| Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves | |
| Developer: | SNK |
| Publisher: | SNK |
| Director: | Hayato Konya |
| Series: | Fatal Fury |
| Engine: | Unreal Engine 4[1] |
| Released: | April 24, 2025[2] |
| Genre: | Fighting |
is an upcoming fighting game developed and published by SNK. It is the first new entry in the Fatal Fury series in 26 years, following the release of (1999), and serves as a continuation of that game's story. The game is currently scheduled to be released on April 24, 2025 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S.[3]
Gameplay in City of the Wolves is similar to that of its predecessor, with combat taking place on a two-dimensional movement plane. Several mechanics from Mark of the Wolves are retained in City of the Wolves, including the T.O.P. system, renamed the "Selective Potential Gear" (S.P.G.) system; and the "Just Defense" mechanic, which features an expanded "Hyper Defense" variation designed to protect against attacks that hit multiple times. In addition to basic normal moves and special moves, players can also gain access to "Gear" super attacks by filling two meters at the bottom of their screen. Spending one meter will perform an Ignition Gear attack, while both meters can be spent to perform a more powerful Redline Gear attack. The most powerful super move, the Hidden Gear, requires both bars to be spent while the S.P.G. is active.[4]
A new mechanic introduced in the game is the "Rev System". Players can perform multiple types of Rev abilities, including "Rev Arts", enhanced versions of a character's special moves; "Rev Blow", an attack that can help put distance between the two characters; "Rev Accel", which assists in chaining attacks together to create combos; and "Rev Guard", a defensive block which pushes opponents away as their attack connects. Using these techniques will gradually cause the character's Rev Gauge to fill; when full, the character will enter an Overheat state and be unable to use any Rev abilities until it fully depletes. The affected player will be able to drain their gauge more quickly by actively approaching and attacking their opponent.[4] The game offers two control schemes for players to choose from: "Arcade Style", which features traditional controls akin to previous entries in the series, and "Smart Style", a simplified control scheme that allows players to perform attacks and combos using only basic directional inputs and single button presses, though certain abilities are inaccessble in Smart Style.[4]
In addition to the standard arcade mode, the game features a single player mode called "Episodes of South Town". This mode features RPG mechanics and has players selecting challenge missions scattered around a South Town map to earn experience points and additional skills for their chosen character.[2] Progressing in this mode will unlock new outfits, colors, and patterns with which to customize the characters in the "Color Edit" mode; music from other Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting games can also be played during battles or using an in-game jukebox.[2] The game supports online multiplayer, including rollback netcode and cross-platform play.[2]
See main article: Characters of the Fatal Fury series. While the previous game, Mark of the Wolves, featured an almost entirely new roster of playable fighters, City of the Wolves marks the return of several characters from the earlier Fatal Fury games, along with new characters. The game is set to feature 17 characters in its base roster, with an additional five planned as part of its first season of downloadable content.[2] Newcomers are marked in bold.
In 2005, during the KOF Year-End Party fan event, SNK illustrator Falcoon mentioned that a sequel to Garou: Mark of the Wolves was around 70% complete for the Neo Geo by the SNK team. Falcoon also confirmed that one of the new characters meant to appear was a student of legacy Fatal Fury character Joe Higashi.[5] In July 2006, SNK reported that they were still working on the sequel, saying that they would use modern high-resolution graphics instead of the resolution quality level seen in the original game.[6] During an interview in March 2008, SNK USA developers commented that there was not any concrete schedule of demands for the game and that they planned to make the sequel with some new technology.[7] In June 2016, SNK revealed artwork and sprites of the cast of the cancelled Neo Geo version.[8] SNK director Nobuyuki Kuroki stated in February 2020 that he was personally interested in 'reviving' the Fatal Fury series.[9]
During EVO 2022, it was revealed that a new Fatal Fury game was officially in development at SNK. At EVO 2023, SNK announced the game's title to be Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, and revealed a first look at the gameplay, demonstrating it would be a 2.5D fighting game similar to their other contemporary fighting games Samurai Shodown (2019) and The King of Fighters XV (2022).[10] In March 2024, the game was officially announced for a 2025 release. Additionally, it was announced that City of the Wolves will be the first Fatal Fury game to feature an English-language voice track, and the first SNK game to do so since The King of Fighters XII (2009).[11]
The game is set to be released on April 24, 2025.[2] It will only[12] be available in a "Special Edition" format, which includes the base game and the first season pass.[2] Players who pre-order the game will receive an additional costume for Terry based on his appearance in Fatal Fury 2 (1992), along with three days of early access.[13]