Fatal Fury 1 ... Mega/Sega version vs. SNES version

[DanceroftheShadows]

Since this is one of my favorite games of all time for NeoGeo, I decided to give the home versions a go since I didnt even knew they existed. I thought the home ports started with part 2.

First of all as I mentioned in another topic, the first thing I noticed in the Sega version is the game is actually a bit faster than the Arcade version, but you still must input the joystick motions at a certain pace, not too fast or it wont come out ... smooth daddy-o smooth.

The graphics are awesome (better than Part 2's port)




The Genesis vesion kept the multi plane system that made the game unique, so right there that is a major plus over the SNES version. Takara also added progressive difficulty, which SNK didnt even start putting in their games untill 1996! There is also more dialouge in this version, seems to have been translated by americans or english speakers. In the arcade game Geese never said he killed Andy and Terrys brother, you had to watch the anime to know this (or own the booklet of the game maybe?)



I truly love how the game looks, very colorful for a Genesis game. My biggest dissappointment was the removal of the train in Duck Kings background.



For the cons, two mini bosses were removed (and their stages) yet the characters included in the background for some reason (maybe the porters ran out of space on the cart or time?). The tips on how to do moves between levels are gone and instead of fighting those two bosses you fight Andy and Joe instead (your buddies). The only mini boss you do fight before geese is a beefed up Raiden! He seems tougher than he did in the arcade!



What I love most is how they kept Geese's weakness the same as the arcade, just get up close to him and throw his bitch ass.



They censored the part where Geese gets thrown off the building, strange considering its a Sega game. Wonder if the japanese home port kept it....

Considering the time of release this game is a 9/10 easy, coming only second to SF2 at the time. (home version of course)

I am now going to play the SNES version and compare notes. I am confident the sega version is better but I didnt get the SNES cart just to look at the artwork. stay posted (btw next I will compare Art of FIghting another all time favorite)

[The Coop]

As I said in my review here, a mediocre port, of a mediocre arcade game... IMHO of course.

Fatal Fury was already behind the times when it was first released in 1991, with only three playable characters, one basic and uninteresting ending, and one good gimmick that even SNK didn't use much outside of the main franchise (and then promptly screwed up in Fatal Fury 3 by making the backgrounds tri-tiered). When it came home to the Genesis in 1993, it lost a fair bit. Two stages, two fighters, the backgrounds got simplified more than they really needed to be, and of course, the usual sound losses in terms of effects and voices. Why Takara went with a 12Mbit cart instead of a 16Mbit one is anyone's guess, but the home port took quite a few hits in the end because of that choice.

FF isn't a bad game, but FF2 picked things up nicely, and brought the series into its own (the Genesis port also turned out better). But like Street Fighter before Streets Fighter II, Fatal Fury was a few good ideas in a shell that needed a fair bit of polishing for it to shine. So while I'd give the arcade game about a 6.5, the Genesis version gets a 5. A humble start to a long running SNK franchise (and spinoff... of sorts).

[DanceroftheShadows]

It was released in arcades in 1991 thank you

I actually dislike Fatal Fury 2 in the arcade. Horribly cheap CPU on all characters. Two player game is fun but single player is nearly unplayable. Probably different on the home ports, but I will never even TRY the home ports when I own the Neo version which I only play when a buddy is over.

Fun Fact. Fatal Fury 2 was actually the first SNK fighter with the King of Fighters standard control scheme of two punch and two kick buttons.

God I love SNK

[The Coop]

Oops, hit the wrong key. However, everything else still stands. The fact that it was behind in those areas over six months after SF II was released is just... puzzling. Surely someone would have thought, "Oh shit. Um, we need to work on this a little more."

Guess they decided to save the improvements for the sequel.

[DanceroftheShadows]

Well its a little known fact that Fatal Fury was in development at the same time SF2 was

[Tor Landeel]

God, please remove the filter next time you make screenshots. They made my eyes bleed.
Anyway, I always liked this version of Fatal Fury. Too bad the omission of Billy Kane (screw Hwa Jai).
And I think the cut in the ending is due to the usual being cheap on genesis with the space.

[soop]

Well I have to say, I'm not a fan of SNK fighters (Samurai Shodown aside), but if you look at it as a kind of 1on1 Final Fight rather than a direct competitor to one of the most reverered games in history it comes off a lot better. But unfortunately, you can't get around the fact that Street Fighter II was released around the same time.

I own Fatal Fury II on both the SNES and PC Engine CD, and I have to say I don't think it has a lot going for it. And the multi-tiered stages are a gimmick I never really liked. that said, I think II is an improvement over I.

[DanceroftheShadows]

^yes it was an improvement multiplayer wiise

[havok666]

I've never played the Genesis version, but the SNES port was unbelievably hard and difficult to execute moves. As for the original Neo-Geo game it has aged pretty poorly just like most of SNK's early offerings (Ninja Combat, Super Spy, Burning Fight etc.). I can't help comparing it to Street Fighter II where I could just pick up and play and it would still seem as fluid, fresh and challenging as it was in the early 90's.

[DanceroftheShadows]

I breifly tried the SNES version of Fatal Fury, its not even worth beating. The Genesis one is king.


As or the arcade version the game I think is still good, a bit sluggish but just as smooth as SF in my opinion

[Lastcallhall]

God, please remove the filter next time you make screenshots. They made my eyes bleed.

That was the first thing I thought - the 2xSAI filter is horrible.

In any event, I rather like this game in any form - The Fatal Fury series has always been a guilty pleasure of mine ever since the early 90's and I've taken pride in at least getting to know that universe during a time when Street Fighter II was kicking ass all across the world. Part 1 was a bit simplistic, but part 2 - more specifically, FF Special - was awesome. I think the Genesis and SNES ports were competent enough to get the job done, even if there were little things lost in translation. Still, you can't beat the original versions, and I even have them in various formats around my house (Wii, NESputer) to play at a moments notice, should I get the urge. Good times.

[Olls]

The Coop nailed it. Let's see a comparison of the second game.

[Tor Landeel]

I like the Fatal Fury 2 conversion a lot. It's very fast, tight controls, not too bad graphics (though a bit inconstant, some stuff looks bad and some very good, and it's a bit blocky). AI is a bit on the cheap side, and uses a lot of specials on the hardest difficulty setting.
If there's something I love about it, though, it's the music. It beats hands down the SNES version.
To tell the truth I would have loved a Fatal Fury Special made by Takara for Genesis (not that crap from Funcom), with full screen action, scoring (why such a cut?), and the missing special moves (like Billy Kane's).

[Clessy]

Both are fucking awful. In this day and age there is absolutely no reason to play fighters on genesis/snes. You can easily afford real hardware or get arcade perfect ports on ps2 or other systems.

[Olls]

Both are fucking awful. In this day and age there is absolutely no reason to play fighters on genesis/snes. You can easily afford real hardware or get arcade perfect ports on ps2 or other systems.

I absolutely agree. The only exceptions are of course exclusives such as Eternal Champions (LOL) and Yuu Yuu.