Arcade

Fatal Fury: King of Fighters

The revolutionary fighting game that introduced the two-plane battle system. Follow Terry and Andy Bogard as they seek revenge against Geese Howard for murdering their father Jeff. Set in the crime-ridden streets of South Town.

Release Date
January 1, 1991
Developer
SNK
Publisher
SNK
Players
1
Region
US

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Story

Terry and Andy were unrelated orphans who raised themselves on the streets of South Town. They were soon adopted by Jeff Bogard, a master martial artist. A few years after being adopted by Jeff, both Terry and Andy witnessed the brutal murder of their adoptive father at the hands of Geese Howard: a ruthless businessman and expert martial artist who rules South Town's criminal underworld as a merciless crime boss. Geese, who was once Jeff's rival, had murdered Jeff when the latter had tried to expose Geese's criminal activities to the public.

Knowing that they weren't strong enough and needed more training to confront Geese, the brothers made an oath to spend a decade to fine tune their martial arts before trying to avenge their adoptive father. Terry chose to wander in his home country, combining his self-taught street fighting techniques with the Hakkyokuseiken fighting skills he learned from both his adoptive father and his mentor, Tung Fu Rue who is the shih-fu of both the art of Hakkyokuseiken and the art of Bajiquan. Andy decided to perfect his own martial arts style in Japan to differentiate himself from his older brother by being taught the Shiranui-ryū Ninjutsu (Shiranui Style Ninja Technique) and a form of empty-handed combat called Koppōken. A decade later in 1991, Geese Howard has organized a fighting tournament, dubbed "The King of Fighters".

Terry reunites with Andy after the latter returns to South Town from Japan. After the Bogard brothers pay respects to Jeff's grave, they encounter and befriend a Japanese Muay Thai champion named Joe Higashi from Thailand and learn about the KOF tournament hosted by Geese. Determined to avenge their adoptive father's death, Terry and Andy enter KOF alongside Joe and fight against many competitors, including Tung Fu Rue who had wanted to test the brothers out in making sure they were ready for their potential battle against Geese. Despite their best effort, both Andy and Joe were badly injured after defeating two of Geese's fighters, Raiden and Hwa Jai respectively, leaving Terry to continue on alone and facing off against Geese's right-hand man Billy Kane within the final match of the tournament.

Although Terry succeeds in defeating Billy and winning the tournament, he is suddenly captured by two of Geese's henchmen and sent to Geese's personal tower by force, leading to a one-on-one showdown against the crime boss himself. Geese is a formidable opponent for Terry, but the latter gains the upper hand during their battle and defeats the former with a powerful jump kick, causing Geese to fall from his tower and plummet to his death. As Terry, who had finally avenged his adoptive father's death, leaves the tournament victorious, Andy feels a mixed sense of closure and returns to Japan to continue his martial arts training, while Joe, who has said his goodbyes to the brothers after the tournament's conclusion, travels back to Thailand in order to continue his Muay Thai training.

Gameplay Systems

The gameplay follows the typical formula of most fighting games: the player competes against their opponent in best two-out-of-three matches. The play controls consist of an eight directional joystick and three attack buttons: punch, kick and throw. Each of the playable characters has special techniques that are performed by inputting specific commands in combination with the joystick and buttons. The input methods for special moves are shown to the player during the course of the game (after every bonus round), as opposed to being given in an instruction card in the game's cabinet.

The most novel aspect of Fatal Fury was the addition of two-lane battles. Many stages featured two rows, a background row, and a foreground row. Players can change between rows at any time other than in the Single Player Mode, where they have to wait for the CPU opponent to change rows before they can in almost every stage. The player is not required, however, to do so.

When a second player joins during the middle of a one-player fight, instead of postponing the current battle for a match between the two players, the game will make both players team up against the current CPU opponent in a two-on-one match before their battle takes place. After every other match in the single-player tournament, the player will participate in a bonus round mini-game involving an arm wrestling match against a machine. The player must tap the A button rapidly to win these mini-games.

Media Reviews

Electronic Gaming Monthly
4/10

About Fatal Fury: King of Fighters

Fatal Fury: King of Fighters is a classic video game released for the Arcade on January 1, 1991. Developed by SNK and published by SNK, this title has become a beloved entry in the retro gaming library.

This wiki entry provides comprehensive information about Fatal Fury: King of Fighters, including release details, gameplay information, and story synopsis. Whether you're looking to revisit a childhood favorite or discover classic games for the first time, Emulator Games Wiki has you covered.

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