Growing up my father bought me the first two Fatal Fury titles in the early 90's when they were only available for the Neo Geo. Due to the expense of the AES home carts I couldn't afford the future release of the Fatal Fury titles as a single AES cart would cost upwards of $250+! Fast forward to the present, what used to cost $250 for a single FF title on the NEO GEO now costs only $15!(or $5 if you divide the costs between the three titles jam packed into one ps2 dvd disc. Its such a bargain! If I saw this forthcoming when my family was still dishing out $100s on AES carts I would have never spent so much, seeming as AES carts are now easily being imported on DVD disc now. That is technology for you. *sigh* Enough of me acting as a financial adviser, on to the review.
I have to say Fatal Fury has been one of the greatest fighting series to ever come from SNK. It was actually their first series that was a staple. It was released to counter Capcom's street fighter series and though did not get as much attention to average gamers it did receive its own cult following. What really separated FF from SF was its unique personality and gaming mechanics. From the start SNK wanted to make a fighting game so different from Street Fighter, or other SF knock offs, and it succeeded. From the unique character personalities to the deep story line, SNK truly did deliver a great game and continued to do so until they were bought out.
The Real Bout saga continued the FF series after the initial three FF titles. The first two FF titles played more retro and stoic and the third FF title had a complete overhaul with modern gaming mechanics and new character sprites. The changes made in FF3 were carried over to RB and included with some new features. I've digress thus far. So now on to the RB titles themselves. To sum it up with a few words, RB is what makes SNK fighters so different from fighters like SF or Guilty Gear. Compared to the first 3 FF titles RB's fighting is much more aggressive. With the inclusion of rush combos the actions always seems fast paced and frentic. The fighting in this game doesn't include high jumps or fancy acrobatics but just straight beat'em up with the intention of demolishing your opponent. Unlike the previous FF titles before RB the action moves faster and strangely there is a more shock element in this game, like as if the characters were strapped with one ton of weights and every time they had a forceful landing they would induce a slight earthquake. It just ads to the fast aggressive pace of the game. RB plays really fast and aggressive compared to SF Alpha. I would call RB a raw bralwer, just lots of action set at an aggressive pace. The learning curve in RB is relatively easy if your a regular to fighting games. Its easy to pick up the game and really start to master a character after one session of practice honing your skills with that paticular character.
I've digress enough and excuse for my unfocused review. I'll sum it all up, get this game if your a fan of SNK fighters. Its set at an amazing price with incredible value, 3 FF titles packed into one disc. If you ask me its the better of the two FF archives. I'm absolutely glad I bought it. SNK never fails to deliver when it comes to fast aggresive gameplay and compelling storylines with unique characters, though in terms of character balancing, that is something to be addressed later.Get more detail about
Fatal Fury Battle Archives Vol 2.
