Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves

I've been a fan of fighting games since I was a kid, but I don't have as much time to dedicate to them these days. Regardless, last year there was a big marketing push for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves - a new title in a classic fighting game franchise that hasn't seen an entry in over 25 years. The game features Cristiano Ronaldo as a playable character, and used him prominently in the promotional material. All of these factors culminated into my buying of the special edition copy on launch, only to discover that some online features would be coming later on, along with multiple DLC characters. That said, I still had a good time playing through the combo trials and other single-player modes. I've revisited the game here and there as new features launched, and the overall quality has been steadily improving. The characters are all very unique, and have a lot of depth that makes dedication feel rewarded. The single-player content includes an RPG-esque mode called "Episodes of South Town" where you take a character of your choosing from a lowly thug up to a lvl 99 boss of South Town. There is a lot to enjoy alone here, and I've been impressed with the presentation of it all. Although I was playing on a weak wifi connection (sorry), I dabbled in the online modes and ranked, but only enough to get slightly frustrated. The players online are extremely strong, and you get the idea that even the weaker players are fighting game veterans. I have been playing similar games since Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition released in over fifteen years ago, and I'm only able to win about a third of my matches at the initial rank. To compound on that, there is a ton of depth in terms of both offense and defense within Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. Not to say that this depth is bad - I feel as though it makes for a fantastic competitive fighter, and gives it longevity. The balance is adequate, although some characters certainly have more comprehensive options at their disposal. After experimenting with the launch characters, I landed on Vox Reaper - partially because of his look, but also because he seemed to have an aggressive gameplan. Each character plays quite different from one another, making for a lot of matchup specific knowledge. Like I said, I don't have a lot of time to dedicate to fighting games anymore, so I don't think I'll ever be able to experience the most that Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves has to offer, but that's okay. It's a rock solid competitive fighting game that I look forward to playing every so often when I get that itch. Give it a try if you like the genre - I like it more than Street Fighter 6!

Play it for the:

• Punchy visuals and soundtrack
• Iconic characters and presentation
• Steep learning curve

Reviewed on 2026-07-11

Vox Reaper is my guy, although I'm definitely a scrub