Scheduled to release in 2025, playable demo coming to Evo Japan next month
After 25 years, Fatal Fury is finally coming back to the big fighting game stage, and it’s finally time to see the new entry in action.
Following the conclusion of the SNK World Championship 2023 Grand Final event, SNK released a couple of new trailers for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves to showcase the gameplay as well as announce Hotaru Futuba, Preecha and Tizoc as playable characters alongside the previously revealed Terry Bogard and Rock Howard.
Hotaru made her debut of course back in Garou: Mark of the Wolves, but she hasn’t been seen in playable form since Neo Geo Battle Coliseum and the PlayStation 2 version of The King of Fighters 11.
Going back to his original timeline, The King of Dinosaurs is no more with Tizoc once again becoming the big bird man from Garou and looking to wrestle his opponents into the ground — or take them to the skies.
Finally for the new additions, we have Preecha, who is said to be Joe Higashi’s star pupil in Muay Thai though she seems to be the complete opposite from him personality wise considering she’s a scientist.
Terry and Rock were already the first two officially confirmed characters for City of the Wolves, but now we get to see quite a bit more of them in action than the very brief snippets from before.
Longtime Fatal Fury and Garou fans will probably see a lot of familiar moves and mechanics from the past games, but it looks like there’s also going to be plenty of new attacks and tricks to perform in the first new entry in 25 years.
A lot of this appears due to the brand new REV System shifting into gear for City of the Wolves.
Fatal Fury now has EX specials called REV Arts, but even more than that, characters can chain them together with a new mechanic called REV Accel, which also leaves behind a cool looking after image when performed.
There’s also armored REV Blows as well as REV Guard that produces something of a shield and a REV Meter connected to most of these mechanics with certain types of moves seemingly increasing or decreasing the bar when used.
For the classics, Braking out of certain specials, Just Defense, Feints, Combination Attacks, Dodge Attacks and even more are back and revamped though it appears the multiple lane system won’t be returning.
It also looks like this is going to be the first major SNK game with an official English dub alongside the Japanese voice cast with actos like Griffin Puatu (Bosch from Street Fighter 6, Seox from Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising), Suzie Yeung (Yuffie in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Fuuka in Persona 3 Reload), and more on the roster.
As was pointed out at the end of the trailer, Fatal Fury is set to release in early 2025, and while release platforms were not noted, City of the Wolves launching on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC at least seems the most likely.
The public will be able to try out the return of the wild wolf pretty soon too with a playable demo coming to Evo Japan 2024 next month at the SNK booth plus presumably more opportunities later this year as well.
There was no announcements for The King of Fighters 15 here, but it sounds as though there may be more news for the future of that game before Fatal Fury arrives at Evo Japan too.
You can check out both new trailers below as well as some lovely screenshots and character information for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves.
Rock Howard
Voice Actors: Griffin Puatu (EN), Yuma Uchida (JA)
Bio: Born to Geese Howard, raised by Terry Bogard—Rock’s very being is one of mixed emotions and internal conflict. Despite having lived a new life with Terry, one day Rock finds himself facing off against a foe who claims to know about his past—namely his birth mother, and the fact that she is very much alive. Armed with this new information, the troubled youth resolves to find his way through life—and fight on to make that happen.
Terry Bogard
Voice Actors: Michael Schneider (EN), Takashi Kondo (JA)
Bio: Bio: South Town’s very own Legendary Hungry Wolf, Terry takes young Rock Howard under his wing, following an epic encounter with archrival and Rock’s father Geese Howard. The two are inseparable—until the events of a fateful tournament compel them to go their separate ways. Terry fights it out on the streets for several years thereafter, but when word of an upcoming martial arts tournament—”KOF”—reaches him, he realizes that another date with destiny awaits…
Hotaru Futaba
Voice Actors: Suzie Yeung (EN), Manaka Iwami (JA)
Bio: Bio: Hotaru is a young girl searching far and wide for her older brother, who disappeared when her mother passed away. As luck would have it, she would one day run into someone who looked very much like him, though he denied all knowledge of the matter. But that was then, this is now, and Hotaru still hasn’t given up: determined to fight the mysterious stranger again and convey her true feelings, she sets off into the unknown once more.
Tizoc
Voice Actors: Jalen K. Cassell (EN), Hikaru Hanada (JA)
Bio: Bio: An invincible symbol of justice, Tizoc now makes his triumphant return to the ring. Despite hanging up his boots for a time, the joyous cries of the children in his corner spur him into action—and bring him back home. Pledging to lift the spirits of one young fan in particular, he laces up and sets his sights on the squared circle once again. For the mighty Tizoc, one thing’s for sure: this fight will be even more furious than the last.
Preecha
Voice Actors: Mia Paige (EN), Chika Anzai (JA)
Bio: Bio: Making her Fatal Fury debut, the scientist Preecha investigates the wonders and miracles of a fascinating principle known as ki (spirit energy). She also happens to be the star pupil of Joe Higashi, the acclaimed Muay Thai champ himself. While her martial arts talent can’t be denied, that’s not to say she’s only in it to win it either; indeed, Preecha fights for academic purposes, not accolades. She hates the pain, but sure is willing to endure it—as long as it furthers her research into unique and perplexing fight styles.
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