Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition
- January 01, 2000 00:00 AM PST
SNK brings their Fatal Fury series into the age of 3D with Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition. But can a three dimensional fighter survive on the PlayStation, with games like Soul Calibur and Power Stone also playing on home consoles?
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My Name is Inigo Montoya �
Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition opens with an FMV of a couple of young boys playing, but the scene quickly shifts to a fight where one of the combatants dies. We find out that the victim is a father to one of the boys, and that boy turns out to be Terry Bogard, star of Fatal Fury. What ensues is an epic street fighting tournament that pits crimelord Geese Howard and his henchman against Terry and his friends. And that's about all the story you'll need for this game.
With many familiar characters from the SNK universe (Joe Higashi, Andy and Terry Bogard, Mai, Yamazaki and more), FF:WA offers an interesting new 3D twist on their former 2D existence (most recently seen in King of Fighters 99: Dream Match for Dreamcast), but unfortunately the aging PlayStation's graphic power makes this game less than stunning. The characters, the moves, and the game engine will be all too familiar to fight fans, so it really needed good visuals to set it apart -- but it comes up short.
Half-Calibured Fighter
When PlayStation first appeared, the blocky 3D graphics of Battle Arena Toshinden where groundbreaking and impressive, but now it seems primitive. Although FF: WA has obviously improved over that, the characters are still blocky and the movements are far from the smoothness of a Soul Calibur or even a recent Tekken. The super special moves set off fireworks of primitive explosions and fury, but again, they lack the ability to impress today's gamers.
The sound is trademark SNK. All sorts of grunts, wails and Japanese expressions fill the air as frequently as punches and kicks. A little excessive is an understatement, but it's also part of the series' charm. The music is woeful at times, with classical Japanese music clashing with rock and roll - with some tunes sounding like they're coming out of the speaker on a Neo Geo Pocket Color (and for those of you who don't know, that is not hi-fi stereo audio).
Controls are the familiar SNK engine, a variation of the street fighter moves, so again, the veterans will soon remember Joe's Hurricane Upper or Terry's Power Wave, and newbies won't take long learning. The power gauge gives you a chance to deliver powerful combos with Fierce and Overdrive Power Attacks, most of which are very flashy and some are very easy to get. The game could use a little more depth in its engine, but as is, fights are plenty diverse.
Wildly Furious
Fans of the Fatal Fury series will enjoy its transition into 3D with this solid fighter, but Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition doesn't offer the necessary eye candy or depth to convert today's discriminating gamers.
