Long ago, during the era of the fighting game, back in the 90's, two brawlers struggled to become giants in the arcades. While they both flourished, they did so in separate countries. America became accustomed to Street Fighter due to easier controls and excellent gameplay. Across the ocean in Japan, the Lonely Wolves of Fatal Fury, which had innovative ideas for combat and a compelling story took over. While Fatal Fury did eventually make it to the states, it was not as well received as Street Fighter due to extremely complex moves which turned off most players. Now more than fifteen years later the Wolves have returned in SNK Playmores' Fatal Fury Battle Archives. Fatal Fury Battle Archives 1 gives us not only the original Fatal Fury, but the second third and special edition.
Story 8/10
The story was always one of the best and most compelling parts of this series. While it did boil down to a revenge story at heart, it showed more character depth and story detail than any one of the Street Fighter games ever produced. The story surrounds the Bogard brothers, more centrally on the eldest, Terry Bogard. Some 20 years ago, their father was murdered by the crime lord of the City of Southtown, Geese Howard. Geese was a former Disciple and student along with the Bogard's Father, Jeff. When Geese was passed over in favor of Jeff to be the styles successor, Geese vowed revenge. Some years later he followed through, brutally murdering Jeff thru the style's forbidden techniques. The brothers witnessed this fight and in turn vowed revenge against Geese. Each went separate ways, learning their own style of fighting to avenge their father. Andy, the younger brother, found his way to Japan, where he studied and trained under Hanzo Shiranui, master of Shiranuai style of Ninjitsu and got the attention of a certain Ninja chick and future lover, Mai. Meanwhile, Terry stuck to southtown and honed his skills on the exceedingly tough streets. This is just the start of the story, but I can't really go on and reveal to much. It's a long and complex story spanning several games and different titles actually. However should you find the time to sit and read it, it is a wonderful story worth looking into.
Graphics 6/10
Graphically the game is extremely dated. This is a battle archive, similar to the Street Fighter anniversary game, so the titles start from 1992 and go through 1995. For the time the game was one of the best in terms of 2D sprites and hand drawn back grounds. Thankfully with each title, the game gets progressively better and while it will never hold in today's 3D standard, its a nice throw back to the classics. However, if you wish to see Terry and the Gang in 3D you should pick up King of Fighters Maximum Impact 1 or 2.
