Delivering on the Legacy: The Pressure of Creating a Sequel to a Beloved Fighting Game
When a classic piece of media is revisited, there is always pressure to deliver a product that lives up to a legacy. Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves faces that dilemma with a team that wants to ensure it can add to Rock Howard’s story over 20 years later.
The Return of Garou: Mark of the Wolves and the Challenges of Crafting a Sequel
More than 24 years after the original Garou: Mark of the Wolves released and essentially ended the Fatal Fury franchise, SNK is returning to the city where the mighty rule and legends never die. But it isn’t all fun when a team gets together to craft a sequel to one of the most beloved fighting games of all time, and for some of the developers, the pressure to deliver a quality title is daunting.
Pressure and Guidance: The Experience of the Development Team
While attending the SNK World Championship 2023, I was able to speak with City of the Wolves director Hayato Konya and producer Yasuyuki Oda about returning to Fatal Fury after so long and what it means to have a team comprised of newcomers and some original Garou developers. Konya-san has worked as a designer on other SNK projects such as SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy, but is stepping into the director chair for CotW while Oda-san, who worked as a designer on MotW, continues his recent role as producer on another fighter—which leads to even more pressure for the team.
The DNA of the Series: Adding Modern Systems and Preserving the Legacy
Konya-san specifically points out that having Oda-san and others around helps them truly identify the “DNA of the series,” especially early on when they were developing CotW’s systems. Not only does the new REV Meter help evolve previous concepts from MotW, but that mix of expertise let the team dig beyond the original game to shape even more systems into a modern formula that makes CotW feel similar yet distinct from its predecessor and the King of Fighters series.
A Balance of Aggression and Defense: Shaping the Gameplay
“We did want to make it feel distinct from KoF, so that’s why there is a heavier hit stop and stuff to make it feel a bit heavier as a game,” Konya said. “We thought about the game very logically and balanced the aggressive offense with defensive tactics, for example, by adding Hyper Defense as a sort of counter to Braking. There is a tactical element binding all of the systems where on option might seem strong but another system plays well against it.”
A New Chapter: Conclusion to Character Stories and Welcoming New Players
On top of systems, CotW will focus on character stories and try to provide conclusions that were not settled in previous games, which was a big reason SNK and Oda-san wanted to pursue this project originally. This will all be done while still working to welcome new players into the fold as a near 25-year-old game finally gets its next chapter.
Looking Towards the Future: Demo Builds and What’s to Come
Now we have to play a waiting game as SNK brings demo builds of City of the Wolves to upcoming events like Evo Japan in April, where we could hear more about additional characters, features, and content leading into the early 2025 release window.