Garou: Mark of the Wolves (1999) watch online HD

Garou: Mark of the Wolves is the final (unless SNK is brought back from bankruptcy, keep those fingers crossed) installment in the legendary Fatal Fury series. From humble beginnings as a series of rather unoriginal, but fun fighters, Fatal Fury has reached its pinnacle in this game.

Ironically, Garou is quite dissimilar from its brethren in gameplay; the control style is "King of Fighters" 4-button instead of punch, kick, and fierce attacks. Also, the traditional 2-plane battlefield is gone, which I think is an improvement. New features, some of them original and some borrowed, also make appearances, like T.O.P. Mode (Reaching a certain point in your life bar powers your attacks up), Just Defended (split-second blocking gives a small health boost and allows air defense), and a ridiculously easy Desperation Move system.

SPOILER ALERT

Garou takes place ten years after the cataclysmic events of the 2000 King of Fighters tournament, in which Southtown is totally destroyed by NESTS Syndicate Agent Zero. "Second South" has risen from the ashes, and is now overflowing with life and energy; a wonderful city born out of the total corruption that marked its predecessor. Geese Howard, who died in '98, lives on through his son, the game's main character, Rock. Rock was taken in by Terry Bogard at the age of eight, and has grown into a stormy, anxious young man, a young man who understands the evil curse of his bloodline and seeks to reconcile it with the teachings of Terry.

When a mysterious man organizes the rebirth of the King of Fighters legacy, Rock and Terry are both inexorably driven to discover the identity of the host. With them comes a colorful cast of characters, including Hokutomaru, adolescent pupil of Andy Bogard, Khushnood Butt, (or Marco Rodriguez in the Japanese version) a practitioner of Kyokugenryu karate, Gato, an assassin trained in the Chinese arts of killing, and Kim Kaphwan's two sons, Jae Hoon and Dong Hwan.

All the game's other characters work well, with a couple of notable exceptions. The pro-wrestler, Tizoc, is bizarre, and the pirate girl Bonne Jenet is rather obvious pandering to the male audience (Even for a fighting game!)

The graphics in the game are truly beautiful, the best possible for the aging MVS board. Clothes blow, hair flows, and settings come to life in lush detail. Particularly impressive are the stages for Gato and Terry. Sound is very nice too, with solid thumps, shouts, and blasts. Music is generally excellent, especially in Rock's stage, which seems to feature the music of Robert Miles.

Those of you who can find an arcade with Garou, or have an opportunity to buy it for the Neo-Geo, should play it at all costs. I believe it's SNK's finest effort ever, rivalled only by King of Fighters 99 and 2000. It's an expensive game, unbelievably so on MVS, but it's pure fighting bliss. 10/10

This 8th, and final, entry in the Fatal Fury series might be the best one. I've been a fan since 1993 so the series has been my favorite of the VS fighting genre for a long time. Mark of the Wolves features the best animation, combat, and locations, an even a nice sense of humor. The character sprites are colorful, the fighting has an easy learning curve and the music is pretty funky (with contributions by Robert Miles, no less). Even though it's the 8th and last Fatal Fury game I can still call it accessible for newbs to the series and genre as it it very easy to pick up and play.

This Steam version features 10 trophies/achievements, no trading cards, and online play is dead. I didn't have any trouble with lag or resolution issues. I'd love for the whole series to come to the PS4 but for the moment either Steam or the old Dreamcast editions is your best bet.