PS3

Fatal Fury

Fighting

Time to beat: about 2 hours

Overview

Fatal Fury: King of Fighters is a 1991 fighting game developed and published by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade. It was later ported to numerous home consoles, including the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992 and Sega Genesis in 1993. Fatal Fury was SNK's first fighting game for the Neo Geo system, and served as the first entry in their Fatal Fury series. The three playable characters are the Bogard brothers Terry and Andy alongside their friend Joe Higashi. In the story they oppose their nemesis Geese Howard, the host of "The King of Fighters" tournament where the player must use martial arts to defeat enemies until becoming the champion and reaching Geese.

The game was designed by former Capcom employee Takashi Nishiyama, the designer of the original Street Fighter (1987). Fatal Fury placed more emphasis on the timing of special moves as well as storytelling. The character of Terry Bogard was originally going to be used in Street Fighter but was scrapped in favor of the SNK project. Nishiyama personally developed the game as his own response to Street Fighter II (1991). The two final bosses Geese and Billy Kane were influenced by the film The Godfather.

Fatal Fury inspired multiple sequels published by SNK following its success. There have also been several original video animations (OVA) and manga adaptation based on the story. Its IP and Art of Fighting share the same continuity by placing a younger Geese in the second installment, Art of Fighting 2, whereas Art of Fighting lead Ryo Sakazaki would return in the remake Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition. Both Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting became the basis for the later The King of Fighters games by SNK where Terry, Ryo and other SNK protagonists fight alongside other crossover characters created by SNK in new tournaments. Critical response to Fatal Fury was positive, drawing positive comparison to Street Fighter II based on special moves and visuals.