The success of a fighting game lies not just in its sales figures, but in its continued support.Fatal Fury: City of the Wolveshad an ace in the hole with its guest characters on launch, with the inclusion ofCristiano Ronaldogenerating much word-of-mouth. But if the game is to truly earn its place in the esports sphere, it has to keep the hits coming.
One good thing about guest characters like Ronaldo and real-life DJ Salvator Ganacci is that it affirms that no guest characters are off the table. So if you’re looking for fan favourites or crossover cameos, now’s the time to start petitioning SNK about it. Here are ten characters we want to see as DLC in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves.
10Blue Mary
Debut: Fatal Fury 3
A longtime fan favourite, Blue Mary is a private detective and practitioner of combat sambo. She’s a well-balanced character who can paw at opponents until they drop their guard, at which point her throws and mixups can be deadly.
Given her inclusion inThe King of Fighters 15, which also runs on Unreal Engine 4, Blue Mary should be easy enough to implement in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. Her fan-favourite status makes the inclusion all the more intuitive.
Blue Mary does appear in Kevin’s ending in City of the Wolves as a non-playable character.
9Axel Stone
Debut: Streets Of Rage
Fatal Fury may have gotten its start in the arcades, but it also owes something to the Sega Genesis as the system that most definitively brought the series to home consoles inthe early ’90s. Thus, a Streets of Rage guest character is long overdue.
What makes Axel Stone the ideal candidate is his parallels to Cody from Final Fight, who did indeed go on to feature in Street Fighter games. There’s also the fact that, thanks to his inclusion in the community-based Mugen, fans have already made up their minds that Axel belongs in 2D fighters, and see City of the Wolves as their best shot to have that wish fulfilled.
8Ryo Sakazaki
Debut: Art Of Fighting
Ryo Sakazaki was created for Art of Fighting, but he was built up as a strong character in Fatal Fury Special, and his appearance as asecret bosswas the impetus for the creation of The King of Fighters. Though Art of Fighting was a short-lived fighting game series, its influence is undeniable.
Given that many veteran SNK fans still hold this character in high esteem, Ryo Sakazaki’s inclusion in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is a no-brainer. He’s proved himself before, and he deserves the chance to do it in the modern era.
7Ryuji Yamazaki
Ryuji Yamazaki comes from the days when fighting games were still balancing their competitive capabilities with the need for standalone arcade experiences. He was a sub-boss, gaining infamy as a character that was difficult to beat and incredibly fun to play.
Garou: Mark of the Wolves set Yamazaki up as an antagonist once again, but given that the Fatal Fury series went radio silent for 25 years after that, we didn’t get the payoff. Now’s the time, bring the boy back home, SNK.
6Li Xiangfei
Debut: Real Bout Fatal Fury 2
Li Xiangfei’s debut in Real Bout Fatal Fury 2 set her up as a longtime contender, but her fighting game career was surprisingly short-lived. Her last major appearance was in The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match. For the most part, she’s eked out an existence in non-playable cameos.
Yet Xiangfei has never been far from the minds of dedicated Fatal Fury fans. City of the Wolves is SNK’s opportunity to bring all the cameos and features to fruition, and put Xiangfei back on the roster where she belongs.
5Tung Fu Rue
Debut: Fatal Fury
If Tung were to feature in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, he would be canonically 84 years old. Yet if age can’t stopHeihachi from Tekkenor Gen Fu from Dead or Alive, it shouldn’t keep Tung down either.
Tung taught Geese Howard, and he could teach City of the Wolves' whippersnappers a few lessons, too. We’ve seen him holding his own in The King of Fighters 14, so City of the Wolves shouldn’t be too far a reach.
4Franco Bash
As fighting games start to lay increasing emphasis on real-life martial arts, kickboxing feels like it’s being unceremoniously left out. Bruce Irvin hasn’t appeared in a Tekken game since Tekken Tag Tournament 2, and Sagat was last seen as a minor NPC in Street Fighter 6.
It’s time for Franco Bash to return! He hasn’t been seen in a playable capacity since the Real Bout Fatal Fury titles. This kickboxing champion deserves another shot.
3Marco Rossi
Debut: Metal Slug
Among all of SNK’s series that aren’t fighting games,Metal Slugis the most popular. Despite that, they’ve never seen an inclusion in SNK’s crossover series The King of Fighters, while the Ikari Warriors did.
With Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves now established as just as much of a crossover series as The King of Fighters, a Metal Slug character could really hype things up. And to that end, the goofy Metal Slug team leader Marco is the most intuitive choice.
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves already has a Marco, but it’s Marco Rodrigues from Garou.
2Paul Phoenix
Debut: Tekken
Tekken 7’s high-profileinclusion of Geese Howardled to more eyes on Fatal Fury than the series had seen in a long time. A Tekken cameo in Fatal Fury in return is a slam-dunk: it would tickle the fighting game community, bring Fatal Fury even more mainstream attention, and show the series is open to collaboration. A couple of Street Fighter characters are already confirmed as Fatal Fury DLC: Tekken needs a rep.
Among the entire Tekken roster, nobody embodies the fighting spirit quite like Paul. His combination of determination and goofiness makes him a good fit as a Fatal Fury guest character: he’s also getting on in years, so he’s the perfect match for the aged-up characters in City of the Wolves.
1Chang Koehan
Debut: The King Of Fighters ‘94
Chang Koehan was created for The King of Fighters, and remained a stalwart member of the series roster through the decades. Yet apart from some minuscule cameos, he has never featured in a Fatal Fury title proper.
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves doesn’t have a lot of size variation in its characters. While the game is balanced, it has yet to challenge itself to maintain that balance. The best way to do so: drop Chang’s massive frame, complete with ball and chain, on the engine and see how the developers can make it fun.
