Another fighter, another game in need of some Dreamcast emulation, though the Dreamcast wasn't the first home for Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves, and that wasn't the first name for Garou: Mark of the Wolves either, but that's what we're playing.
Originally in the arcades and then on the Neo Geo, Mark of the Wolves simplifies some of the series' history to make it easier for newcomers to pick it up and play with any character they care for. That sounds like just what I need, so let's not waste time putting it to the test.
Frustrations
My good run of Dreamcast emulation has come to an end with Mark of the Wolves, as, while it runs, it does have stuttery audio which sounds quite garbled in places. The worst of it may have occurred because of many a process running at the same time, but even in a less than perfect setting, it was playable enough.
The characters cover all manner of styles, but I recognise none of them, and I'm not sure what the developers were thinking when they named this guy Butt.
Still, Butt could wait and I started with what appeared to be the go-to introductory fighter, Rock.
Fun Times
Within seconds of opening round one, I had done... something... and it resulted in a 3 hit combo, my opponent flying into the sky, and me feeling gooooood. It wasn't as though I deserved any of that happening - I didn't. I was largely button mashing to get an idea of where the buttons were - but it felt like I did that. Whatever it was.
The fight continued, and my opponent's fiery kicks caught me off guard on many occasions, but I was soon able to knock him down a few pegs into his 'T.O.P.' phase, which is the gimmick that sets Mark of the Wolves aside from other fighters.
Each characters health bar can have a set 'Tactical Offense Position', usually the last third but any third is an option, which grants that character bonus damage and some small life recovery, so long as their health remains in that part of their health bar.
By knocking Jae Hoon down to his final third chunk of health, he was now more of a threat - or would have been had he not eaten an elbow to end the round.
Like Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, I was graded on my performance in the fight, getting a triple A rank, which sounds damn good, thank you very much. I'll take anything over the E+ I usually get...
The next round would see me move into the bell tower, amongst the doves and the dangerous young ladies who make this location their battle arena, for some reason.
While it was certainly possible for me to find good stills where fancy animations showed how powerful I was, most of these attacks were the result of button mashing. I have no idea how to pull them off. I know there are light and heavy punches and kicks, and that's about it. How any of this is occurring is beyond me.
On the one hand, that's fine - I don't have to be great to make cool stuff happen. But on the other hand, I am perhaps more clearly than ever just spamming inputs to get the job done, which isn't how you play a fighter - or it shouldn't be.
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| I wasn't following the plot, so I don't know what this is. |
I still get beaten up by my opponents along the way, who are able to pull off the flashy moves and combos with some regularity, as well as perform health-giving defensive moves that I can only dream of, but these fights still fall in my favour.
Further Frustrations
Until the third fight, when I can barely get a word in before having my head spiked into the ring by the wrestler, Tizoc. I assumed, given his size, he'd be slower but more powerful than me. While that's probably true, it felt so very false, as he drop-kicked me into oblivion, threw me into the ropes, a punched my lights right out.
That was the end of my run with Rock, and while I would go on to read that the game is actually pretty accommodating, giving you the ability to try again with dropped difficulty or altered stats, I didn't know that at the time and instead tried to find a faster character, thinking that speed was what I needed.
Further Fun Times
I don't know if it was the speed that worked here, but I'll certainly see where Jenet the pirate will take me. Again, character design should lead to some idea of what do to, but Jenet's arms are about as long and lanky as her legs, so slaps as well as kicks are the order of the day.
Once again though, I still don't know what I'm doing in order to do the things I do. They look cool, and I imagine they sound alright too, but can't know that for sure with this current set up. Animations are fluid and a little larger than life. They're expressive and perhaps more arcadey than Street Fighter. Maybe I say that because of character recognition rather than art style though, I'm not sure.
Further Frustrations
I wish I knew what I was doing! An SS fighting level must mean I've improved over an AAA, but how and where and why? What is my S power? How do I use it? What kind of inputs or button combos do I need? There's an entire fighting system here that is out of my grasp and hindering my enjoyment. I don't want to do these moves by accident.
I progress further with Jenet, but again, stage three is my limit. It's the button mashing brick wall in every fighting game it seems.
Final Word
With four basic attack buttons, you can get stuck in in no time at all. There's a taunt button which I'm sure has some function beyond triggering an animation, and there's another attack button that seems to do different things with different characters. I'm yet to figure out how best to use that button, because it currently seems useless, which only brings up the point that I am most certainly not the kind of player to advise you on which fighting games to play.
I do like them though. Two-player games of any kind are generally great, and the fighting genre pits you against someone else on level terms, baring character stats and skill levels (more or less). They are a great showcase of the understanding a player has for a character and the game they're found in.
Or it is for the experts because for most other people, it's a showcase of chaos and confusion. Often great looking and feeling confusion, but confusion nonetheless.
I'll remember Mark of the Wolves for being simple to get into and rewarding in feeling, but I don't think I'd find myself playing it too much again because it doesn't strike me as anything above average - and yet average games largely don't find themselves on 1001 Must Play lists, so this can't be an average fighter.
I find the characters a bit generic and forgettable, and I've not got a perfect emulator set up to hear it at its best, but I admire it's welcoming nature. Though I'm still yet to find a fighter that gives me those Tekken familiarity vibes.
Fun Facts
A sequel was said to be on the horizon as far back as 2005, but still nothing has surfaced.
Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves, developed by SNK, first released in 1999.
Version played: Dreamcast, 2001, via emulation.