Real Bout Fatal Fury

''The big name in fighting games reaches its 5th chapter. And this time, Geese Howard is back in the boss seat! The last battle between Geese and the brothers Bogard is about to begin.''

-Intro

''In this final battle... Geese Howard must go!''

-Tagline

Real Bout Fatal Fury, released in Japan as Real Bout Garou Densetsu ( lit. "Real Bout Legend of the Hungry Wolf") is a 1995 fighting game released by SNK for the Neo-Geo arcade and home platforms.

It is the fifth installment in the Fatal Fury series, following Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory. Garou Densetsu The Legend of Wild Wolf borrows story elements from this game and Wild Ambition.

Story
A translation of the story officially given by SNK is as follows:

With the fight for them over, the ruler Geese Howard has the Jin scrolls in his hands.

"Hehehe...this means that I have all three scrolls in my possession..." He promptly turns to the man with a bandana.

"Billy, dispose of them."

"Wha? For what reason, sir?"

"None of these scrolls will have any of the secrets I need. It's enough to be considered the strongest for obtaining these legendary scrolls. That's all. As long as I know that I am the first person to have collected these in its 2,000 years of history, I will never have a use for these."

"But still, even if you do not dispose them..."

"These scrolls have a different meaning with those Jin brothers. I don't want to understand what they're capable of in their hands."

"...Even the newly revived Geese has something that he fears then..."

"Do not misunderstand me. Even the Geese Howard resurrected from darkness doesn't want to repeat the same mistakes...Like with those foolish Bogards..."

Billy Kane was petrified and could not bring himself to speak against the flames of dark hatred that burned within Geese. Geese shuts his eyes deeply and moves to glance outside the window.

"Billy, how is the city's current reaction?"

"Sir, they are frightened by your apparent defeat," Billy managed to answer.

"Is King of Fighters' arrangements all in order?"

"Yes, sir. Kim Kapwhan, Duck King, and all of the other recipients seemed to have responded positively."

"Hehe...that last tournament didn't profit me at all. It's time to remind them that Geese Howard is this town's only ruler."

Its long silence broken, Geese Tower's lights kick alive. When the wolf's fangs thirst for blood, a shiver can be felt throughout the town.

After stealing the Jin Scrolls of Immortality, Geese Howard takes control of South Town once again. He hosts a new King of Fighters tournament and invites his arch-nemesis Terry Bogard, to settle their fight once and for all!

Stages

 * Note: When a fighter overcomes the borders of the stages, he is automatically defeated.

Normal Stages
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 * South Town Sound Beach: A wooden arena made in the ocean, next to some nightstores. Can be seen palm trees and people cheering, besides neon signs.
 * Changes: in the 1st fight, sunset; from the 2nd fight, night.
 * Ring Out Behavior: Wooden barriers stop the players from falling. If they are destroyed, special animations of them wading in water, or drowning in them, can be seen. For the right side, the victim can be tossed into the other side of the platform if tossed high enough. For the left side, if victimized by Yamazaki's Gulliotine, the victim can be slammed into the the barriers of the platform or even be electrocuted by the signage.


 * West Subway: A train station. An euphoric crowd watchs the fight. Can be seen an acess stair, the pillars, one with "THE KING OF FIGHTERS" name stamped, plaques with the name's stops, train tracks, a cat and lamps.
 * Changes: From the 3rd fight, the center of the stage changes of color; from the 5th fight, the stage is empty and dark.
 * Ring Out Behavior: For the first stage, both sides have crowds gathering. If sufficiently hit, the crowd will give way to the railtracks. First ring out will have the victim simply fall into the tracks. The second time, a train will be waiting for the unlucky victim to be ferried out to forfeiture of the match. In the third fight, no crowds will protect either sides, but trains will be waiting for the loser of the deciding match. Yamazaki's Gulliotine can cause the victim to be slammed to the ceiling beams or even be slammed onto the roof of the train.


 * East Side Park: A national park. The fight takes in a balcony. Can be seen a waterfall, an elevator, people cheering, ancient statues, vegetation and various plaques.
 * Changes: in the 1st fight, day; in the 2nd fight, sunset; from the 3rd fight, night.
 * Ring Out Behavior: The left side is protected by a rail ledge and signboard that can be destroyed, and will cause the victim to fall down. If caught by Yamazaki's Gulliotine, the victim will be entangled by the ceiling riggings before falling down. The right side is a glass barrier of the elevator. If broken, the victim will fall into the shaft. The elevator car will ascend and will have the victim reeling in pain, laughing in disbelief, or collapsing, in the case of Kim Kaphwan. (Or even jumping, in Blue Mary's case!)


 * South Town Bridge: A bridge near a seaport. Can be seen trucks, spotlights, crates, people cheering and buildings, in the background.
 * Changes: in the 1st fight, sunset; from the 3rd fight, night
 * Ring Out Behavior: The left side is a steel door walkway protected by wooden crates. Breaking the crates will cause the victim to teeter through the deck, with the heavy door closing, and the unfortunate victim slamming at the door. Subsequent rounds will turn the side into a water hazard similar to Sound Beach, after which the door will descend and reopen into a walkway, this time unprotected. On the right side, there is riggings that can be destroyed and turn into an electrical hazard. Any player touching the side will be electrocuted to their deaths. On the next round, it will turn into a fire hazard that will burn any player to their deaths, and will persist for the rest of the match.

Final Boss Stage

 * Geese Tower: In this version of the stage, can be spotted Asian mythological statues, USA's flags, pyres and a small stair.
 * Changes: in the 1st fight, night; from the 2nd fight, dawn.
 * Ring Out Behavior: The stage is continuous and ring outs are impossible to occur here.

Reception
In Japan, Game Machine listed Real Bout Fatal Fury on their February 1, 1996 issue as being the fourth most-popular arcade game at the time. According to Famitsu, both the AES and Neo Geo CD version sold over 22,750 and 63.091 copies in their first week on the market respectively.

Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the Neo Geo AES version their "Game of the Month" award. Their four reviewers applauded the pits, the overhauled personality of the characters, the high end graphics, and the humor. Andrew Baran described the game as "intense, both in speed and pyrotechnics". Major Mike of GamePro deemed it a major improvement over Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory, citing the greater effectiveness of the characters Bob and Mary, the more refined combo system, and the inclusion of moves which were taken out of the previous game. He criticized the reduction from four action buttons to three, the reuse of Geese Howard as the final boss, and the music ("ranges from banal rock to obnoxious drek"), but concluded that "with its emphasis on gameplay, this is one of the best Fatal Fury games ever".

A reviewer for Next Generation echoed this sentiment: "The characters from the Fatal Fury series are all here and their moves have all been balanced to make this one of the best Fatal Fury titles ever". He characterized the game as a refinement drawn from the countless hours SNK had spent making 2D fighting games. While they derided the game's lack of originality, particularly its similarity to the previous installment Fatal Fury 3, Maximum assessed it as "a well-rounded and entertaining fighting title". They particularly approved of the oversway system, the barriers preventing easy ring outs, the balanced difficulty of the one-player mode, and the two-player battles.

Trivia

 * The poster art and the Neo Geo cover for this game are recreated as the post-scene of Team South Town in The King of Fighters XV.