Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves

[yagamikun]

TLDR: It's okay to personally not like a video game while at the same time recognizing its importance to a genre or even gaming as a whole with unique mechanics or other features that continued to be iterated upon and improved over time.

AOF is a weird beast, but helped lay the foundations for the genre that still persist today. MANY fighting game genre innovations came from the first game especially. Each one is unique in its own way and shows SNK at their most innovative, imo. Not all ideas panned out, while others were adopted fully by other developers in just about all subsequent fighting games.

The fact that SNK focused mostly on innovation in those days rather Capcom's iterative approach - five versions of SF2 in less than four years before they even made a different game - has always been a key reason I love 90's SNK...warts and all.

 

[NeoSeeD]

That said - as much as I have a knack for Art of Fighting - using it as a franchise to attract a broad audience is a bad idea. Newcomers will shy away from the unkown setting, people who know the franchise but disliked it for its different approach will have a negative stance towards the game and connaisseurs of the old titles will be enraged, that it doesn't resemble the old games.

Ironically, a new AOF produced in the modern era would likely play great and the mechanics that used to be janky would likely be implemented far better. It's the actual franchise that likely wouldn't sell. I remember not too long ago when Terry Bogard was added to Smash Brothers and the majority of its audience had NO idea who he was. Nintendo had to literally create a video essay in their advertising to educate the masses on Terry and Neo Geo.

TLDR: It's okay to personally not like a video game while at the same time recognizing its importance to a genre or even gaming as a whole with unique mechanics or other features that continued to be iterated upon and improved over time.

AOF is a weird beast, but helped lay the foundations for the genre that still persist today. MANY fighting game genre innovations came from the first game especially. Each one is unique in its own way and shows SNK at their most innovative, imo. Not all ideas panned out, while others were adopted fully by other developers in just about all subsequent fighting games.

The fact that SNK focused mostly on innovation in those days rather Capcom's iterative approach - five versions of SF2 in less than four years before they even made a different game - has always been a key reason I love 90's SNK...warts and all.

AOF had some good ideas. It just suffered from being first to implement them and likely the lack of experience in creating fighters. The zooming function was implemented better in Samurai Showdown. Supers were implemented in most fighters going forward. Charging and spirit bar mechanics worked great in KOF. etc.

 

[Johnny16Bit]

I'm wondering if even World Heroes might not be a safer resurrection than AoF. I don't know which is the more popular series, but at least WH could easily establish its identity as a casual, off-the-wall fighter.

 

[VJP]

I like City of the Wolves. Definitely better than SF for me. SF is way too overloaded with unnecessary stuff that takes you out of combat...

 

[HellioN]

I like City of the Wolves. Definitely better than SF for me. SF is way too overloaded with unnecessary stuff that takes you out of combat...

Fatal Fury > Street Fighter

 

[fickmichcommander]

Nothing they do will be an instant hit with casuals. They need to set a reasonable budget and try to win back the hardcore base bit by bit. Put the money into the game itself instead of marketing, please your target audience, and try to do a little better the next time. It will take three or four moderate successes in a row to re-establish any measure of credibility or good will.

 

[Fygee]

TLDR: It's okay to personally not like a video game while at the same time recognizing its importance to a genre or even gaming as a whole with unique mechanics or other features that continued to be iterated upon and improved over time.

AOF is a weird beast, but helped lay the foundations for the genre that still persist today. MANY fighting game genre innovations came from the first game especially. Each one is unique in its own way and shows SNK at their most innovative, imo. Not all ideas panned out, while others were adopted fully by other developers in just about all subsequent fighting games.

The fact that SNK focused mostly on innovation in those days rather Capcom's iterative approach - five versions of SF2 in less than four years before they even made a different game - has always been a key reason I love 90's SNK...warts and all.

This is my favorite take here on AOF so far.

The games were inspired, introduced innovative mechanics that have become staples in fighting games since then, had a good and diverse roster with some characters becoming all time classics that are still in games to this day, pioneered story based fighting games along with Fatal Fury up to 3, had huge sprites that were very uncommon for the time, and great music. AOF 3 is, IMO, the most gorgeous game on the system and was a massive upgrade from any other SNK fighter up to that point.

They were also very flawed.

AOF 1 was jank as fuck, even for fighting games in 1992, with weird and difficult controls, insane input delay, slow attacks, wonky damage, and inaccurate hit boxes.

AOF 2 had a zoom camera high on cocaine that made it difficult to focus on what was happening, along with a broken and unfair CPU difficulty that can only be beaten by exploits or immaculately timed counter attacks right from the first level. That kind of difficulty is arcade game sacrilage as there's no way players are going to keep playing a fighting game that they get absolutely wrecked on the first round, and also keeps them from learning the game better to encourage playing against others.

AOF 3's gameplay went back to swimming through mud with stiff attacks and movement (albiet well animated) and slow downed character recovery that intentionally played too much like a 3D game of it's time. It doomed it from the get go with fast paced fighting games being all the rage. Add to that an almost totally new roster of characters that were largely boring and forgettable, sans Kasumi who was rescued from mediocrity by KOF.

 

[Average Joe]

Nothing they do will be an instant hit with casuals. They need to set a reasonable budget and try to win back the hardcore base bit by bit. Put the money into the game itself instead of marketing, please your target audience, and try to do a little better the next time. It will take three or four moderate successes in a row to re-establish any measure of credibility or good will.

CotW is very much for the hardcore players and if anything is new player hostile.

The gameplay is mechanically complex and both the skill floor and ceiling are rather high in particular due to the defensive options.

SNK and their oil barons obviously wasted tons of money on the lame advertising, but anyone putting the hours into the game itself can easily see how much effort went into its gameplay system.

Whether you care about that or not over other aspects of the game is on the individual, but I'd definitely argue SNK did their part to cater to the hardcore player here.

 

[fickmichcommander]

CotW is very much for the hardcore players and if anything is new player hostile.

The gameplay is mechanically complex and both the skill floor and ceiling are rather high in particular due to the defensive options.

SNK and their oil barons obviously wasted tons of money on the lame advertising, but anyone putting the hours into the game itself can easily see how much effort went into its gameplay system.

Whether you care about that or not over other aspects of the game is on the individual, but I'd definitely argue SNK did their part to cater to the hardcore player here.

They pissed off the entire hardcore base out of the blocks. Most didn't even bother trying it because of the narratives about the guest characters. With no Ronaldo and no random DJ guy I would bet money this game would have done better than KOF 15.

 

[Fygee]

I agree with that. SNK definitely wanted this to be a game for the hardcore fans, and did a great job at making it so. But then the marketing completely contrasted that by plopping Soccer & Fettuccine in there, which did nothing but piss off that hardcore fan base, and for the casuals or mid-level skill players like me, there just wasn't enough single player content to keep people interested or brave enough to hop into PvP.

They needed to pick a lane here, and the game is still new enough that they can depending on how they market the DLC and the game itself going forward.

I think a big reason Sam Sho 19 did as well as it did is it was very casual friendly. There isn't a ton of complex systems, it's not a combo-fest, and it's very "old school" in that skill comes from good timing and precision strikes with normals and single special attacks.

 

[Ilovejapangirls]

To the people who say Ryuuko is a good fighting game...have you ever tried playing it with another human? The game is very fun against the CPU but it crumbles down against another player. It was okayish in 1992/3 but even at the time Garou Den 2/SP was running circles around Ryuuko

 

[Neo Alec]

To the people who say Ryuuko is a good fighting game...have you ever tried playing it with another human? The game is very fun against the CPU but it crumbles down against another player. It was okayish in 1992/3 but even at the time Garou Den 2/SP was running circles around Ryuuko

Isn't that the opposite of what everyone says? They don't like that the CPU is cheap.

I have great memories of getting AOF2 on the AES and playing against my brothers more than playing in 1-player.

 

[Taiso]

Guys.

Guys.

When someone tells you AoF is bad, you don't share your experiences to the contrary and offer your own personal tastes and judgement on something.,

You accept the negativity as the truth and the law.

 

[Dr Shroom]

To the people who say Ryuuko is a good fighting game...have you ever tried playing it with another human? The game is very fun against the CPU but it crumbles down against another player. It was okayish in 1992/3 but even at the time Garou Den 2/SP was running circles around Ryuuko

GUYS I CALL THE GAMES BY THEIR JAPANESE NAME
BOY, DO I WISH I REALLY WAS JAPANESE

 

[Average Joe]

I actually kind of dig the bullshit AI in older Fighting games.

Been playing FFS a lot this past week and it is its own unique type of fun trying to squirm or cheese past the frame-perfect bullshit the CPU does.

 

[Neo Alec]

Guys.

Guys.

When someone tells you AoF is bad, you don't share your experiences to the contrary and offer your own personal tastes and judgement on something.,

You don't dignify it with a response.

FTFY

 

[fickmichcommander]

24 hour peak users

KOF 15: 434
Fatal Fury: 370
KOF 2002: 229

DLC won't help, it's already fallen behind the last KOF.

 

[Taiso]

FTFY

I was agreeing with you but you're being fucking weird again.

 

[Taiso]

Isn't that the opposite of what everyone says? They don't like that the CPU is cheap.

I have great memories of getting AOF2 on the AES and playing against my brothers more than playing in 1-player.

This is 'not dignifying it with a response', folks.

Fucking weirdo.

 

[HellioN]

24 hour peak users

KOF 15: 434
Fatal Fury: 370
KOF 2002: 229

DLC won't help, it's already fallen behind the last KOF.

We get it.
You hate the game and this gives you an erection.
The rest of us don't care about "the numbers".

 

[fickmichcommander]

We get it.
You hate the game and this gives you an erection.
The rest of us don't care about "the numbers".

I'll be sure to keep you, specifically, updated.

 

[HellioN]

 

[HellioN]

I'll be sure to keep you, specifically, updated.

I expect the reports on my desk every hour on the hour for the foreseeable future.

 

[fickmichcommander]

I expect the reports on my desk every hour on the hour for the foreseeable future.

Current online players
Dune: Awakening - 176,240
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves - 198

 

[HellioN]

Current online players
Dune: Awakening - 176,240
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves - 198

You can't even follow directions.
I said on the hour, not twenty till.
You're fired.