Yasuyuki Oda on why it's taken over a quarter of a century for a new Fatal Fury game

The Fatal Fury fighting game series stretches all the way back to 1991, when SNK Corporation released Fatal Fury: King of Fighters for arcades. The franchise had numerous iterations in the 90s, with Garou: Mark of the Wolves (1999) being the last – at least until now. A quarter of a century after Mark of the Wolves came out, we find ourselves sitting in SNK's booth at the Tokyo Game Show, eagerly playing the upcoming Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves.

It goes without saying that 25 years is a long time to wait for a mainline entry in a fighting game series, but perhaps it's well worth it. After all, we've seen the resurgence of mainline titles from SNK, such as 2019's Samurai Shodown and 2022's The King of Fighters 15. This revival of dormant SNK franchises is led by none other than Yasuyuki Oda, the producer of those two games, as well as the upcoming Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves.

After playing the demo, we sit down with Oda to learn about the new features, character design, competitive play, and, naturally, why it took so long to see a new Fatal Fury title.

"I wanted to develop [a new Fatal Fury game] earlier but we got tied up with other projects," Oda tells GamesIndustry.biz. "However, bringing back Fatal Fury was always in the cards and it was just a matter of finding the right timing. After multiple successful games utilizing other SNK IPs, it was the most natural next choice, as it was always one of the cornerstones of the company. It's just purely coincidental that it's been over 25 years since the last release."

Given the huge gap between the two releases, there had to be some challenges along the way. Oda cites that their team, SNK Studio 1, has always been composed of the original Fatal Fury team members. They also reached out to former developers who are now working freelance to help with the project, effectively bringing the band back together.

Still, Oda admits that one of the biggest challenges was the knowledge gap between the veteran Fatal Fury team members and younger staff, especially with game design and gameplay systems.

"A lot of time was spent bridging that gap. During that process, both sides learned a lot from each other which was a very interesting experience in general."

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves features visually stunning character models, almost akin to vivid designs from a comic book, duking it out on a 2D plane. Oda cites that Fatal Fury games were originally intended to have American comic book tastes, and the team decided to do that with today's technology.

Oda adds that "the idea of a 3D fighter was never proposed" when brainstorming the next Fatal Fury title. It was always about "showing flashy and cool moves from the side," which meant a 3D arena would have given the wrong impression.

Speaking of characters, Mark of the Wolves saw the introduction of an all-new cast of battlers, many of whom were either related to or were pupils of fan-favorite fighters from earlier entries in the 1991 series and multiple follow-ups. Terry Bogard, who's been the face of the series for decades, was actually the only returning character back then.

"Bringing back Fatal Fury was always in the cards and it was just a matter of finding the right timing"

In City of the Wolves, however, Terry will be joined by fellow icon Mai Shiranui. Battlers from Mark of the Wolves also make their return, including Rock Howard, Kain Heinlein, and B. Jenet. Newcomers Preecha and Vox Reaper also round out the list.

Preecha, Oda shares, is the pupil of Joe Higashi, one of the series' most iconic characters who was introduced in the first game. It's why she's heavily influenced by his muay thai kickboxing style. Vox Reaper's design, meanwhile, is influenced by his mentor, Grant, who first appeared as a sub-boss in Mark of the Wolves. "That's why we wanted him to have an agile and cool fighting style," notes Oda.

As far as returning characters are concerned, Oda notes that the characters which play an important role in the story are the ones that they focus on first. Specifically, the team looks at characters with storyline arcs that have yet to be resolved.

Oda also differentiates between The King of Fighters and the Fatal Fury series. "Characters don't age in The King of Fighters because time does not advance, but you see them getting older in Fatal Fury. Just as Terry has aged more than ten years since Real Bout 2, the introduction of other characters adds depth to worldbuilding."

Aside from iconic fan favorites and returning combatants, the biggest surprise is the inclusion of Chun-Li and Ken, from Capcom's Street Fighter series. This marks the first time that guest characters have been introduced in SNK's Fatal Fury games.

Oda shares that introducing guest characters is always a collaborative effort between companies.

"[Producers and project leads] go over [the process] together and supervise each other. We work to come up with ideas that will fit into the world of each title without destroying the character's image, and if there are expressions unique to each title. It's not very common for us developers to encounter major conflicts amongst each other."

We also ask how Chun-Li and Ken fit within the overall narrative arc of the series and if there's a potential for more reveals down the line. Oda, however, is tight-lipped.

"We're trying to keep the story under wraps for now. We do have some things that we're thinking about, and DLC plans in the pipeline."

"There's a degree of approachability that should appeal to casual fans, and enough complexity geared for more hardcore players"

In terms of the gameplay itself, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves features the SPG system, which is seen as an evolution of the Tactical Offense Position (TOP) system from Mark of the Wolves, something Oda believes will "grant players more freedom and opportunities to make tactical decisions."

"There's a degree of approachability that should appeal to casual fans, and enough complexity geared for more hardcore players," Oda tells us. He adds that the team really wants to appeal to both casual and hardcore player bases.

SNK did not want to water down the experience either. The idea is to "keep the skill ceiling high, but not too high as to exclude others." The team also feels that it's achieved what they set out to do, balance-wise, as the title has systems that cater to different fighting game community crowds.

Oda notes that the company tries to take a "wider approach" when it comes to competitions and esports, especially with its grassroots Esports Support Program that aims to help tournament organizers.

"It's not just about the top 1%," Oda says. "We want everybody around the world to have fun with local tournaments, too."

Oda acknowledges how much these events have helped the team. Knowing that there is always some anxiety before each major release, especially if they plan on reviving a dormant series, "it's the reception from events around the world that have built up our team's confidence."

As we are about to end our conversation, we ask Oda how much things have changed since he first started in the industry in 1993.

"When I joined SNK in 1993, it was for [debug work] on Fatal Fury Special," Oda tells us, as though working on Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is like a full circle moment. "Back then, our small team was focused on developing games for arcade platforms and the Neo Geo, and no one was thinking about porting games to other consoles. The environment then was completely different than it is today. As the scale of development grows, it becomes more important to deal with increasingly complex management, and I think it will no longer be possible to develop games with just a few acquaintances like in the past."

"I think it will no longer be possible to develop games with just a few acquaintances like in the past"

Oda also shares more details. "I started as an artist, then I went on to become a director and after that a producer. I've experienced platforms from 16-bit machines to the current PlayStation 5. I've been a gamer since the Space Invader days, so I think my experience as a creator and a player has allowed me to approach this project well, though I'm not sure what the other staff around me thinks," he laughs.

We ask if there are other plans that are still on his bucket list. Oda jokingly tells us, "I've been in the industry for over 30 years, so I don't remember anymore."

He does, however, mention that he would like to make a South Town action RPG one day, which is based on a location in the Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting games.

Speaking of Art of Fighting, this particular SNK franchise has not seen a mainline entry since 1996, though we know that an upcoming title has been announced. We ask Oda if he is also leading the revival of the franchise, and he grins in the affirmative, "Yes, I am leading the Art of Fighting project, too."

From Samurai Shodown and King of Fighters to Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, Yasuyuki Oda is certainly at the forefront of SNK's fighting game series resurgence.

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is expected to release on April 21, 2025, for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X|S.