Fatal Fury 2
Second installment in the Fatal Fury fighting game series.
Fatal Fury 2 is a 1992 fighting game developed and published by SNK for arcades, serving as the sequel to Fatal Fury: King of Fighters. It introduced Kim Kaphwan, the first Taekwondo and first Korean character in fighting games, as well as Mai Shiranui, who became one of SNK's most recognizable female characters. The game was later ported to several home systems, including the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis by Takara, and an updated version, Fatal Fury Special, followed in 1993.
Quick Facts
- Producer
- Eikichi Kawasaki
- Designer
- Takashi Tsukamoto
- Artist
- Ayumi Tsuzaki
- Higashi Pon
- Ryouji Sei
- Composer
- Masahiko Hataya
- Toshio Shimizu
- Yoshihiko Kitamura
- Series
- Fatal Fury
- Platforms
- Arcade
- Neo Geo AES
- Super NES
- X68000
- PC Engine CD-ROM²
- Genesis/Mega Drive
- Game Boy
- Neo Geo CD
- Genre
- Fighting
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Fatal Fury 2 was the second game in SNK's 100-Mega Shock series, featuring improved graphics and gameplay over its predecessor. The controls were modified to use the Neo-Geo's four-button configuration, with four attack buttons: Light Punch, Light Kick, Strong Punch, and Strong Kick. Players can dash backward by tapping the lever twice quickly. The two-plane battle system from the first game returns; players can move to the adjacent plane by pressing Light Punch and Light Kick simultaneously for a Plane Move. A Power Attack knocks the opponent to the other plane, and from there the player can perform a Low Plane Move Attack (punch) or High Plane Move Attack (kick). Some stages include hazards in the background plane, such as electrified wires or a stampede of bulls, preventing plane changes but allowing the player to knock opponents into hazards for extra damage. New techniques include an Evasion Attack, a counterattack performed after guarding, and a taunt activated by pressing Strong Punch from a distance. The Desperation Move (or Fury) is a powerful special move usable only when the life gauge is at 25% and flashing red. The single-player mode pits the player against all eight characters, including a clone of the player's character, followed by four non-playable bosses, with bonus rounds after every fourth match.
Fighters
The roster includes eight selectable warriors: Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard, and Joe Higashi from the original game, plus five newcomers. After defeating all eight playable characters and a clone of the player's character, the player faces four non-playable bosses. The playable fighters are Terry Bogard, an American street fighting champion from South Town; Andy Bogard, Terry's younger brother and ninjutsu practitioner; Joe Higashi, a Japanese Muay Thai champion; Big Bear, an Australian face wrestler formerly known as Raiden; Jubei Yamada, an elderly Japanese judo sensei once called Yamada the Demon; Cheng Sinzan, a greedy and overweight tai chi shifu from Hong Kong; Kim Kaphwan, a taekwondo master from South Korea who fights for justice; and Mai Shiranui, a beautiful kunoichi and self-proclaimed fiancée of Andy. The bosses are Billy Kane, a bojutsu master from the United Kingdom seeking revenge for Geese's death; Axel Hawk, a retired heavyweight boxing champion; Laurence Blood, a former matador; and Wolfgang Krauser, a German nobleman seeking to defeat the man responsible for Geese's downfall.
Release
The Neo Geo AES and CD versions were just the beginning for Fatal Fury 2. A port for the X68000 hit Japan in 1993, followed by releases for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, PC Engine CD-ROM², Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and Game Boy in early 1994. Takara handled publishing for the SNES and Genesis ports, while Magical Company released the X68000 version exclusively in Japan. All three of these versions let players access the four boss characters through specific codes. Hudson Soft published the CD-ROM² version, also Japan-only, which was among the first games to need the Arcade Card add-on. For the SNES release, Hori Electric produced the Fatal Fury 2 Commander controller, which had all playable characters' power and super power moves pre-programmed for single-button activation. The original Neo Geo version later appeared in the 2006 PlayStation 2 compilation Fatal Fury: Battle Archive Volume 1, offering a choice between the AES and CD soundtracks, and arrived on the Wii Virtual Console in 2008. The SNES version was re-released on the Nintendo Classics service in 2025. Japan saw several licensed tie-ins: a soundtrack CD, a magazine-book, a VHS guide, a two-part manga adaptation, a 4-koma manga compilation, a tribute book, two guide books, and another VHS tape.
Reception
In Japan, Game Machine listed Fatal Fury 2 as the most successful table arcade unit of January 1993, and it became Japan's second highest-grossing arcade game of 1993, behind Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting. In North America, RePlay reported it as the fourth most popular arcade game of February 1993, and Play Meter listed it as the thirteenth most popular of March 1993. The Super Famicom version topped the Famitsu sales chart in December 1993. Western critics generally received the game well. GamePro praised the Neo Geo version's action-packed gameplay, challenge, character graphics and animation, backgrounds, and sound, calling it an awesome sequel. The Genesis version was praised for its six-button controller support and character graphics, though the music was considered dull; Electronic Gaming Monthly criticized the sound effects but noted the fighters, stages, and extra options made it a fine conversion. The SNES version was called one of the better fighting game ports by EGM and awarded Game of the Month, but GamePro gave a mixed review, citing inferior graphics, poor audio, unreliable controls, and unbalanced gameplay, recommending players wait for the SNES port of Fatal Fury Special. Maximum retrospectively noted that while not as strong as Street Fighter II, Fatal Fury 2 was a dramatic improvement over the first game, with an extended roster, full move sets, greater fluidity, better backgrounds, and more interactive scenery.
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