Video Game Collecting

Fatal Fury for SEGA Genesis. I love Fatal Fury for a variety of reasons.  Let’s discuss the NEO GEO version first.  The Neo Geo version in my opinion is a ‘perfect game’. By this I mean the programmers got everything right. Some would argue this point, but consider the following: dynamic environments… the backgrounds change their lighting with every round providing the illusion of time passing.  In some cases the weather changes. For example, Tung Fu Rue’s stage has lightning and thunder during Round 1, then it pours rain during Round 2.  The carnival on Raiden’s stage lights up as evening comes.

Next is audience participation. The crowd on the stages cheer and whistle. It sounds authentic- unlike the silent background characters of Street Fighter 2.  The monks clapped in Mortal Kombat, but the whistles and cheers sound like the real deal, as if it was sampled from a real street fight.  Some scenarios will knock you into the crowd which the audience will go crazy and push you back into the street.  I can’t recall any other fighting game that does this.

Let’s move on to the voice overs of the soundtrack.  On Hwa Jai’s and Richard Meyer’s stage the background music has singing, in fact the Richard Meyer’s stage has singing and instruments.  The level (shown below in the SEGA Genesis version) shows the band which of course is present in the Neo Geo version, I swear the music is in perfect timing to the musicians… it might just be a coincidence, but even if its not, its pretty cool.

The backgrounds of Fatal Fury were also cutting edge and very detailed and 19 years later I still notice new things in them. Raiden’s stage in particular has so many little things in it including the Merry-Go-Round, Pirate Ship, Carl’s Jr. Star, Evil Tree, Roller Coaster, and a Ferris Wheel.

Duck King’s stage featured subway cars going by in the distance and a hotdog stand that featured walking hotdogs that remind me of Burger Time.  And this is why Fatal Fury became significant to me… I remember playing Fatal Fury for the first time on a Neo Geo 4 slot MVS at a greasy dive called ‘Circus Burger’ in downtown Las Vegas.  This place was filthy, and attracted plenty of riff-raff.  There were no tables, no chairs, just a four seat bar to order your burger, and the Neo Geo machine.  The machine was loud and experiencing the game with the smell of the dumpy burger joint on Duck King’s stage just seem to fit perfectly with the level design.  To this day when I drive down that particular part of Fremont street, I can’t help think of Fatal Fury.

Anyways, I could go on and on about Fatal Fury, but let’s look at the SEGA Genesis version…

 I bought it complete from the Classic Gaming Expo 2010 in Las Vegas this past weekend and I knew what I was getting into.  I had rented the game many, many, years ago, and I knew it wasn’t an exact port.  But despite that I wanted it still.  There are a handful of differences in this version (to the good) that I could almost say it’s an enhanced version.

Being a port, there were some obvious graphical changes, but some improvements as well.  For example, the women on Richard Meyer’s stage were redrawn and look more proportional compared to the Neo Geo counterpart.  Additional details were included like Billy Kane in the background which is absent from the original version (picture #3).  One of the graphic cuts was the chandalier that Richard Meyers used to hang from and twirl his legs.

At random points in the game you’ll start a fight and suddenly the other selectable players will ‘join in’ and challenge you.  This was absent from the original game, but this actually makes it more fun as you have two additional fights to win in order to complete the game.

The computer AI is more difficult in the SEGA Genesis version.  It almost seems that the programmer has the computer just doing random moves.  The hit detection is slightly different from the Neo Geo version and it requires you to be much closer to the enemy to make contact. 

The bonus stage with the arm wrestler is gone and is replaced with punching tires on Michael Max’s Beach.

The voice of the announcer is different, and no longer will it say “Roooooooooooooooooound ONE!”  Instead all it says is “Fight”.

All in all this is a pretty excellent port.  Its by far not perfect but retains the spirit of Fatal Fury, which compared to other arcade ports (Neo Geo in particular) that goes a long way.