Fatal Fury 2

Exchange blows with the Sultans of Slugs!

-Tagline

Fatal Fury 2 (, "Legend of the Hungry Wolf 2: The New Battle") is a 1992 fighting game released by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms. It is the sequel to Fatal Fury: King of Fighters and the second game in the Fatal Fury series.

Plot
After Geese Howard's death in the original Fatal Fury, a mysterious nobleman becomes the sponsor of the new "King of Fighters" tournament. This time, the tournament is held worldwide with fighters around the globe competing. As the single player mode progresses, the mysterious challenger begins defeating the participants from the previous Fatal Fury game (Michael Max, Hwa Jai, Duck King, Tung Fu Rue and Richard Meyer), searching for the man responsible for defeating Geese.

Gameplay
Fatal Fury 2 was the second game in SNK's 100-Mega Shock series, offering improved graphics and gameplay over the original Fatal Fury. The play controls were modified, this time making full use of the Neo-Geo's four button configuration, by including four attack buttons (two Punch buttons and two Kick buttons). The game expands on the two-lane plane system by giving the player the ability to knock their opponent to the other lane. Additionally some stages have hazards like electrified wires or a stampede of bulls. In addition, each character now has a "desperation attack" which can only be performed when their life meter is low and flashing red.

Overview
The new characters added to the roster are:

Normal Stages

 * West Albuquerque, USA — Terry: The fight takes place on a transcontinental railroad, with the wagon of a train passing next to Mount Rushmore. The carriage of the train features several barrels, and numerous mountains and lakes can be seen in the background. This stage also can be available in The King of Fighters XIV, as a DLC stage under the name "Transcontinental Railroad".
 * Changes: In the first round, it is daytime; in the second round onwards, it is nighttime. In Fatal Fury Special, the first round takes place at sunset, and the second round takes place during the day.


 * Venice, Italy — Andy: The fight takes place on a ship passing through the waters of the Italian city. The background features numerous old buildings, the Rialto Bridge, the Tower of Pisa and the Colosseum. A rope, barrels and life buoys can be seen in the ship.
 * Changes: In the first round, it is daytime; in the second round onwards, it is nighttime. In Fatal Fury Special, the second round takes place at sunset.


 * Chiang Mai, Thailand — Joe: A forest next to the Ping River. The Wak Chet Yot temple can be seen in the background.
 * Changes: The weather is cloudy in the first round; the second round and all subsequent rounds take place during sunset. In Fatal Fury Special, the third round takes place during the nighttime.


 * Aokigahara - Sea of Trees, Japan — Mai: The fight takes place on a raft passing through next to the famous forest, Aokigahara. The background features waterfalls, statues, and numerous shrines. The raft features flags adorned with Japanese characters.
 * Changes: In the first round, it is daytime; in the second round onwards, it is nighttime. In Fatal Fury Special, the second round takes place at sunset.


 * Seoul, South Korea — Kim: The fight takes place in front of the Namdaemun Gate. The ancient building is surrounded by trees and more modern buildings, with a fountain off to the side.
 * Changes: In the first round, it is daytime; in the second round onwards, it is nighttime. In Fatal Fury Special, the second round takes place at sunset..


 * Alice Springs, Australia — Big Bear: The fight takes place in the national park of Uluru-Kata Tjuta. The background features a large truck with Big Bear's name, SNK, and the word FIGHTING written on the side.
 * Changes: In the first round, it is daytime; in the second round onwards, it is sunset. In Fatal Fury Special, the second round takes place at nighttime.


 * Aberdeen, Hong Kong — Cheng: The fight takes place at night, on a pier next to the restaurant Jumbo Kingdom, in the Aberdeen Harbor. A dragon statue and Chinese decorations feature in the background.
 * Changes: In the first round, the sky is orange; in the second round onwards, it much darker.


 * Kumamoto, Japan — Jubei: The fight takes place in the Kumamoto Castle. The background features boards adorned with Japanese art, with a forest visible behind them.
 * Changes: In the first round, the sky is blue; in the second round, the trees lose their leaves and the sky is gray. In Fatal Fury Special, the forest turns white in the third round


 * London, England — Billy: The fight takes place inside of the Big Ben clock tower, where the clock's numerous gears are visible. The Tower Bridge can be seen in the background.
 * Changes: In the first round, it is foggy out; in the second round onwards, the night sky is clear and a waning moon can be seen. Note: in Fatal Fury Special, in the 2nd round, it's sunset in the stage and be can spotted a chain.


 * New York, USA — Axel: The fight takes place in a boxing ring in New York City. Numerous vehicles accompanied by neon-lit signs featuring pictures of Axel can be can be seen in the background, along with the city skyline.
 * Changes: The first round takes place at sunset; from the second round onwards, it is nighttime. In Fatal Fury Special, the stage simply takes place at night, and the color of the buildings changes from green to blue in the second round.

Boss Stages

 * Pamplona, Spain — Laurence: The fight takes place in the Plaza de Toros during the running of the bulls. A crowd is visible in the coliseum and numerous bulls run by in the background. The Pamplona Cathedral is visible on the horizon.
 * Changes: in the first round, it is daytime; from the second round onwards, it is nighttime.  In Fatal Fury Special, the weather is cloudy in the second round.


 * Mittelgebilde, Germany — Krauser: The fight place in Stroheim Castle. The background features several dragon and skull statues and a symphonic orchestra.

Commercial Performance
In Japan, Game Machine listed Fatal Fury 2 on their 1 February 1993 issue as being the most-successful table arcade unit of the month. It went on to be Japan's second highest-grossing arcade game of 1993, just below Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting. In North America, RePlay reported Fatal Fury 2 to be the fourth most-popular arcade game in February 1993, and Play Meter listed Fatal Fury 2 as the thirteenth most-popular arcade game in March 1993.

The Super Famicom (Super NES) version topped the Japanese Famitsu sales chart in December 1993.

Contemporary Reviews
Fatal Fury 2 was generally very well-received by Western game critics upon its release. GamePro review of the Neo Geo version praised the "action-packed" gameplay, "Street Fighter-tough" challenge, "great" character graphics and animation, "slick scrolling" backgrounds, and "fantastic" sound, concluding it to be an "awesome sequel" that "ranks up there with the Numero Uno fighting game".

GamePro also praised the Genesis version for its six-button controller support and character graphics. They regarded the music as dull but assessed that the game "faithfully mimics the Neo Geo version and knocks Fatal Fury Genesis out of the ring". Reviewing the Genesis version, Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) criticized the sound effects but gave the overall assessment that "all the fighters, all the stages, and extra options not in the arcade (like a speed setting) make this another fine conversion of a Neo Geo title".

Reviewing the SNES version of the game, EGM called it "one of the better fighting games ported to the SNES" and awarded it Game of the Month. GamePro gave the SNES version a more mixed review, comparing it favorably with its predecessor, but stating that the graphics are inferior to the Neo Geo version, the audio is terrible, the controls are unreliable, and the gameplay is unbalanced. The magazine recommended that Fatal Fury fans instead hold out for the upcoming SNES port of Fatal Fury Special, which they felt to be far superior judging by the pre-release version they had seen

Retrospective Reviews
In a retrospective review, Maximum assessed that while still not as strong as Street Fighter II, Fatal Fury 2 was a dramatic improvement over the first game: "The number of characters selectable had been extended to eight, and all of them received a full complement of moves and fought with a much greater fluidity than in Fatal Fury". They also noted better background graphics and greater interaction with the scenery. In 2011, Complex ranked Fatal Fury 2 as the 35th best fighting game of all time, largely for introducing Mai Shiranui. Mega magazine ranked the game at #46 on their "Top 50 Mega Drive Games of All Time" in 1994.

Trivia

 * The Neo Geo commercials tell two mini story arcs, one centering on Terry and the other focusing on the girl in the commercials, Miki Hareyama. Terry's story was mostly involved in action scenes and him journeying. After she meets him and takes an interest in him, Miki follows Terry. When she hears that he would be leaving town, she hurries to see him a final time.


 * Krauser's theme music, "Dies Irae" is one of the earliest examples of a Neo-Geo game sampling an entire musical score digitally instead of sequencing it. It is also one of the few instances of liberal usage of classical music themes, that has continued throughout the lifespan of the Neo-Geo platform.
 * The original "Dies Irae" was attributed to Thomas of Celano, an Italian friar of the Franciscans.