Decades ago, the thought of SNK ever releasing a follow-up to Garou: Mark of the Wolves, considered by many as one of the hallmark fighting games, seemed like a dream. Well, dreams thankfully come true with Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves launching on April 24th for Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC. It’s a true-blue sequel in many ways, carrying over many of the same mechanics and characters while advancing the story.
However, a lot has also changed. Let’s review 15 of the biggest differences between Garou and City of the Wolves before the latter’s launch.
Story Changes
Believe it or not, South Town and its denizens have seen numerous changes ever since the Maximum Mayhem version of King of Fighters. Kain R. Heinlein discovers that his sister and Rock’s mother is still alive and must team up with his nephew to rescue her in yet another tournament. Everyone else crosses paths once more, but who’s the host this time? And what could they possibly have in store?
New and Returning Fighters
Launching with 14 playable characters, Garou: Mark of the Wolves was notable for featuring all-new fighters alongside Terry Bogard, the only veteran from Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters. Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves packs 17 playable characters and changes things up significantly. Billy Kane and Mai Shiranui arrive from other titles while almost everyone from Garou – Kim Dong-Hwan, Marco Rodrigues, Tizoc, Hotaru Futaba, and more – returns. Of course, you also have debuting fighters like Vox Reaper and Preecha.
Playable Boss
If that wasn’t enough, Kain, previously limited to appearances and serving as the true final boss of Garou, is finally playable in City of the Wolves. His overall demeanor remains a mystery, but his attacks and mastery of fire are as deadly (and sleek) as ever.
2D vs. 3D Graphics
Another massive shift for the series is in the graphical style. Garou: Mark of the Wolves uses 2D character sprites and backgrounds, both looking absolutely gorgeous to this day. Meanwhile, City of the Wolves’ art style is fully 3D for characters and backgrounds, with its style taking multiple cues from The King of Fighters 15. It does feel more bombastic, with some animated flourishes that maintain that signature Garou feel, though.
Episodes From South Town
Garou’s Story Mode essentially entails fighting opponents in linear order – defeating them with an AAA rank at minimum would eventually unlock Kain as the final boss and a special ending on his defeat. On the other hand, City of the Wolves offers Episodes from South Town, where you can wander around the map and challenge various fighters. Win battles and earn XP, new skills, and cosmetic options, making for a World Tour-like experience. Of course, the traditional Arcade Mode is still available for those who want that old-school experience.
Improved Cosmetic Customization
Garou: Mark of the Wolves didn’t offer alternate outfits – you could recolor a fighter’s base outfit from several set choices, but that’s it. Not only does City of the Wolves have different outfits for characters like Terry and Mai, but it also has much more extensive color customization. You can separately adjust the colors for different pieces of clothing, set patterns, adjust texture size, and much more. It’s a huge step up in all the right ways.
T.O.P. and S.P.G.
The T.O.P. System returns in City of the Wolves and functions like before. When your health is in a specific range, it activates and offers enhanced attacks, health regen up to that specific point, an additional special move, and more. Perhaps the biggest difference is that it’s now called the S.P.G. System and offers the ability to execute the new REV Blows.
REV Combat System
Speaking of REV, it’s essentially the new combat system in City of the Wolves. Stronger versions of special moves encompass REV Arts, while REV Accel is used to chain attacks. The aforementioned REV Blows can help create space, though REV Guard is also good for breathing room if timed correctly. Compare all this to Garou’s more streamlined system, and there’s a lot to learn.
Overheat and More Aggression
While Garou is a pretty balanced game in terms of attack and defense, City of the Wolves definitely leans into a more aggressive play style with the REV System. This is due to Overheat, which triggers when the REV Gauge is maxed out and prevents the usage of REV moves. While you can wait for it to gradually deplete, landing regular attacks on your opponent is the fastest way to make that happen. It’s comparable to Street Fighter 6’s Drive system, and I’m keen to see just how much it dictates a match’s overall pace.
Just Defense and Hyper Defense
Just Defend is a Garou player’s bread and butter when it comes to defense, providing a bit of health and a counterattack. This naturally returns in City of the Wolves, but on top of REV Guard, there’s also Hyper Defense that can be used against multiple hits, expanding your defense even further.
Smart Style Controls
Like Tekken 8’s Special Style and Street Fighter 6’s Modern Style, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves features Smart Style for newcomers. You can execute Smart Combos by pressing Circle on PlayStation and Combination Attacks with Square when up close. However, you’ll miss out on high-level features only available in Arcade Style, like feints. Garou never offered such a control scheme, only sticking to the traditional setup.
Cross-Platform Play
Considering it first launched in 1999 for arcades before making its way to home consoles from 2001 onwards, the very state of online play in fighting games would hinder Garou’s reach. Of course, it’s since been updated over the years, even receiving cross-platform play in subsequent updates. Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, thankfully, offers cross-play out of the box, allowing PC and console players to go head to head from launch.
Launching With Rollback Netcode
As acclaimed as Garou remains among the FGC, it wouldn’t receive rollback netcode until January 2020, courtesy of Code Mystics, who also implemented the same for The King of Fighters ’97, KOF ’98 Ultimate Match, and KOF 2002 Unlimited Match. Thankfully, City of the Wolves players won’t have to wait long, as it’s available at launch.
Playable Street Fighter Characters
With Terry and Mai jumping over to Street Fighter as DLC characters in Street Fighter 6, it only makes sense that Capcom sends its best fighters to South Town. In a first for Fatal Fury as a whole, Ken and Chun-Li will be guest characters in City of the Wolves, with the former out this Summer and the latter launching in Winter.
Post-Launch Support
Garou receiving extensive post-launch support and new characters would have been the dream back in the day. Fortunately, SNK already has plans in motion for City of the Wolves. Its first Season Pass is included with the Special Edition, which retails for $59.99 and is the only edition available. You can also expect at least three years of post-launch support, meaning even more characters and new features alongside balance adjustments.
