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 and is now back on PlayStation 4 and Vita. But does it hold up? Or is this another game that was good for its time and better left in the past?
Well I am pleased to say that after spending the day play Garou MOTW, 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.
Garou MOTW has a great art style that still looks great today and it really shines on an HD TV set. The music is amazing and the game allows you to go into Music Menu to listen to character and stage themes when you want to. You will want to do that because the music is just that amazing.
The game has a great cast of characters, most of whom could really use another appearance, especially protagonist Rock Howard, Terry Boggard’s adopted son. Some 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.
There are some issues. The online has some delay and I did encounter issues getting matches, but I am confident that SNK will fix this considering how much effort they have put into fixing King of Fighters XIV. Aside from that, the port is amazing.
I would definitely recommend this game to SNK fans and fighting game fans in general. This is one of the best ever made.