Review by: Himmero Gemma

Overview.
"Realbout: the Legend of Garu" is the fifth game in the "Fatal Fury" series, and a prequel to the highly anticipated "Realbout Special." The brothers Bogard (Andy and Terry) have returned to Southtown to exact revenge on the formerly deceased Geese Howard. Geese killed Andy and Terry's father prior to "Fatal Fury 1," and Terry supposedly killed Geese at the end of that tournament. Nevertheless, Geese has harnessed the power of reincarnation and returned to his status as Southtown's crime boss par excellence. Of course, once word of Geese's return reaches the public, a new King of Fighters tournament is launched. Terry and Andy are rejoined by Joe Higashi, who is looking to hone his muetay skills through full-contact bouts. Mai Shiranui, Andy's belle, has joined the tournament to test her ninja skills, and police officers Hon Fu and Blue Mary have entered the tournament in order to raze Geese's crime syndicate. Kim Kap Hwan enters to gauge his Tae Kwon Do proficiency, and the Duck King returns to the tournament to test his new hip-hop fighting style. The remaining combatants are Sokaku Mochizuki, Bob Wilson, Franco Bash, Ryuji Yamazaki, Jin Chon Shu, Jin Chon Rei, and Billy Kane, for a total of sixteen characters (including Geese) - all selectable.

Sokaku Mochizuki is a monk who endeavors to keep the harmony of existence by defeating the nefarious crime boss. Bob Wilson is the protege of Richard Meyer, the Copeira master from "Fatal Fury 1," and wishes to prove the merit of his style in the ring. Franco Bash is a kickboxer with a penchant for alcohol, and Ryuiji Yamazaki is a knife-wielding tough guy so arrogant that he fights with one hand in his pocket. Jin Chon Shu and Jin Chon Rei are brothers who are out to prove that prepubescents are not to be scoffed. Billy Kane is, of course, Geese's bo-twirling bodyguard.

The Saturn version appears to be taken straight from the SNK version; the "How to Play" demo focuses on the four-button SNK/arcade joypad configuration. There appear to be no additions to the Saturn version. Interestingly, there is only one mode of play (arcade), although players can set the difficulty level, choose a time limit (including "no limit"), and choose a versus area for two player bouts.

Ratings.
I will rate five aspects of the game on a 1 to 5 scale. A score of "5" represents a superior achievement in the area, while a score of "3" represents a mediocre accomplishment. A score of "1" indicates that the result in a particular area is unsatisfactory and may indeed detract from the overall effect of the game.

Strategy - 3.6 out of 5
The strategy in "Realbout" is better than the strategy in a lot of 2-D and 3-D fighting games, but it could have been better. SNK opted to use the familiar sway-line dynamic, which allows characters to move freely from the mid-ground to the background, and now to the foreground. The sway-line movement is a one button move ("Z" in default mode) and works much like a dodge move; characters can move into the foreground or background to avoid strikes. However, there are two salient problems with the sway-line. One, while characters can remain the the foreground or background for several seconds, characters cannot block attacks when in the the foreground or background. Thus, remaining in any plain besides the mid-ground is actually disadvantageous. Two, attacks from the mid-ground to the fore- or backgrounds take priority over attacks from the other plains to the mid-ground. As a result, moving on the sway-line then attacking is virtually non-purposeful because an attacking opponent will always hit you first. Moreover, all characters have a "sway- counter," such asTerry's Ground-Sway, which allows characters to attack on all three plains at once.

Also noteworthy is the "P. Power/S. Power" meter. This gauge is much like the POW meter in KoF and Sam Sho, yet, these meters are not identical. The P/S meter in "Realbout" is only charged with super moves (just like SFA2's chi meter). The POW meter, on the other hand, can be charged through button combinations and accrued damage. As the name indicates, the P/S meter has two levels. The S moves refer to moves like Terry's single Power Geyser, while P moves (or Fatal Moves) refer to moves like Terry's triple Power Geyser. Needless to say, P moves inflict more damage than S moves. The P moves can only be accomplished with a full P/S meter and a flashing life bar, indicating less than 50% life. S moves can be accomplished either with a full P/S meter and more than 50% life or with less than 50% life and an empty or non-full P/S meter.

The life bar in "Realbout" is also worth mention because "Realbout" utilizes a two-bar life system similar to "Samurai Shodown 4." The two life bars are arranged one on top of the other. The top bar represents 50% of the characters life and the bottom bar represents the other 50%. Thus, while it may appear that attacks do more damage in "Realbout" than in previous Fatal Fury games, really nothing has changed.

Another interesting note is the proximity limit between characters in "Realbout." Anyone who has played "Samurai Shodown" is familiar with a large proximity limit between characters. In the Shodown series a character can retreat far enough away from an opponent that the camera pans back in order to keep both fighters in view. Aside from looking cool, a large proximity limit between characters is very strategic; exploiting this avenue allows characters to remain out of the range of attacks, thereby not losing life from moves which cause damage even through blocks. Unfortunately, "Realbout" has a very small proximity limit in comparison to KoF and Sam Sho. Moreover, Billy Kane, Franco Bash, and Ryuji Yamazaki all have attacks which reach the limit of the proximity line. In other words, you cannot escape the range of some attacks; you either take the damage or you block and take some of the damage. Moving on the sway-line is only advantageous when the character does not perform a sway-counter which also reaches the proximity limit.

Despite the problems with the sway-line and proximity, "Realbout" remains true to the SNK tradition of compensation. The P/S moves allow characters to get back into a fight even after an intense beating. And, as a result, a fight is never over until one of three things happens: knock out, time out, or ring out.

The ring out is a new addition to the Fatal Fury mythos. This option may not appear novel to fans of "Virtua Fighter" or "Fighting Vipers," but, this is (as far as I can ascertain with the support of Eastman) the first time the ring out has graced a 2-D fighting game. Furthermore, only one stage, West Subway C, has a no-barrier ring out (a la "Virtua Fighter"). All other stages (except Geese's Tower, which has no ring out) employ a barrier-based ring out system. In this system, characters must destroy the barriers by using energy attacks or super moves or by using the opponent's body as a ram of sorts. Once the barrier is broken any character can land out of bounds accidentally, intentionally, or forcibly.

Play Control - 3.0 out of 5
The play control in "Realbout" is old-school SNK, which is not as complimentary as it may sound. Super moves and desperation moves (P/S moves) for many characters are complex and time-consuming. This eventuality does not favor strategy because super moves and P/S moves are slower than regular attacks. The slowness of the move itself coupled with the time it takes to press down-away, forward, down- toward, down, down-away, away, down-toward, and the right shift button (or "B" and "C") render the player vulnerable and make it more difficult ro compensate for acquired damage. Furthermore, there are periodic responsiveness problems.

Art - 5.0 out of 5
One shining achievement of "Realbout" is the artwork, which is consonant with the minimalistic style of its predecessors. The artwork is very reminiscent of "Fatal Fury 2," but raised to the 32- bit platform. Animation is smooth and beautifully rendered. Even moves like Andy's Corkscrew Kick are animated with close attention to physics and the limits of human dexterity. Even minute elements like the shifting of weight from one foot to the other or the rise and fall of the chest while breathing are rendered flawlessly. The backgrounds are constructed in the familiar Fatal Fury style, which, for those not acquainted with the game, is remindful of "Street Fighter 2."

Like every SNK game that I have played, the backgrounds set the mood perfectly. From the mall at Eastside Park to the pier at Sound Beach, the backgrounds convey the notion that this King of Fighters tournament is still "underground," but not completely obscure; it is watched by faithful devotees in the most unlikely of places. The mood, however, is not the decadence of KoF '94 - no one is trespassing on an industrial construction site at night or fighting at a derelict factory. The Fatal Fury King of Fighters tournament appears to have gained some popularity, and that is why a fight on the second floor of a shopping mall takes place.

The pace of the game is intense, thus, the characters move more quickly than in KoF or Sam Sho. The animation complements this eventuality beyond words. Combos are accomplished with unbroken speed, while the opponent gyrates appropriately with every strike! In short, this artwork is a Fatal Fury fans fantasy come true, as well as a stellar display of art for even the most stubborn 3-D graphics sensibility.

Sound - 5.0 out of 5
I confess that I do prefer the loud crashing of bodies and the bone-tingling crunch of punches and kicks in games like KoF '95 and Sam Sho 3, yet, "Realbout's" crisp character voices and variances in pitch are appreciated. The sound appears to supplement the visual medium in "Realbout." That is to say that the sympathetic pains from a frighteningly awesome combo are primarily evoked by the blood flying from the mouths of characters, as well as the contortions of the bodies upon impact rather than by screams of agony. Some characters, like Terry, are not very audible when struck. Terry emits a low "ugh" and quickly recovers. Blue Mary, on the other hand, screams "oh no!" in a loud, high-pitched voice. Most characters fall between these two extremes, and every cry serves to characterize the appropriate fighter. The sound quality in "Realbout" is without question the quintessential complement to the overall effect.

Music - 5+ out of 5
The music in "Realbout" is orgasmically effective. The sound quality is unparalleled. All the instruments are clear and there is no muffling sound when heavy bass enters a track. The score is very eclectic, which helps set the mood. The music includes everything from the pipe/string instruments of "Samurai Shodown 3" for Sokaku to the hip-hop/raver music of the Duck King. Additionally, the Duck King raps quite intelligibly over his infectious beat. In fact, all the selections regardless of style have an infectious quality in their simplicity. I find myself humming the beats even when I'm not playing the game. The music also truly reflects the personalities of the characters by either complementing or contrasting with the fighting style. I seriously cannot imagine how the musical score could have been better! Even the options screen has a happy-go-lucky two-four beat.

Overall - 4.0 out of 5
"Realbout: The Legend of Garu" is, despite obvious strategy flaws which SNK knows how to rectify, one of the better fighting games on the market. Even the flaws evidenced in "Realbout" reveal more attention to strategy than in games like "Mortal Kombat Trilogy" or "Tekken 3." The strategy itself is, for me, the replayability value. Nonetheless, what "Realbout" lacks strategically is well balanced by the art, the sound, and the music. The play control is mediocre but it never becomes unbearably annoying. In sum, "Realbout" is an above- average fighting game as far as the genre is presently understood.

If you have any comments, derogatory remarks, complimentary remarks, or questions about the nature of the universe, then please send e- mail to "ctate@orion.it.luc.edu."