Fatal Fury Battle Archives Volume 1 review

Remember those old 2D fighting games you loved? Time to test your memory

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12DOVE Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Seeing the series evolve

  • +

    Goofy personality

  • +

    Price

Cons

  • -

    Could use more stuff

  • -

    Dated looks

  • -

    Can be wickedly tough

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Aug 29, 2007

This is one of those games that we love to see. It appeals to a very specific subset of gamers, no question – if you don’t remember Fatal Fury games fondly, there’s nothing for you here – but it’s a nice collection for those of us who like a good, 2D fighting throwdown now and then.

Fatal Fury Battle Archives Vol 1 collects the first four Fatal Fury games: Fatal Fury, Fatal Fury 2, Fatal Fury Special (basically a tweaked 2), and Fatal Fury 3 Road to the Final Victory – which, for the record, was nowhere near final because there are at least six more games in the series. The first is actually equal parts 2D fighter and beat ‘em-up, complete with a two player co-op mode, but the remaining three are all standard, arcade-style, 2D, one-on-one fighting games.

More info

GenreFighting
DescriptionA collection of timeless 2D arcade fighting games, though not quite enough of them to make this a must-buy.
Platform"PS2"
US censor rating"Teen"
UK censor rating""
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
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Eric Bratcher
Eric Bratcher
I was the founding Executive Editor/Editor in Chief here at GR, charged with making sure we published great stories every day without burning down the building or getting sued. Which isn't nearly as easy as you might imagine. I don't work for GR any longer, but I still come here - why wouldn't I? It's awesome. I'm a fairly average person who has nursed an above average love of video games since I first played Pong just over 30 years ago. I entered the games journalism world as a freelancer and have since been on staff at the magazines Next Generation and PSM before coming over to GamesRadar. Outside of gaming, I also love music (especially classic metal and hard rock), my lovely wife, my pet pig Bacon, Japanese monster movies, and my dented, now dearly departed '89 Ranger pickup truck. I pray sincerely. I cheer for the Bears, Bulls, and White Sox. And behind Tyler Nagata, I am probably the GR staffer least likely to get arrested... again.
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