This week we're switching gears from a more obscure SNK title (if only because it was on hardware that didn't sell well) to one of the most popular titles on the Neo Geo. This is a big one, because some people think this was SNK's finest hour.
Real Bout Fatal Fury Special
Genre: One on One Fighting Players: 2 Size: 394 megs Released on: MVS, AES, NeoCD, Saturn, PS1 (updated version subtitled "Dominated Mind"), and PS2 (in Fatal Fury Battle Archives Vol 2)
Brief Description:
Real Bout Fatal Fury Special is a 1997 fighting game released by SNK for the Neo Geo platform. It is the sixth installment in the Fatal Fury series and the second game in the Real Bout sub-series, following the original Real Bout Fatal Fury. This game features all new graphics and returns to the two-level plane system from Fatal Fury 2.
YOU ACTUALLY WENT AND DID IT...
Real Bout Fury Special: quite possibly the best FF ever and one of the best fighting games ever made, imo.
The Real Bout series is my favourite series of fighters ever. As a result I always have real difficulty in having a preference of one over all 3 RB's. I think RB2 is probably the best one overall as it plays better than it's predecessors. But RBS has the presentation and quality feel down > RB1 & RB2. It also plays amazingly, but feels a little different again to RB1 & RB2.
On the whole, RBS is a truly amazing game. A fantastic fighter and ONE OF the best game on the NeoGeo
STE C stated plain, actual hard facts on 26.11.11... "SF4 & MVC3 can go s*ck my knob because KOF (XIII) is king... again"
Well when it comes to the Fatal Fury franchise, this game is really hard to beat. The only game that beats it, by a small margin, is RBFF2.
What do I love about this game? Everything, really. Vivid colors, great interactive stages -- it's great to beat somebody into a crumbling wall or send somebody crashing through a butchershop window. The sprites are well animated and drawn, the supers are bone -crushing and flashy.
The announcer is probably the most cool announcer in a fighting game EVER. "Hey how's it going dude?!", "Too bad!", "Aaww, game over man! Try again? no? Oh, then see you later man!",“Be tough or be dead, big guy”. Great stuff.
The presentation is just beautiful. The gameplay itself is smooth as a swig of cognac.
The three button arrangement is a bit unconventional, but easy to get used to with practice.
I really do love this game. Nuff' said.
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PS: One of the screenshots on the thread's OP is NOT from RBFFS.
Edited by LIFE_IN_2D on 12. September 2011 01:01
shot in the eye
shot in the brain
shot in the ass...
I fixed the offending screen shot. I was afraid I was going to do that! I was very careful to pull shots from sites that were only talking about RBFFS, so apparently that shot was used incorrectly on the site I got it from!
I haven't played this one too much myself (hence the screenshot error). I know my initial reaction was that I really didn't like the 2 plane fighting system. I think Fatal Fury was better when they ditched it, which allowed MOTW to be a pretty much perfect game. Still, this game is so highly regarded that I plan on spending a lot of time with it this week to try to see what all the fuss is about. I used to say I didn't like Samurai Shodown II and I changed my mind about that one eventually, so it's entirely possibly I'll love RBFFS by the end of the week.
This Fatal Fury is indeed "Special" for me. From all FFs up to Garou this one is the most memorable to me, music-, presentation- and gameplay-wise. I already own FFRB2 on AES, but somehow I always liked this one better, and not necessarily because of the gameplay. For me, just everything else is stronger and it even has a higher variety of stages and real endings unlike it's highly praised sequel. I might be wrong on that one.
Nonetheless this is a fantastic title on the Neo Geo and should be enjoyed by all means.
This is my fav FF! I was a bit confused by the chronology of the RB series at first; for the longest time I thought Special came after 2. People say this is better (than 2) because of the dual planes, and I tend to agree. It does take some getting used to, like in VF3 with the evade button, and changes the dynamics, but the overall feel of the FF games is still here. I think a lot of people get intimidated by more than one plane, and they think it makes the game too hard, but it really isn't as big of a game changer as people think, IMHO.
Now we are talking I completely agree with all the above positive thing said. Easily one of the best fighters on the NG and also one of the all time greats on any format. I think its a big improvement over RBF in every way and everything is so polished and graphically amazing with so many brilliant backgrounds and wonderful animation, its like SNK really upped the stakes in 97 in terms of pushing the NG hardware.
Do I love this more than RB2, umm its so hard to choose but I think this wins in terms of presentation and wow factor but I just ( only just) think RB2 is slightly better. Yet if I was going to recommend only one I would actually say get this one RBS as it displays so much confidence and swagger that it really rubs off on the player, a celebration of a studio on top of their game, a true work of art, F*cking class. Edited by STE C on 12. September 2011 18:44
1st Super Tobalman wrote:
I think a lot of people get intimidated by more than one plane, and they think it makes the game too hard, but it really isn't as big of a game changer as people think, IMHO.
I spent a lot of time playing the game last night and I'm definitely more into the dual plane system now. However, I don't know if I'd say it's not that much of a game changer. It all but eliminates the effectiveness of random projectiles which pretty much kills the chances of a new player becoming a projectile spammer. In that respect, the game is already a monumental achievement.
More time is needed, but I'm liking it quite a bit.
If I may play devil's advocate, let me say I like this one best in the series because the ring outs have been taken out. Although the other games in the (R series are good, I've always felt like they're trying to do a tad too much; the parts are greater than the whole. It seems SNK took a little from every fighting series that was popular at the time to make this addition: big combos and big combo indicators (Capcom games, namely Alpha and Darkstalkers), ring outs and evasions (Virtua Fighter, although the evasion feature could be argued), and blood (Mortal Kombat). I've always felt this way strongly, especially when seeing it in the arcades way back when. However, as I acquire more gaming tastes, I embrace the over-the-top approach here.
After further consideration I finally weighed in on the poll and game this game the "Fantastic Fighter" rating. I'm actually pretty shocked that so many people prefer RBFFS over Mark of the Wolves! I really like it, but MOTW is definitely one of the best fighters of all time in my book, and hands down the best game in the series.
reelmojo wrote:
but MOTW is definitely one of the best fighters of all time in my book, and hands down the best game in the series.
IN YOUR OPINION
For me, whilst I do love MOTW, and think it's a great fighter, it's nowhere near being the best 'Fatal Fury' in my book, probably for similar reasons PPL prefer the Alpha series > SF3 series in the Street Fighter universe.
The overall aesthetics, character line up, music, game design on the whole and feel of the gameplay are all superior to MOTW in MY opinion.
I enjoy playing MOTW as a NEO•GEO fighting game, but as a definitive FF experience, it falls massively short, and is ultimately flawed for me. All this is based on the 'feel' of the gameplay (good, or not), the lacklustre character line up (pretty horrible, actually) and bland background designs and so so music.
MOTW is a solid fighter, but super overrated... imo.
Oh, I should say, I'm NOT trying to create an RBx vs MOTW argument here. It's just me explaining my personal feeling in relation to your 'statement' dude. I should also say that the RB's, are to me, my favourite fighting games ever made
Thus, it's all just opinion
STE C stated plain, actual hard facts on 26.11.11... "SF4 & MVC3 can go s*ck my knob because KOF (XIII) is king... again"
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series are good, I've always felt like they're trying to do a tad too much; the parts are greater than the whole. It seems SNK took a little from every fighting series that was popular at the time to make this addition: big combos and big combo indicators (Capcom games, namely Alpha and Darkstalkers), ring outs and evasions (Virtua Fighter, although the evasion feature could be argued), and blood (Mortal Kombat). I've always felt this way strongly, especially when seeing it in the arcades way back when. However, as I acquire more gaming tastes, I embrace the over-the-top approach here.