After laying dormant for over two decades, SNK’s beloved Fatal Fury fighting game series is finally making its grand return with the newly announced Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. Slated to launch in early 2025, the latest entry provides the first new Fatal Fury experience for fans since 1999’s Garou: Mark of the Wolves on the Dreamcast.
SNK pulled back the curtains on City of the Wolves over the weekend during the SNK World Championship event. A pair of new trailers not only revealed a 2025 release window but also showed off the first five playable characters set to grace the hotly anticipated fighter’s roster.
As expected, Fatal Fury mainstays Terry Bogard and Rock Howard will lead the line-up, reprising their roles as the series’ central hero and anti-hero respectively. They’ll be joined by two other returning combatants from Mark of the Wolves – the ninja Hotaru Futaba and Tizoc, The Grappler of Naughtiness.
Rounding out the initial character reveals is Preecha, an all-new fighter making her debut in City of the Wolves. The trailers provided a tantalizing glimpse at her skillset, showcasing dazzling moves and combos backed by the option for English or Japanese voiceovers.
While light on story details, SNK confirmed City of the Wolves will directly follow the narrative threads from Mark of the Wolves, which acted as a canonical finale for the beloved 2D fighting game series until this revival over 20 years later.
Hardcore Fatal Fury fans haven’t had a new exclusive installment to sink their teeth into since the 32-bit era, but the franchise’s iconic fighters have lived on through guest appearances in SNK’s crossover series like The King of Fighters and the occasional cameo like Geese Howard’s Tekken 7 DLC inclusion.
However, City of the Wolves looks to re-establish Fatal Fury as a powerhouse fighting game property in its own right on modern gaming hardware. Its early 2025 launch looms ever closer, with SNK promising hands-on demos for attendees at EVO Japan 2024 in April.
Having laid dormant since the ’90s, the return of Fatal Fury sparks a new era for the legendary SNK franchise. As more characters and details emerge in the year ahead, fighting game fans have plenty of reason to wrestle with anticipation for City of the Wolves.
