Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory

''Dark destiny once again... Oustretches its icy grip... The lone wolves are back!''

-Intro

This is the battle of destiny.

-Tagline

Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory (, lit. "Legend of the Hungry Wolf 3: The Distant Battle") was released by SNK in 1995, and arrived on the Neo Geo Systems (MVS, AES and CD), Sega Saturn and PC (Windows).

Instead of the traditional 2 lane system seen in all of the Fatal Fury games until then, Fatal Fury 3 brings a 3 lane system, allowing the players to take different strategies during the fight, but in this new system, the characters are not allowed to jump, or to launch special attacks while in the 2 non-center lanes, also, in this game, when a character loses a fight by being hit by an attack that would knock it to another lane, the character could even be launched to the background (if hit by an attack that knocks to the upper lane), or on the screen (if hit by an attack that knocks to the bottom lane). Desperation moves in this game can also have alternate powered up versions that can be performed in certain ways depending on the character (e.g. Terry, Andy and Geese from a two-input chain, Mai during her taunt, Bob Wilson during a dash, etc.).

Fatal Fury 3 was the first graphic "evolution" in the series, with all new sprites, stages and artworks (some of the sprites were used in Real Bout Fatal Fury). The soundtrack also was improved, with CD-quality tracks in the Neo Geo CD, Sega Saturn and PC Windows versions. The Sega Saturn version was only released in Japan, and despite the other SNK games on the system, it doesn't require a 1MB RAM cart.

Story
"The Jin Scrolls": artifacts that are said to only be obtained by the strongest fighter. During the B.C. era, these three scrolls were recorded during Qin Shi Huang's reign. Their secrets remain unknown by the common eye. It's been said that these scrolls can only be collected during a time when martial artists repeat the art of combat from times of old. The scrolls are scattered and await for the mightiest warrior to collect them.

Hong Kong. A country where evil thrives and money can change anything. There lies a man in the shadows of his fort.

"South Town?"

"Yes. Our intelligence reported a sighting of one of the scrolls there."

"Indeed, South Town is it? The same town where Geese was in charge. Interesting..."

The man slowly rose to his feet.

"The stage to collect the scrolls is complete. South Town... the tournament that gathers martial artists, The King of Fighters... Now it's just a matter of collecting all three scrolls at once."

On that night, the man left Hong Kong and heads toward South Town. The excitement of battle and the thought of gathering the scrolls made his lips crack a wry smile.

Overview
The new characters added to the roster are:
 * Blue Mary, a freelance secret agent, who lost his boyfriend in a mission. She meets Terry and the two become good friends and developed a strong bond;
 * Bob Wilson, a young Brazilian Capoeira fighter and a very cheerful guy, he is student of Richard Meyer and manager of the two Pao Pao Cafe nightclubs;
 * Franco Bash, a former super heavy kickboxing champion who was undefeated during his fighting career. He retired and now is airplane mechanic;
 * Hon-Fu, a detective who is on a case concerning the mass illegal drug trade in Asia; he is always chasing criminals and shares his strong sense of justice with Kim Kaphwan;
 * Sokaku Mochizuki, a head of temple and heir of a clan of Buddhist monks whom are an ancient rivalry with the Shiranui clan;
 * Ryuji Yamazaki, a gangster ​​​affiliated with the Yakuza and the Chinese mafia and an influential broker, a weapons dealer and a drug trader with Kowloon Walled City as his base of operations;
 * Jin Chonshu & Jin Chonrei, bosses of the game, are the twin brothers guardians of the three Sacred Scrolls, written during the Qing Dynasty, who are lost in South Town.

Stages
Note 1: In the Story Mode, the player faces Yamazaki twice, one in his own stage and another in Mai's stage, in a dark version.

Note 2: In some defeats, the defeated character is thrown off the screen.

Normal Stages

 * Sound Beach — Terry: A pier next to the ocean. Can be seen yatchs, seagulls, other pier, vegetation and summer houses, besides Ukee, Terry's monkey and a portable radio. From the 2nd round, a sunset and a night of full moon appears. Defeating a character here will cause him/her to be thrown into the waters in the background.
 * Howard Arena — Andy: A balcony near to a river. Can be seen typical Asian buildings and vegetation. With the passing of the rounds, the weather begins to close, until raindrops fall in the last round. In addition, the light from the buildings in the background lights up, indicating a rainy night. Defeating a character here will cause him/her to be thrown into the waters in the background, just like in Sound Beach.
 * National Park — Joe: A forest next to a river. Can be seen a dense vegetation, with trees and shrubs. A crocodile, a land turtle, a suit similar with Geese Howard's clothes stlits and stone faces complete the stage. From the 2nd round, the stage shows a sunset. Defeating a character here will cause him/her to be thrown into the waters in the background, like in Sound Beach and Howard Arena.
 * East Side Park — Mai: An aquarium. Can be seen marine life, such as fish, algae, penguins and whales, besides pillars over the stage. From the 2nd round, the water the changes from blue to green-pool. For some moments, the aquarium water begins to bubble. Defeating a character here will cause him/her to be thrown into the glass screen, causing a visible fracture in the background, or slam into one of the support pillars of the aquarium
 * Pioneer Plaza — Mary: The main lounge of a palace. Can be seen statues, chandeliers, flower arrangements, pillars, stained glass and flower designs. In the background there is a crack of sunlight. Others appear from the 2nd round. Defeating a character here using an attack that launches the enemy in the air will cause a chandelier to fall.
 * Port Town — Hon-Fu: A complex of factories. The fight takes place on a suspended platform, which rises in the air. Factories, an amusement park, mountains, buildings, especially the Neo Geo Land and Mai's stage, and a large river can be seen. From the 2nd round, it's sunset and a helicopter hangs over the fighters. This stage also is mentioned in KOF XV, in a plaque on the Beach Resort Stage (A..K.A. Southtown Sound Beach [Fatal Fury Team Stage]). Defeating a character here will cause him/her to be thrown into the edge with only their hands holding on to the stage from falling. If they hit the guy wires, they will not fall from the sage.
 * Dream Amusement Park — Sokaku: An abandoned city with an old west climate. Typical houses, a cart and a giant stone can be seen. Some houses have JOY DIVISION and ONE HUNDRED FOOLS signs. From the 2nd round, a sunset appears. No special characteristics occur here when defeating an enemy by an attack that drives them to the background.
 * Pao Pao Cafe 2 — Bob: The main floor of Richard Meyer's bar, showing berimbau players next to a stone face, plants, the neon sign logo of the bar and people cheering. From the 2nd round, the "mouth" of the face lights up. The stage appears in The King of Fighters XIII, in a new version. No special characteristics occur here when defeating an enemy by an attack that drives them to the background.
 * South Town Airport — Franco: A plataform near the airplanes. Can be seen a truck, boxes and metal structures. From the 2nd round, the stage shows a sunset, through the door in the background. No special characteristics occur here when defeating an enemy by an attack that drives them to the background.

Mid-Boss & Boss Stages

 * South Station — Yamazaki: The fight takes next to the train lines. Can be seen a train passing, wagons, metal structures and factories. From the 2nd round, the stage shows a sunset and a night. In the 3rd round, the train passes with more force and near the fighters. Contrary to the behavior of the stage with the trains roaring at the background, no special characteristics occur here when defeating an enemy by an attack that drives them to the background.
 * Geese Tower — Geese: A new version of the famous stage, showing elements of the Asian and American cultures, such as bonsai and small lakes. From the 2nd round, the stage catches fire, until the flames burn it practically whole. No special characteristics occur here when defeating an enemy by an attack that drives them to the background.
 * Delta Park — Jin Brothers: Has two versions. In the first, a park with elements of Chinese culture. Can be seen dragon statues, vegetation and stones. A beam of light coming from the sky also can be spotted. Chonrei will not be fought if this is the stage. In the second, the stage is a foreshadowing that Chonrei can be fought after defeating Chonshu. The stage is on fire and there can be seen skulls and skeletons, besides a downed Chonshu. From the 2nd round, the fire is blue. No special characteristics occur here when defeating an enemy by an attack that drives them to the background.

Reception
In Japan, Game Machine listed Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory on their May 1, 1995 issue as being the second most-popular arcade game at the time. According to Famitsu, the AES version sold over 34,810 copies in its first week on the market.

On release, Famicom Tsūshin scored the Neo Geo version of the game a 32 out of 40. The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly scored it a 7.675 out of 10. They had widely varied reactions to the game, and two of them remarked that it lacked the "feel" of a Fatal Fury game, but all four rated it as a very playable fighting game which is worth at least trying in the arcade. While acknowledging that Fatal Fury fans might be disappointed by the reduced roster of fighters, GamePro praised the new third fighting plane and ranking system, and concluded that "instead of simply adding more fighters, FF3 does more with fewer fighters (hidden moves and so on) and a unique method of gameplay". They gave the Neo Geo CD a generally positive review as well, remarking that Bob and Franco are "uninteresting" new characters but praising the detailed stages, the controls, and the modifications to Mai's Swan Dive attack.

In a retrospective review, Maximum highly praised the game's adaptation of combos and special moves, and argued that if it were not for the difficulty in executing super power moves, Fatal Fury 3 would have become the leading action game in the arcades. They gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

Next Generation reviewed the Neo-Geo version of the game, rating it two stars out of five, and stated that "the players are all able, even if just for a few seconds, to slip out of the line of fire either to avoid enemy attack or to set up for an offensive move. Beyond this feature the game is standard fare"