Garou: Mark of the Wolves

Garou: Mark of the Wolves (餓狼 MARK OF THE WOLVES, Garō Māku obu za Uruvusu), or either Garou or MOW for short, is the ninth and currently final game in the Fatal Fury series. It is also the first canonical storyline since Real Bout Fatal Fury, set ten years after the death of Geese Howard in that game. It is known for pushing the graphical capabilities of the Neo Geo, utilizing 3D graphics and semi-transparency, as well as its (almost) well-balanced roster of characters and highly technical gameplay.

Garou is unusual in that US and European releases leave the original title intact. However, the Dreamcast port was renamed to Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves for its US release.

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

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.

Plot
Ten years after crime lord Geese Howard's death, the city of Southtown has become more peaceful. Now, the stage is the neighbour city known as 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.

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 the character's life meter reaches to the T.O.P. gauge, characters will flash and enter a special state which will grant them the following advantages: Once player's character life meter falls out T.O.P. range, their character will return to normal.
 * increased damage output
 * slow health regeneration
 * ability to perform T.O.P. attacks.

Just Defense System
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:
 * small health recovery for each successful Just Defense activation
 * ability to Guard Cancel.

Characters

 * Rock Howard
 * Terry Bogard
 * Kim Jae Hoon
 * Kim Dong Hwan
 * Tizoc
 * Marco Rodriguez
 * Gato
 * Hotaru Futaba
 * Freeman
 * Kevin Rian
 * Bonne Jenet
 * Hokutomaru

Boss characters

 * Grant
 * Kain R. Heinlein