Developer: Gaibrain Publisher: Takara Release: 1994 Genre: Fighting
Takara’s initial ports of SNK’s Neo Geo games were a mixed bag of quality. King of the Monsters was okay but Fatal Fury was not particularly good, especially the dire SNES version. With the introduction of the 100-Mega Shock line of arcade games it stands to reason the home ports to lesser consoles would only get worse. Instead they stepped up the quality and we got some real gems. Against all odds all versions of Fatal Fury 2 are very good. While Sega owners had to wait the longest they got a good addition to their fighting library in the end.
All three 16-bit platforms at the time received home ports of Fatal Fury 2. The SNES version is a straight port and the PC Engine CD game never left Japan. The Genesis edition is the most interesting of the three. It was the last of the ports released and makes a few gameplay changes from the arcade that depending on your preference might be for the better or worse. Regardless however this is a great conversion that is better than it has any right to be.
Fatal Fury 2 leans in to its Street Fighter 2 comparison heavily in numerous ways. The King of Fighters tournament goes beyond the confines of South Town and is now worldwide. Terry, Andy, and Joe return and are joined by five newcomers: Kim Kaphwan, Mai Shiranui, Big Bear, Jubei Yamada, and Cheng Sinzan. In addition there are four bosses making an even twelve to match the latest version of Street Fighter 2. There are none of the idiot two-player shenanigans of the first game that limited one player to only playing as the hero trio. Everyone is playable including the bosses with a code.
The plane switching of the original Fatal Fury was an attempt to add a unique mechanic to the proceedings. It was a novelty at best in that game but here it is more integral to combat. Now you can switch planes freely by pressing light punch + light kick or the dedicated button with the 6-button pad. With this you can strategically dodge attacks. If you are on opposite planes any attack will launch a counterattack. With the right timing you can catch your opponent by surprise. It also prevents players from trying to run out the clock by avoiding each other. Some levels have stage specific hazards that deal damage, like giant clock tower gears or a herd of stampeding bulls. These are relegated to the boss stages but are a good addition that does more with the plane system.
A few more mechanics make this a better-rounded fighter as well. You can back dash and crawl as defensive option, a first for the genre. At low health you can perform a desperation super move. Good luck with that; the buttons commands are ridiculous. Mechanically Fatal Fury differs from Street Fighter in that it is more focused on punishing your opponent’s openings with heavy hits and throws compared to the combos of Capcom’s title. Takara loosened the timing of inputs and created a combo engine similar to Street Fighter. You can do crazy stuff in this version like linking moves for two-in-one combos and such. It is not balanced and with skill you can perform infinites and redizzy combos. If you want a straight port of the arcade this is not it. But if you want an otherwise fun game in a familiar skin Fatal Fury 2 will not disappoint.
The Genesis Fatal Fury 2 comes on a 24-megabit cartridge compared to the SNES 20. As such it has a number of details missing from that port. The arcade intro is present as well as the cutscenes leading up to the fight against Krauser. Both games run at the same resolution however the SNES game has black bars that squish it slightly. The higher vertical resolution means the Sega game has slightly bigger sprites. In terms of backgrounds it goes back and forth. Many stages are missing a layer of parallax scrolling present on Nintendo’s system. On the other hand some like Joe Higashi’s stage or Jubei have a layer not on the SNES. It is an interesting back and forth. It makes you wonder how much further they could have pushed the Genesis if they did a conversion of Fatal Fury Special on cartridge rather than CD.
In Closing
Considering the disparity in hardware Fatal Fury 2 is an all-around good conversion of the arcade game and a worthy addition to the Genesis’ fighting lineup. I would still play Special Champion Edition or Mortal Kombat II first. But personally this is near the top of the second stringer lineup.
