SNK is a legendary company and have produced many amazing games, especially fighting games. One game that is held to be the peak of their greatness is Garou Mark of The Wolves. The last canonical entry in the Fatal Fury series, Garou was often compared to Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike from Capcom, perhaps as part of the ongoing rivalry between the two companies. MOTW brought many innovative ideas to the genre and was greatly acclaimed, but does it hold up? Or is this another game that was good for its time and better left in the past?
Well after going back to it for a while, I can safely say the game is actually better than I remember it being. Garou is one of the best designed fighting games ever made and a technical masterpiece. The game is one that anyone could learn but it requires effort to master. It is far more accessible that 3rd strike but just as technical. New ideas such as the Just Defended, the T.O.P. System, and Breaking brought a lot of variety to the table and made the game stand out more. the technical aspects of the game hold up great and I spent a lot of time playing through the game, re-familiarizing myself with it and enjoying myself the entire time. The fun factor is still there. the game is designed to bring you in and give you the means to get better while having you do the work yourself. it doesn’t hold your hand but it doesn’t just throw you into the pool and leave you to survive on your own.
In addition, the game managed to introduce so many more great new characters like Tizoc and Rock Howard who have become fan favourite, and the stages were some of the best. Some of these characters have been making appearances but most have been held for a potential Garou 2 which hasn’t happened yet, but SNK does want it to be a reality. SNK took everything they learned from the series up to this point, and the result was magic.
I would definitely recommend this game to SNK fans and fighting game fans in general. This is one of the best ever made.