Fatal Fury for the SEGA Genesis is a pretty good port. I enjoyed it more than the SNES version in fact. Knowing that it is not as close to the Arcade port but a lot more playable is what matter to me when comparing the two versions before deciding on making a review about the game based on the SNK original. One of few games on which the Genesis surpasses its 16-bit competitor in my humble opinion.
Credit: Gaibrain/Takara/SEGAMax can now jump between panes as with any other character in this port. Not you though.
The story if you haven't heard from its original Neo Geo counterpart is set around three main characters, Terry and Andy Bogard who set out to take revenge against Geese Howard for the murder of their father while Joe Higashi, a Muai Thai fighter tags along. Whoever you choose as your fighter you go on fighting off CPU-controlled characters till you meet up with the big Geese himself for the final match. There are a couple notable differences between the playtrhough on this port however, two characters are cut off from the enemy roster, including Hwai Jai and Billy Kane. The former redrawn as a Myers sprite watching over in the background at Duck King's stage while the latter simply does not appear. This makes a huge contradiction story wise; being that Billy Kane is the champion you face before Geese drags you into his own battle. This can also be apparent when cutscenes are jumbled up by the time you defeat Raiden as the last character before facing the last fight of the game. Another feature cut from the original are the bonus stages (although I really didn't care much for them to begin with,) and in lieu of fighting all the matches the other two protagonists will intervene between fights to challenge you, something that I can view as a bit annoying to be honest. The game also forfeits any scoring points altogether, hence the why there are no bonus rounds to speak of.
Credit: Gaibrain/Takara/SEGATung Fu Rue can be highly tough on this port.
Besides the cuts done to this port, enemies have a few extra moves of their own. Duck King for instance, can now do a vertical rolling attack which can hit your character from *behind* even when you are blocking. Some of these extra moves make it quite a bit unfair when you play through, so you need to keep in mind on what any CPU controlled character can do. There's also the instance that some enemies can hit you *twice* when performing jump kicks, adding to the unfairness bit a few more points to it.
Credit: Gaibrain/Takara/SEGATerry: Aw man, I knew we shouldn't had brought this guy along.
On the upside, the dual plane stages are now a thing in every fight and every enemy character can jump from and out of said planes. Your character isn't allowed to do so much as they are prohibited to do in the Neo Geo version, being only to do so whenever an enemy character is on the other side. More often than not you will be knocked away if you try to attack opponents instead of just moving over. The game is also fluid in performing special attacks, which is a much needed fix when you try to do so on its original version. The music while toned down from its source is still pretty good and pleasant to listen to, as well as the fighting effects and sounds. The game features a vs. mode, where you can fight against another player, a CPU controlled character, or let both CPU controlled characters go at it. In here you can perform all of their moves along with the added ones for this port. That is a neat feature; I always wanted to play as Raiden in the first game one way or another.
Credit: Gaibrain/Takara/SEGARaiden giving thumbs up to the vs. mode.
Unfortunately that is all the additions this port has. While it is a fun title to brawl with, you don't have much to do with it afterwards nor does it feature much to have a high level of replayability. I will state however it does play a lot better than the SNES port and it is twice the fun than in that port. If you however have already tried or owned Fatal Fury 2, then there's not much to do about this title. A fighting game to pass a few minutes with and little else.
