Garou: Mark of the Wolves

Garou: Mark of the Wolves (餓狼 MARK OF THE WOLVES, Garō Māku obu za Uruvusu) or Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves for the Dreamcast release; referred to as Garou or MOW for short, it is the eighth and currently final game in the Fatal Fury series. It is known for pushing the graphical capabilities of the Neo Geo, utilizing 3D graphics and semi-transparency, as well as its well-balanced roster of characters and highly technical gameplay.

As part of SNK's celebration of the series's 15 year anniversary, a retrospective movie was made to take place shortly after.

In December 2016, the game was released for three platforms: for PS4 and PS Vita, on day 3, and for Steam, on day 9. There was already another PC version, released by the Humble Bundle, in January of that year. In May 11, 2017, as part of ACA Neo Geo, the game is released for Nintendo Switch.

In January 22, 2020, Code Mystics updated the online mode of the game to utilize GGPO, also known as "rollback netcode," attested as one of the most reliable online play protocols in the industry. The same proccess occured with The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match and The Last Blade 2.

Plot
Set ten years after the death of the notorious crime lord Geese Howard, the city of Southtown has become more peaceful. Now, the stage is in the neighboring city of Second Southtown. A new fighting tournament called "King of Fighters: Maximum Mayhem" starts in the area, and several characters related with the fighters from the old era of King of Fighters tournaments participate within it.

Gameplay
Garou: Mark of the Wolves general gameplay mechanics and art style are changed to more closely resemble SNK's The King of Fighters series using a similar button layout (A for weak/light punch, B for weak/light kick, C for strong/heavy punch and D for strong/heavy kick). However, chaining normal attacks into each other tends to be strict on timing and involves heavy usage of the recurring feint mechanic (forward + A and C or down + A and C) in order to cancel them smoothly. Stage gimmicks and plane-changing, as seen in previous titles, were totally done away with.

T.O.P. System= The Tactical Offensive Position System or T.O.P., is a new system. Before each match begins, the player is given option to adjust the T.O.P. meter's influence onto three different places on their character's life meter (beginning, middle, end). When a character's life meter reaches the white T.O.P. section, the character will flash with their HP bar's T.O.P. section turning orange, and enter a special state which will grant them the following advantages:


 * Increased damage output
 * Slow health regeneration
 * Ability to perform T.O.P. attacks, which often deal heavy amount of reduction to the guard meter if blocked

Once the character's life meter falls out T.O.P. range, the character will lose these benefits.

Just Defense allows players to benefit from defending by activating it against incoming attacks at the last second. Players can perform Just Defense against any type of attack. Just Defense has following advantages:
 * -|Just Defense System=
 * Small health recovery for each successful Just Defense activation;
 * Ability to Guard Cancel.

It is comparable to the Street Fighter III series' Parrying, except the latter is more offense-oriented, grants an attack reset and gives no life regeneration. Additionally, a mechanic similar to Just Defense was introduced in Street Fighter Alpha 3 that instead reduces guard meter consumption, made visually prominent by a brief white flashing of the character if successfully done.

Characters
Garou: Mark of the Wolves is noticeable for adding an entirely new cast of characters, with only one returning character. The new characters added to the roster are: Official Roster=
 * Rock Howard, biological son of Geese Howard, has strong bonds with Terry Bogard, his adoptive father, and has had a grudge against Geese since the death of his mother;
 * B. Jenet, the leader of the Lillien Knights, a group of pirates. She entered to the Maximum Mayhem to rob him of anything valuable that Kain R. Heinlein might be keeping in his mansion;
 * Kim Dong Hwan, elder son of Kim Kaphwan, enters to the tournament to continue his father's legacy, although he doesn't take training too seriously;
 * Kim Jae Hoon, younger son of Kim Kaphwan, is very serious, diligent in his studies, and a charismatic man. He inherited from his father the strong sense of justice, and enters to the tournament to continue his legacy, like his elder brother;
 * Hotaru Futaba, a girl daughter of martial artists, enters to the Maximum Mayhem for search her brother, in companion of her pet marten Itokatsu;
 * Gato, a martial artist and criminal, who seeks revenge for the murder of his mother (killed by his father);
 * Tizoc, A.K.A. The Griffon, a famous pro wrestler, who has gained exceptional favoritism amongst all children audience;
 * Marco Rodriguez, A.K.A. Khushnood Butt, a Brazilian practitioner of the Kyokugenru Karate and disciple of Ryo Sakazaki, enters to the Maximum Mayhem to prove the might of his martial art;
 * Hokutomaru, a practitioner of the Shiranui-ryuu Ninjutsu and disciple of Andy Bogard, enters to the Maximum Mayhem at the request of his master;
 * Kevin Rian, a S.W.A.T. policeman, enters to the tournament to take revenge on the man who killed his partner, in the company of his son, Marky;
 * Freeman, a serial killer, who enters to the Maximum Mayhem to kill stronger opponents. One of his victims is Kevin Rian's police partner;
 * Grant, the sub-boss of the game, is an old friend of Kain and Marie Heinlein, Rock's mother. He protected the siblings from the dangers of the slums under his real name Abel Cameron. He also is Kain's bodyguard;
 * Kain R. Heinlein, the final boss of the game and host of the Maximum Mayhem tournament and Rock's uncle; decided to take Geese Howard's legacy and turns ruler of Second Southtown.

Returning Character

 * Terry Bogard

New Characters

 * Rock Howard (protagonist)
 * B. Jenet
 * Kim Dong Hwan
 * Kim Jae Hoon
 * Hotaru Futaba
 * Gato
 * Tizoc (The Griffon)
 * Marco Rodriguez (Khushnood Butt)
 * Hokutomaru
 * Kevin Rian
 * Freeman


 * -|Bosses=

Sub-Boss

 * Grant

Final Boss

 * Kain R. Heinlein

Stages
Note 1: The intros appears only in Story Mode. The Sub-Boss stage don't have an intro.

Note 2: Marky, the little boy who appears along with Kevin in Story Mode, isn't present in Versus and Practice Modes.

Warning: The sight of some stages can cause epilepsy.

Normal Stages=


 * Training Grounds (A.K.A The Dark Palace Basement): A basement. Can be seen a circle of pillars, fire pyres and astec stone faces and a skull in the center. Associated with Grant.


 * The Dark Palace: The main balcony of a palace. Can be seen pillars and a dome structure, a flag, bands, a chess floor, a ladder, hawk statues, a portrait of Marie Heinlein, Rock's mother, painted at the background of the building, lights, and in the sky, a full moon and shooting stars. Associated with Kain.
 * Intro: a small close of the sky, descending to the point of the stage.

Cancelled Sequel
The game's sequel, tentatively titled Garou: Mark of the Wolves 2, was reported to be in the works on the Neo Geo system several times by Korean news sources. Since 2002, the project has been put on hold and eventually cancelled. According to Falcoon at the 2005 KOF Party, the game's sequel was around 70% percent complete by the old SNK team. Ureshino reported that a new grappler character and Joe Higashi's apprentice were added to the roster.

Trivia

 * Just like Capcom's Vampire Savior this is the first time SNK used the series' Japanese title name for a global release. Later console releases would restore the correct localized title, as seen in the game's Dreamcast release.
 * The game's proper English title can be seen in the rom tilesets, but for some reason, there is no way to make the game display it. The Dreamcast release uses a modified logo, replacing Garou with Fatal Fury, while retaining the Garou kanji in the logo backdrop.