And how much of his core is left intact for fans
Although much of the initial cast revealed for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves like Terry and Rock looked close to their prior iterations, SNK have been going more crazy lately with the designs of returning roster members including Mai Shiranui and Billy Kane.
That goes especially for Gato as the latest character announced for Fatal Fury’s revival this weekend, and his changes go deeper than his appearance.
Orpheus just came back to release some more great side-by-side comparison videos putting Gato’s reveal trailer next to Garou: Mark of the Wolves and The King of Fighters 15 where he most recently showed up before.
Of course the biggest thing that immediately stands out is his overall design alterations having ditched his orange martial arts garb for black and gold while growing some facial hair and changing his hair style.
And then there’s the detail that Gato fights with his eyes closed now despite not being technically blinded anymore following his Garou ending where he was injured by presumably his own father.
If you look at the brutal fighter’s actual gameplay, however, it’s clear he’s retaining much of his original style while also adding some new abilities to his repertoire.
The comparison helps confirm basically all of Gato’s original moves are back like Quaking Fang, Wind Fang, Lightning Fang, Freeze Fang and Dragon Fang though they can now be enhanced in some new ways with CotW’s REV System for additional attack options and combo follow-ups.
What’s of course most interesting, however, is what’s is totally brand new, which is potentially a lot, even if they only show a glimpse of his new kit here.
It appears Gato has access to a wholly different style than his palm strikes, rush punches and high-flying kicks that help connect him to his decision to fight blind now.
Essentially the third highlight of his trailer shows what appears to be a quick new triple strike special before things get even more intriguing.
Gato then strikes a pose and performs a strike counter on Hotaru that knocks her down.
Afterwards, he goes into a back-turned stance, which opens up so many possibilities as to what the fighter can do with it, but it seems SNK wants to keep that secret for a bit longer.
These new abilities combined with some of his changed Supers indicates Gato has perhaps undergone some character development after being instantly defeated and humbled by his father.
Instead of relying on pure force and acrobatics, Gato can use his expanded senses to counter an opponent’s strengths and strike openings he couldn’t see before.
So that should lend itself to a wider mix of offensive and defensive options in how Gato players can approach a match, and it looks like there’s still quite a bit more to learn about what else he’s learned between entries now.
You can check out Orpheus’ great comparison videos below to get a better sense of how Gato is blending together the old and the new for a different style before Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves releases on April 24, 2025 for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
