Real Bout Fatal Fury Special

''A year has passed since the fearsome blowout of REAL BOUT. And the remaining warriors are hungry for battle! Nineteen of Fatal Fury's hottest heroes collide...''

-Intro

The Supreme Trial of Strength awaits!

-Tagline

Real Bout Fatal Fury Special, released in Japan as Real Bout Garou Densetsu Special (, lit. "Real Bout Legend of the Hungry Wolf Special"), is a 1997 fighting game released by SNK for the Neo-Geo platform.

It is the sixth installment in the Fatal Fury series and the second game in the Real Bout sub-series, following the original Real Bout Fatal Fury. This game features all new graphics and returns to an enhanced two-level plane system similar to Fatal Fury 2. A port for the PlayStation was made and re-titled Real Bout Garou Densetsu Special Dominated Mind.

Story
A translation of the official story is as follows:

The tales of the legendary battle has been unfurled. Eyes met on both sides and fists clashed. Fate ironically took hold of the chaos and started another sublime development.

Even if there seems to be no requests for it...

Now, the experienced fighters can reflect on their fights and wounds. What recognition were they looking for with their strength?

Each of them are legends in their own right. No one wants to assume that this fight can change this fact. However, no fight is ever perfect. These fights alone could not satisfy them...

Wings spread to the sky... United to decide who is the superior, the martial artists gather to refine themselves in battle.

On the stage known as the Real Bout Fatal Fury Special.

PLANE SHIFTING AND WALL BREAKING
Each the fighting arenas consist of 2 planes: front and the back. The fighters always start on the front plane and throughout the battle, the fighters can change between the foreground and background planes for strategic fighting and avoiding attacks. Each fighter can even execute lunging attacks toward an opponent on the opposite plane or force attack him towards the same plane. Remember that changing planes can be used to your advantage!

Replacing the out-of-bounds rule from the original Real Bout are corner objects or walls that appear on both corners of the fighting field. As fighters are being knocked towards these corners, these walls slowly wear and tear. Missed attacks that strike the wall also damage them faster. Once the walls have taken enough damage, it will flash and show signs of disrepair (i.e., cracks), indicating that any strike against the wall destroys it. Any character who gets driven against a weakend object smashes it, rendering him stunned for a period of time. Destroyed walls and corner objects are restored between rounds. Take the chance to finish off a helpless opponent with your hidden moves! Also, Geese Tower is the only stage without corner objects.

GameBoy Exclusive Character

 * Iori Yagami

Stages

 * Note: When the fight overcomes the borders of the stages, the fighter breaks some elements of the stages. This occurs when one of the fighters gets stunned.


 * Warning: The sight of some stages can cause epilepsy.

Normal Stages

 * USA Beach — Terry, Mary & Duck: The desert Malibu Beach, in the American state of California. The fight takes next to a beach house. Can be seen surf boards, piers, a yatch, palm trees, sailboards and, in some rounds, a fat man sleeping in other yatch.
 * Changes: In the 1st round, day; in the 2nd round, sunset, from the 3rd round, night.
 * Intro: the shinning sun descending until the point of the fight.
 * Note: When the fight overcomes the left borders of this stage, the yatch brokes and the man falls.


 * Japan — Andy, Mai & Sokaku: The Matsumoto Castle. The fight takes next to the bridge of the castle. Features a piece of dry land under the bridge, in a night of full moon, stone stairs and sakura trees.
 * Changes: in the two first rounds, night; from the 3rd round, day.
 * Intro: sakura petals falling.


 * Brazil — Joe, Franco & Bob: The Amazon Forest. The fight takes next to the Amazon River, which can be seen a boat, a waterfall, trees, vegetation, a shack, a hammock and a jaguar.
 * Changes: in the 1st round, day and a rainbow; in the 2nd round, sunset; from the 3rd round, night.


 * China — Tung & Chonrei: The Chinese province of Hubei. The fight takes in the Xiling Gorge and next to the Yangtze River. Can be seen bamboos, mountains, a panda, wooden beams, lumberjack items and a furnace.
 * Changes: in the 1st round, day; in the 2nd round, sunset; from the 3rd round, night.


 * Hong Kong — Cheng, Hon & Yamazaki: The Central District. The fight takes next to the train tracks. Can be seen outdoors, a wooden structure a barber shop and egg, pork and chicken meat shops, besides people cheering. Similiar to Pai Long's stage in AOF 2, and a similiar version can be seen in KOF '98 UM.
 * Changes: in the 1st round, day; in the 2nd round, sunset; from the 3rd round, night.
 * Note: During the rounds, the bus change of color.


 * South Korea — Kim & Chonshu: The Changdeokgung Palace, in Seoul. This place is used by Kim and his students for training. Can be seen them training or watching the fight. Also can be seen the flag of South Korea.
 * Changes: in the 1st round, day; in the 2nd round, sunset; from the 3rd round; winter.


 * USA Studio — Billy: A music studio. Can be seen musical instruments (including a drum with Billy's name), the flag of England, clothes drying on improvised clotheslines (reference to his habit of liking clean clothes), lights, soundboxes, posters with the expression NO SMOKING and giant screens showing the host fighter and the word FIRE (one of his skills with the staff), besides a hawk in the floor.
 * Note: the only change in this stage is the color of the floor.

Mid-Boss & Boss Stages

 * Germany — Laurence & Krauser: A new version of the Stroheim Castle. The fight takes in an open air balcony. Can be seen the castle, shrubs, stairs and a symbol on the floor, besides an other castle in the background. Laurence fights in the day version of the stage, and Krauser fights in the night version.
 * Changes: in the day version, iin the 1st round, day; in the 2nd round, sunset; from the 3rd round; the other castle disappears; in the night version, the forest turns more darker each round.
 * Note: In the day version, in the left, can be seen a mural with a stuffed bull's head; in the night version, a pyrelit.
 * Geese Tower: In this version of the famous stage, can be seen candles, statues of Asian and American cultures, pillars and Chinese lanterns. Associated with Nightmare Geese.

Reception
In Japan, Game Machine listed Real Bout Fatal Fury Special on their March 1, 1997 issue as being the most-successful arcade game of the month. The game was a success in the arcades. According to Famitsu, both the AES and Neo Geo CD versions sold over 9,169 and 20,246 copies in their first week on the market, respectively.