It’s been well over two decades since the last Fatal Fury game, but with developer SNK having re-entered the scene with some significant new releases in recent years, the series is finally prepared to make a comeback. Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is due out in 2025, and as SNK has showcased the game more, excitement surrounding it has steadily grown as well. To learn more about the franchise’s return and what City of the Wolves in particular will bring to the table, we recently had the chance to speak with chief producer Yasuyuki Oda. You can read our full interview below.
"Rather than a sequel to Mark of the Wolves, we are making this game as an all-star battle of sorts for the FATAL FURY series."
This is the first Fatal Fury game in 26 years. What prompted a return to this IP after a hiatus this long?
I’ve wanted to develop a new entry in the FATAL FURY series ever since I initially left SNK. Ideally, I would have wanted to bring back the series earlier, but now I finally have the chance to do so.
Speaking of that hiatus just a little longer, why did Fatal Fury end up taking more than a decade and a half off?
The FATAL FURY development team had left SNK from 2000 to 2014, and from 2014 onwards, we didn’t have a sizable development team at the company. We worked on KOF, SNK Heroines, and SAMURAI SHODOWN over the span of several years. As a result, it took a long time for us to return to the FATAL FURY series.
Did the long break contribute to any decisions made with the game? For example, this game has a roster of returning characters from all the previous games along with newcomers, unlike Mark of the Wolves, which was almost entirely new characters. Was that because of this being the first game in so long, you wanted to appeal to the series’ fans as well as newcomers?
That’s exactly right. Rather than a sequel to Mark of the Wolves, we are making this game as an all-star battle of sorts for the FATAL FURY series.
Since this game is supposed to be a direct continuation of Mark of the Wolves, will there be a recap feature of some sort to help catch new and returning players up with the narrative?
All we can say is we hope you look forward to future announcements regarding FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves.
"The REV System was created based on the idea of bringing together the many game mechanics that have appeared in the FATAL FURY series. We also focused on making the action look flashy and easy for the player to quickly recognize what’s going on during a match."
The Rev System sounds like an interesting new addition to the series’ mechanics. What was the thinking that led to its conception and inclusion?
The REV System was created based on the idea of bringing together the many game mechanics that have appeared in the FATAL FURY series. We also focused on making the action look flashy and easy for the player to quickly recognize what’s going on during a match.
We wanted to talk about the Smart Style control scheme. How are you approaching the challenge of designing a control scheme that is friendlier for less experienced players, without taking away the depth and nuance that would make the gameplay compelling for genre veterans and competitive players?
We have seen several games try to implement this kind of control scheme in the past, but we are designing it with key mapping in mind, which could make it a fundamental control method going forward.
The game’s inclusion of an English voice track surprised everyone, with this being the first SNK game in over a decade and a half to add one. Was the decision to add the voice track made early on in development?
Yes, we received many requests for English voice acting, and now we were finally able to make it a reality. It was much more difficult to implement than we initially expected.
