The long-awaited return of Southtown’s legends delivers a bold and nostalgic brawler with teeth.
It has been 26 years since the last entry in the Fatal Fury series—SNK’s very first fighting game franchise. This is the one that set the table for everything that came after, such as Art of Fighting, King of Fighters, and even Aggressors of Dark Kombat.
Thankfully, the series didn’t completely vanish during that quarter-century drought. Terry, Joe, and, most importantly, Mai consistently showed up in KOF titles and other spin-offs, reminding everyone that Southtown’s hungry wolves were just biding their time.
That time is now. Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves has finally been released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC. And after spending the last week with it, you can now find out if this long-awaited sequel was worth the wait.
Making a sequel nearly three decades after the last entry is no small feat. Do you present a fresh reimagining, lean into nostalgia, or pick up exactly where the series left off? SNK appears to do all three. You can see this in the modes, features, and content that City of the Wolves offers.
If you’re more of a casual fan looking to warm up before stepping into online matches, you have two major options. Arcade Mode gives you six opponents, followed by a final boss, and it’s surprisingly polished. Then there’s Episodes of Southtown, which is SNK’s most ambitious single-player mode to date. It’s part fighter, part RPG, and all Fatal Fury.
The online suite is fully featured with ranked, casual, and private rooms, leaderboards, and a new Clone Fights feature that lets you battle ghost data from other players, akin to Shadows from Killer Instinct 2013. While online matches were limited during the review period, improvements over previous beta versions are noticeable.
Tutorial and Practice modes are here and serviceable, if not revolutionary. Versus mode includes a new Special Versus that lets you tweak variables like KO rules, super meter, and attack strength for chaotic matchups.
One highly requested addition is the color edit mode. You can fully customize each fighter’s color palette and save multiple versions. SNK also delivers an extensive jukebox feature containing over 300 tracks from every previous Fatal Fury game and even some from the Art of Fighting series. You can assign any track to any part of the game, offering an impressive level of customization from the jump.
The base roster offers 17 characters, with SNK committing to five more post-launch as part of the first free DLC season. A new fighter will be released every two months, a pace that, if maintained, will keep the game vibrant and fresh. This is particularly welcome in an era where DLC calendars often lack consistency. Hopefully, Fatal Fury will avoid those pitfalls.
City of the Wolves builds on the mechanics from the original Garou while adding much more on top. The rev meter, hidden gears, and wild punishes all add layers. If you liked how Garou 1 played, you’d feel right at home here. While there are similarities between the rev gauge and Street Fighter 6’s drive mechanics, City of the Wolves feels distinct and offers more mechanical depth.
Speed, weight, and impact all contribute to a satisfying game feel. Yes, there might be one or two mechanics too many, which could be intimidating for new players, but the variety of offensive and defensive options leads to exciting, unpredictable fights. It’s too early to define the meta, but there’s clearly room to learn, grow, and optimize.
The game also brings back the two-lane battle system, a classic feature now tied to a single stage. Navigation could be smoother, but its inclusion is a welcome nod to Fatal Fury’s legacy.
Visually, City of the Wolves is SNK’s best-looking 3D game. While 2D sprites have a nostalgic charm, the game bursts with color, strong animation, and a bold American comic book meets anime aesthetic. While Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8 are technically more advanced, City of the Wolves arguably wins in style with its fusion of old and new.
That aesthetic extends to the stages. You’ll recognize locations from Garou, now enhanced with the breezy, colorful vibes of older Fatal Fury games. Bright palm trees and cheerful crowds coexist with dark, gritty alleyways. It’s just the right amount of sneaky and party-like.
Episodes of Southtown, the main single-player mode, are surprisingly addictive. You go through three areas with tasks in each one that gradually become available. The story changes based on which character you choose, with different conversations and exchanges. Terry and Mai’s journeys are different, as are the people they meet and the tasks they take on.
As you complete missions, fights, special conditions, bosses that look like they belong in a raid, and even mini-games get harder. You get new skills and buffs, learn how the SPG works, and find out more about Southtown. The text-based talks give you a lot of information about the characters and their pasts without making the game too big.
Each campaign takes about three hours, and with unique rewards and endings per character, there’s a ton of content. Episodes of Southtown smartly condense the RPG-like depth of Street Fighter 6’s World Tour into a more focused, less grindy experience.
Arcade Mode is also top-tier. It includes narrated intros and stylish comic book cutscenes. Each fighter has a unique rival encounter and a final boss fight. Endings are surprisingly long and packed with cameos, bringing to mind KOF15—but with even better production.
Compared to Street Fighter 6’s stripped-down arcade mode, this feels like a love letter to old-school fighting fans. SNK didn’t cut corners here. The color edit system is detailed and easy to use. You can change hair, eyes, costume parts, and accessories for any character. If you’re not happy with default palettes—say for B. Jenet—you can just create your own. This level of player expression shows how much SNK invested in reviving this franchise with care.
There are a few problems that can’t be ignored. One is the inclusion of real-life celebrities as playable characters. Cristiano Ronaldo and Salvatore Ganacci feel forced and unnecessary. They take up valuable roster slots that could have gone to beloved characters like Freeman or Gato. At best, they could have been NPCs in Episodes of Southtown. Their inclusion is a misstep and hopefully not a sign of future priorities.
Another issue is visual. Due to uneven frame rates, there are things in the background of Terry’s stage that are distracting. In other stages, this isn’t a problem because the effect is only applied to NPCs in the background. But here, it makes the game less clear. It hasn’t been fixed yet, even though beta testers said it should be, and you can’t skip this part in single-player modes.
Last but not least, there aren’t enough voice choices for each character. You can’t set Japanese VO for one fighter and English for another—it’s global. That’s a standard feature in other fighting games, especially Street Fighter since SF4, so it’s a curious omission here.
Despite a few missteps, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is a triumphant return. In addition to continuing where Mark of the Wolves left off, this game celebrates everything that the brand stands for. The graphics are great, the game feels great, and it has a lot of material. No matter if you’re a longtime fan or a curious newcomer, this brawler knows how to honor its past while moving confidently into the present.
With in-depth mechanics, robust single-player options, vibrant visuals, and promising post-launch support, this is one of SNK’s strongest releases in years. Even with two questionable roster choices and a few polish issues, the overall package delivers.
You can expect plenty more to come, including teased features and returning fan favorites. With a few patches and a continued commitment to the community, this could very well be a top-tier fighter for years to come.
