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| Real Bout Fatal Fury Special | |
|---|---|
 Arcade flyer | |
| Developers | SNK Gaibrain(GB) Yumekobo(SS, PS) |
| Publishers | SNK Takara(GB) |
| Producers | Hiroshi Matsumoto Seigo Ito Takashi Nishiyama |
| Designers | Takahisa Yariyama Takashi Tsukamoto |
| Programmer | Naoyan Apchiba |
| Artists | N. Kuroki Takehiro Isaji Y. Ashizawa |
| Composers | Akihiro Uchida Kazuhiro Nishida Kyoko Naka |
| Series | Fatal Fury |
| Platforms | Arcade,Game Boy,Neo Geo AES,Neo Geo CD,PlayStation,Sega Saturn |
| Release | |
| Genre | Fighting |
| Modes | Single-player,multiplayer |
| Arcade system | Neo Geo MVS |
Real Bout Fatal Fury Special[a] is a 1997arcadefighting game released bySNK for theNeo Geo. It is the sixth installment in theFatal Fury series and the second game in theReal Bout sub-series, followingReal Bout Fatal Fury (1995). The game features entirely new graphics and returns to the two-level plane system fromFatal Fury 2.
In Japan, it was ported in 1998 to theSega Saturn and as an updated version,Real Bout Special: Dominated Mind, to thePlayStation, and as the eighth installment. AGame Boy version was published byTakara in Japan.Real Bout Fatal Fury Special was included in theFatal Fury Battle Archives Vol. 2 compilation in February 2007 for thePlayStation 2, which was made available in North America. The compilation wasre-released in March 2017 on thePlayStation Store forPlayStation 4.[1]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding missing information.(April 2020) |
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Though gameplay is two-dimensional, characters can move between two different planes during battle.[2] Breaking an opponent through one of the barriers located on either side of a stage causes the opponent to become stunned.[2]
| This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding missing information.(April 2020) |
The game retains the cast of the originalReal Bout, with the addition ofTung Fu Rue,Cheng Sinzan,Laurence Blood, andWolfgang Krauser fromFatal Fury Special. Krauser serves as the new final boss.Geese Howard, who was canonically killed off in his own KOF tournament during the previous game, appears in this game as a hidden final boss in a special "Nightmare Match" and as an unlockable playable character in the home versions. The game also features hidden "extra" versions ofAndy Bogard,Billy Kane,Blue Mary, and Tung Fu Rue for a total of 23 characters (24 if Geese is counted).
| This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding missing information.(April 2020) |
The game was ported to theNeo-Geo CD with several additions, such as a Versus mode and a music video starring Blue Mary that is shown after the credits when Arcade mode is completed. This port also saw a release for theSega Saturn, using the 1MB RAM cartridge expansion of the system to retain sprite animations.[3]
A port ofReal Bout Special titledReal Bout Special: Dominated Mind was released for thePlayStation in 1998 only in Japan. It adds Alfred fromReal Bout Fatal Fury 2 (which was released three months earlier on the Neo Geo) as a playable character and includes a new boss character named White (modeled after the characterAlexander "Alex" DeLarge fromA Clockwork Orange). This port adds animated videos produced bySunrise for the game's intro and character endings. The story of this version centers around White's brainwashing of Billy Kane and attempted takeover of Southtown's underworld in the power vacuum left byGeese Howard's death in the originalReal Bout. In this version, Geese sports ahalo over his head, a reference to his passing in the originalReal Bout.Dominated Mind also features new moves, hidden unlockable super moves, and super cancelling (known in the game as "Final Impacts") and removed the two-line battle system from the game. Extra versions of Andy, Billy, Mary, and Tung are removed, with the regular Mary dons her EX counterpart's color palettes for this game.
The Game Boy version, titledNettou Real Bout Garou Densetsu Special (熱闘リアルバウト餓狼伝説SPECIAL), was released only in Japan on March 27, 1998, featuring simplified graphics and two-button gameplay. This version features only 12 playable characters: a roster which consists ofTerry Bogard,Andy Bogard,Joe Higashi,Mai Shiranui,Blue Mary,Duck King,Kim Kaphwan,Jin Chonrei,Billy Kane,Ryuji Yamazaki,Laurence Blood, andWolfgang Krauser.Geese Howard appears as a hidden character, as well asIori Yagami fromThe King of Fighters series.
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Dengeki PlayStation | 85/100, 80/100[4] |
| This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding missing information.(April 2020) |
In Japan,Game Machine listedReal Bout Fatal Fury Special on their March 1, 1997 issue as being the most-successful arcade game of the month.[5] The game was a success in the arcades.[6] According toFamitsu, the AES and Neo Geo CD versions sold over 9,169 and 20,246 copies in their first week on the market respectively.[7]
It's been out for quite a while now, but is still doing very well in the arcade game charts. In third place, after VF3 and Virtual On, the considerably enhanced Real Bout Special continues to go from strength to strength.
