ACA NEOGEO Fatal Fury 3

Genre: Fighting Game

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards

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Review:

Fatal Fury 3, originally released as Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory, is a Fighting Game originally released in 1995 in arcades and the NEOGEO home console, and in the years since it has been brought to numerous other consoles, with this ACA NEOGEO version releasing on Nintendo Switch in 2018. Despite the number in the title, this is actually the fourth game in the Fatal Fury series (hey, you think that’s confusing, try to figure out how many Street Fighter games released before they got to Street Fighter III).

Once again, I feel like the Fatal Fury series seems to be following in the footsteps of the Street Fighter franchise. Where the prior game in the series, Fatal Fury Special was an iterative game much in the same vein as Street Fighter II: Champion Edition and Super Street Fighter II, Fatal Fury 3 is a reworking of the series’ visuals and gameplay, much like Street Fighter Alpha (also released in 1995) was for that franchise. This game even scales back the playable roster to only ten fighters, exactly what Street Fighter Alpha did.

Graphically, Fatal Fury 3 is a huge leap over prior games in the series, with its 2D pixel art characters having beautiful fluid animation and wonderfully detailed backgrounds. The game also features brief voice clips, and the chiptune music is decent, albeit not especially memorable.

This is the point where I really feel like the series’ gameplay really “clicked” for me. The fluid animation is joined by similarly fluid gameplay, ditching the stiff, clunky gameplay from earlier games. What’s more, the two-lane system of earlier games has been expanded to the “Oversway” 3-lane system, which for the first time seems to really work beautifully with the gameplay, making it simple for players to quickly step into the foreground or background to dodge around an opponent’s attack and follow up with a devastating counter.

Honestly, my biggest complaint here probably would be the small roster of only 10 fighters. Clearly this was a deliberate choice to try to make more focused, balanced gameplay, but it nevertheless limits players’ options in ways that more modern players will surely find restrictive.

When it comes to the specific features of this port, players are given a decent array of options and features. The game features the Japanese original release, the English original release, and Caravan Mode, a 5 minute score challenge with Online leaderboards. Furthermore, in-game players can access display settings, save states, game settings, and a digital manual. It’s a decent selection of features, though sadly what’s missing is online play, and there’s no art or making-of content to speak of.

In the end, Fatal Fury 3 is probably the first game in the series I would genuinely be interested in going back to replay, but it’s far from ideal. The roster of only 10 fighters is woefully small by today’s standards, and the $8 price tag seems too high for a game that’s nearly 30 years old. However, if you’re a Fighting Game fan, this one may be worth checking out… if you’re not going to just skip ahead to a later game in the series.

tl;dr – Fatal Fury 3 is a Fighting Game that reworks the visuals and gameplay of the series, mostly with great success, creating a game that plays great even by today’s standards. The problem is, it’s still a nearly 30 year-old game priced at $8, and its roster of only 10 playable characters is woefully small. Still, Fighting Game fans may want to give this game a look.

Grade: C+

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