If you read my review on the first Fatal
Fury for the SNES, you'd know that I had some rather mixed reactions.
While it was a decent port of the Neo Geo original, it still needed some serious
work. The sound was mediocre, the control needed work, and it was missing the
plain shifting found in the original. Thankfully, it looks like Takara has
learned a lot from its port off the first game. Several of the issues have been
resolved in this game as well as many new additions.
Fatal Fury 2 takes place a year after the original King of
Fighters tournament in the first game. Terry, Andy and Joe have overthrown the
evil Geese Howard. Another tournament is now beginning. Again, several
competitors from around the world have come to South Town to compete in the new
KOF tournament.
Aside from the original 3 playable characters of the first game, a slew of new
characters have been added. Some of these new faces include an ultra cool Tai
Know Do master called "Kim Kaphwan," the female ninja "Mai
Shiranui," the Judo master "Jubei" and a tubby Chinese guy called
"Cheng Sin Zan." The pro Wrestler "Raiden" has also returned
from the first game as well. This time he's been unmasked and called "Big
Bear." He's also fully playable from the start, unlike the last game.
Aside from the initial 8 playable characters, there are 4 boss characters
(playable only by using a special code) as well. The bosses include the staff
wielding "Billy Kane" from the first game, the bullfighter
"Lawrence Blood," a boxer called "Axel Hawk," and the final
boss "Wolfgang Krauser."
One thing I found rather amusing was that Lawrence Blood's name was deemed too
offensive by Nintendo's censors at the time. His name in the SNES version has
been edited to Lawrence B. Smart move Nintendo, we can't let anyone here the B
word. It may give people nightmares.
The actual gameplay is pretty much the same as the first Fatal Fury.
This time though, it just feels much more polished and complete. The character
collision feels much better, moves have been edited slightly and the plain
shifting that was missing from the last game has been restored. Like the first
game, you won't find any massive 50 hit combo's or air raves. Just plain, good
fighting action.
Finally, one major new addition was added to the gameplay. You guessed it, Super
Moves. Unlike most games today, characters do not have Super bars which fill up.
Instead, Super Moves can only be done when your characters life gauge is nearly
empty and flashing red. Once the meters flashing red, you can use Super Moves as
often as you like.
My only real complaints about the gameplay is the damage and the final boss. The
damage setting is just simply too high. There's no way to set it either. Now
this can be either good or bad depending on if you like faster matches or not.
Whatever you preference, Takara should have given players an option for it. Even
the damage in the original Neo Geo version didn't seem quite this high.
As for the final boss, he seems to be missing his Tomahawk kick move. Why? I
don't know. This was present in both the Neo Geo and Genesis versions. Maybe it
had to be cut from the SNES version, due to the lower meg count. The SNES
version is only a 20 megabit game, while the Genesis version had 24. Whatever it
is, its a shame the move was cut from the game.
There's nothing really much for play modes here. You simply get a single player
Arcade Mode, a 2 player Vs and a Team Elimination Match Mode. In Team
Elimination, each player selects 8 characters. After picking your characters,
both of you will fight until someone loses all their fighters.
Graphics 9:
The graphics were a definite step up from the port of the original game on SNES.
The animation is a bit choppy (Mai seems to have lost her bounce) in some areas
but is totally acceptable and looks much better then the first. The back grounds
are a definite step up as well. Locations include a bullring, a Japanese dojo
and on top of a moving train. The coolest background perhaps is the final boss
level. The screen scrolls down from the top of the screen to reveal an orchestra
playing the levels music. While this level doesn't quite look as good as it does
in the Neo Geo or Genesis versions, its still a very impressive site in the SNES
game.
Sound 8:
While not perfect, the sound is also a definite step up from the original. The
whole thing still has a slightly muffled sound to it, but it doesn't seem quite
as bad as the first games. Thankfully that 3 Stooges like sound when you beat
your opponent in the first game on SNES is all but a bad memory.
The actual music itself is pretty damn good. Its mostly a mixture or rock,
classical and a little country. One thing I sound sort of strange was that many
of the songs sounded better in the Genesis version of the game. This is a
definite change of pace since its usually the other way around. Anyway, good job
here.
Control 9: Thankfully, Takara realized the control in the first game kind
of sucked. Things have taken a major turn for the better here. There's also been
a few changes in the actual button set up as well. The throw button has all but
vanished and there are now 4 attack buttons as opposed to the 2 in the first
game. This really helps to deepen the gameplay a little. The whole set up just
seemed a little too simplistic in the first game.
Overall, I really enjoyed Fatal Fury 2 on the SNES. While not
quite as good as the original Neo Geo or the Genesis versions, it still remains
a very solid 2D fighter. I would highly recommend this title if your either a
fan of the series or if you've played Super Street Fighter 2 to
death on the SNES. A great port of a great game. Good work Takara.
9.2
