Real Bout Fatal Fury 2 arrives on Steam after more than 25 years, debuting the NEOGEO Premium Selection line
SNK relaunches the 1998 classic, and its producers talk to us about it.
SNK continues to bring back the classics that marked an era, and this time it is riding the wave left by Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. Tonight, the release of Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers on Steam was announced as a surprise. This title takes us back to the arcades of 1998 and kicks off the new NEOGEO Premium Selection line of games.
Fans of fighting games can look forward to this blend of classic and new. The game comes with a roster of 23 characters, delivering that feeling we had 27 years ago with favorite characters such as Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui, as well as adding newcomers Li Xiangfei and Rick Strowd, along with the secret character Alfred. Among the new features are functions dedicated to competitive play, with the implementation of rollback netcode for smoother matches, lobbies for up to nine players, a comprehensive spectator mode, and tournament formats ranging from single elimination to round robin. Added to this is a revamped practice mode with training tools and a gallery mode that collects more than 50 pieces of art and historical material.
The vision of its producers
Beyond the official announcement, at MeriStation we had the opportunity to talk with part of the development team about the return of this classic and what it means for today’s players. Yasuyuki Oda, producer at SNK, explained: “We thought that fans who saw the latest installment of the series, City of the Wolves, would be interested in trying Fatal Fury with the largest number of characters. We hope this will appeal to both veteran players and new fans of the series.”
The title also comes with improvements designed to make the experience more accessible and competitive. Laurent Vernézy, Producer of the Neo Geo Premium Selection, commented: “In bringing Real Bout Fatal Fury 2 to Steam, we made sure that both veterans and newcomers had everything they needed. At the time, Real Bout Fatal Fury 2 was developed to be played competitively, with a complete rebalancing of the roster and very fast gameplay. Now, with the implementation of high-quality online features, we expect to see many intense battles in the coming weeks.”
Regarding the possibility of a complete collection of the saga, Laurent Vernézy was clear: “Each installment of the series is unique. The first introduced the Ring Out mechanic, Real Bout Special introduced obstacles that made the characters dizzy... that’s why we thought it made more sense to revive RBFF2 separately.“ However, the producer himself told us that fans should not hesitate ”if they want to see more games from the series return on modern platforms.”
With this vision, SNK is not only reviving a classic title, but also opening the door for other gems from its catalog to shine once again on today’s consoles and devices.
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