Fatal Fury is one of the most influential series within the fighting game genre.
Designed by Street Fighter creator Takashi Nishiyama after he left Capcom for SNK, Fatal Fury took a unique approach and introduced multiple innovations throughout its lifespan. It also helped pave the way for other well-known series, such as The King of Fighters, and even led to crossovers with SNK's biggest rival—Capcom themselves. There is a very long and interesting history behind Fatal Fury as a whole, and for the first time, Bitmap Books has finally gotten to the bottom of it. By speaking with those who were involved, they have recounted every major event leading up to and during Fatal Fury's lifetime in their new book, Fatal Fury/Garou Densetsu: The Ultimate History. We here at Netto's Game Room were given the opportunity to check it out for ourselves, and honestly, even those who are not familiar with the franchise might still want to consider looking into it.
With that being said, it is important to note that for our evaluation of the book, we were provided an exclusive digital copy for our use only—complete with Netto's Game Room watermarks at the bottom of each page! Because of this, we cannot comment on the book's physical build for this review, nor will we be sharing images we captured ourselves. All visual resources were instead provided to us by Bitmap Books and were carefully selected to avoid spoiling the full contents. This is a roughly 460-page book, and a large section of that is actually dedicated to the history itself rather than just the artwork—a pleasant surprise to say the least. Those who do purchase the physical copy will be happy to know that it is a hardcover and is available as both a Standard and Collector's Edition.
So, how is the book? Well...
The History of Fatal Fury:
The first large section of Fatal Fury/Garou Densetsu: The Ultimate History is the series history portion, which was the most interesting part of the entire book for me personally.
Rather than simply recounting public knowledge regarding the series' creation and the release order of the games, this is a retelling of the entire history straight from the people who were there. It provides additional insight into not just how things happened, but why. The narrative begins with the creation of the original Street Fighter, its two arcade cabinet versions, and the first appearance of Terry Bogard. Terry initially appears as a nameless character but went on to become the face of Takashi Nishiyama's Fatal Fury project following his departure from Capcom.
Outside of this initial reference, Street Fighter remains a constant throughout the story, as it continued to be SNK's biggest competitor and impacted the development of Fatal Fury going forward. Ultimate History goes into much more detail, revealing some surprising tidbits about development post-Street Fighter III, and even touches on the challenges brought on by the changing landscape once games like SEGA's Virtua Fighter hit the market. It really is a fun story to read through, and one can't help but feel for the development team as unfortunate events cut their vision short. This is only a small example of what the history portion covers, as I do not want to ruin it for anyone, but I can say that I was captivated from beginning to end.
It Doesn't Glorify Fatal Fury:
One aspect of the book I can't help but appreciate is the fact that it does not glorify Fatal Fury in the slightest. It sticks to the facts of what actually happened, while also discussing the innovations it brought to the table and what worked versus what simply didn't. To further back up the developers' own claims of titles not being well received, or issues that arose, the book also contains quotes from major reviewers at the time.
A great example of this objectivity comes from the section discussing Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition, a 3D entry that attempted to rival other 3D fighters of the era. While its story was a retconned version of the original Fatal Fury featuring an expanded roster, severe slowdown, rough 3D models, and clunky gameplay made it a critically panned title. The book openly highlights these flaws, citing dismal review scores—including a 4 out of 10—and the game's ultimate failure in Japanese arcades. It was an attempt to surpass the new kids on the block that instead contributed to the series' downfall, leading to a gap of over 25 years between mainline releases. Thankfully, Wild Ambition wasn't the end; instead, it paved the way for the franchise's original swansong masterpiece—Garou: Mark of the Wolves.
The Artwork:
The final section of The Ultimate History covers each game's artwork, which includes early design concepts, promotional art, in-game backgrounds, screenshots, sprite sheets, and more. The book takes each title in release order and shares extra pieces of information along the way. This includes details about characters who were redesigned during development and how returning stages changed from game to game.
Overall, the character designs and artwork pieces are excellent, offering a wonderful trip down memory lane for those of us who have played the games. In my case, I wasn't familiar with every entry in the series, but I still enjoyed seeing the art and learning more about the context behind each piece. The way the art section is structured also serves as a nice recap for the history portion of the book, which was a lot to take in—and something fans will definitely want to reread in the future.
Should you read it?
Fatal Fury/Garou Densetsu: The Ultimate History is a book that I can definitely recommend to both fans of the series and the fighting game genre in general. Those who enjoy gaming history, such as myself, will be treated to a fascinating story that gives an inside look at the development team's thought process and the struggles they faced along the way. I especially love the fact that this inside look remains true to real-world history, rather than just how the team might have perceived their own games. It isn't afraid to admit that not every release was a masterclass in game design—in fact, some were very far from it—while also highlighting gameplay mechanics and innovations that would go on to shape the future of the genre.
Sadly there is little discussion of The King of Fighters series which spun-off from Fatal Fury, and was much more successful, as this story was already covered in Bitmap Books' previous The King of Fighters: The Ultimate History. It makes mentions of the series where it makes sense, but for a full deep dive fans will need to look elsewhere. With how well these books are put together, most readers will likely want to continue the story, but it would've been nice to learn a bit more about how Fatal Fury's development impacted, or didn't impact, the series.
When it comes to the artwork, there is a lot to love. Fatal Fury has always been known for its detailed backgrounds and character sprites, with great promotional material to go along with it. This was a story-focused fighting game series, and the creators did whatever they could to push that aspect and catch the eye of the public. Seeing all of this art collected into one book is wonderful, and there are multiple full pages dedicated to a single piece—nothing was scaled down just to save on space. Additionally, there are multiple two-page spreads that look excellent on a digital copy since the book's binding doesn't get in the way. Thankfully, those who purchase the physical version will receive a free digital copy as well. In other words, if the split-page art bothers you in the physical book, you can still get the full, continuous image by using a PDF reader on your favorite device. The settings will need to be adjusted to a standard "two-page" or "book view," but that isn't hard to set up at all.
Overall, I honestly loved every page of Fatal Fury/Garou Densetsu: The Ultimate History, and I was sad when the story was over. It is one of the better video game history and art books that I personally own, and it is one that will be easy to return to—especially when I want to refresh my memory on the series' history.
VERDICT: Essential
Reviewed Copy was Provided
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