licensed tie-ins were released for the game in Japan, including:

Nettou Garou Densetsu 2

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 in 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.

Fatal Fury Special

Fatal Fury Special (餓狼伝説SPECIAL, Garou Densetsu Special) was developed and published by SNK and originally released for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms in 1993. It is an updated version of Fatal Fury 2, introducing several changes to the gameplay system while expanding the available character roster.

Reception

Fatal Fury 2 was generally very well received by Western game critics upon its release. GamePro review of the Neo Geo version praised the "action-packed" gameplay, "Street Fighter-tough" challenge, "great" character graphics and animation, "slick scrolling" backgrounds, and "fantastic" sound, concluding it to be an "awesome sequel" that "ranks up there with the Numero Uno fighting game."

GamePro also 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." Reviewing the Genesis version, Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) 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."

Reviewing the SNES version of the game, EGM called it "one of the better fighting games ported to the SNES" and awarded it Game of the Month. GamePro gave the SNES version a more mixed review, comparing it favorably with its predecessor, but stating that the graphics are inferior to the Neo Geo version, the audio is terrible, the controls are unreliable, and the gameplay is unbalanced. The magazine 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.

In a retrospective review, Maximum assessed that while still not as strong as Street Fighter II, Fatal Fury 2 was a dramatic improvement over the first game: "the number of characters selectable had been extended to eight, and all of them received a full complement of moves and fought with a much greater fluidity than in Fatal Fury." They also noted better background graphics and greater interaction with the scenery. In 2011, Complex ranked Fatal Fury 2 as the 35th best fighting game of all time, largely for introducing Mai Shiranui.