Disclaimer: I’m a fan of SNK.
In the past, everyone had a wrestling franchise that was their favorite. In the ’90s, we had some great ones.
Mortal Kombat appeared in arcades around 1992. Street Fighter was born in the late 80s and achieved great fame in the 90s with the Championship Edition. Fatal Fury also arrived in 1991, followed by Fatal Fury 2 in 1992. To complete the list, it is best to mention that Tekken and Virtual Fighter are also popular.
Like most kids of the ’80s and ’90s, I spent a lot of time in the game room. My favorite fighting game has always been the SNK series. Usually Fatal Fury or World Heroes (I beat them both).
So, to be totally transparent and fair…SNK is my problem.
The first Fatal Fury movie I saw was Fatal Fury 2. I was working at a Suncoast video store at the time and probably bought a copy of the VHS when it was released. I don’t remember it entirely, but what I do remember is that I was very impressed with the movie. So much so that I later bought the DVD.
This movie has always had a special place on my list of favorites. Largely because of the music. But I also remembered him representing my favorite characters in the game very well.
I decided to sit down and watch it again to write a review. Here are my thoughts on this 90’s anime movie that I have always enjoyed. Does it hold up?
Spoiler alert! I’m like completely telling most of the story below.
Round 1 – Fight!
fatal fury 2was released in 1994 by Viz Communications and has one of the most powerful openings of any anime film I’ve ever seen.
It begins with a montage of events as the story’s antagonist plays the organ in his castle chapel. This organ music is beautiful and chilling. It’s haunting and has become a big earworm (a song stuck in your head) for me over the years.
During the montage, we see the new villain, Wolfgang Krauser, searching for the first film’s villain, Geese Howard. Geese goes into hiding while recovering from injuries he suffered during the epic battle between him and the hero of the game and film series, Terry Bogard.
When Wolfgang finds Geese, he asks him who the man is who defeated the “King of Southtown.” Geese has no qualms about responding.
Having played and beaten Geese myself, it almost feels like Geese is telling Wolfgang Krauser that the person who beat him is me. Again… chills.
Fatal Fury 2 has the type of animation that I like and when combined with the voice acting, the characters come to life on the screen.
We are introduced to Terry as he works on the docks. He is clearly trying to live a normal, anonymous life. While doing his job, he faces another fighter.
Terry is our hero. He is calm and courteous. He represents the common man, who is simply living his life while trying to help a less fortunate child. He doesn’t want to fight, but he will. Especially when he appears to be an honorable challenger.
The fight begins and the scene transforms into something similar to the background of a 90s fighting game. They are on the docks and the clouds cover them. It’s perfect, it’s just missing a graphic that says, ROUND 1 – Fight!
When Terry fights Kim Kapwhan, he suffers a small injury that appears to be something that has bothered him since his battle with Geese. Terry is fine and easily defeats Kim and out of honor blows him out of the water after the fight.
Right after the fight, Krauser makes his presence known and confronts Terry in an alley.
Krauser is a mix of things, he sounds almost like Dracula and looks like he belongs in another 90s anime like BASTARD! o Record of the Lodoss War.
Terry’s fear of meeting Krauser and being surpassed by his fighting skills is acceptable. He appears to be able to read and imitate his opponent’s movements and easily kicks Terry’s ass.
Round 2 – Fight!!
This is where the story really begins.
Fatal Fury 2 is a story of redemption. Terry has suffered a huge loss and is not handling it well.
With another glorious use of music, which is gripping and emotional, we see Terry spiral. He’s drinking. Wandering streets. Getting beaten up by bullies. He is a broken man.
And we, as viewers, can accompany him on this sad journey in the form of a montage with precise angles and perfect use of slow motion.
To really elevate the story, the writers give us a flashback to further develop our villain and his motives. This is when we learn how Krauser and Geese are connected. It turns out that they are half brothers.
Finally, we are introduced to the other major players of the Fatal Fury franchise, as they learn of Terry’s loss.
First up, the biggest sex symbol in all of SNK games, Mai Shiranui! Mai has certain attributes that fans love and in order to serve those fans, those attributes often… bounce around. I’m just saying. 😉
Mai is in love with Terry’s brother, Andy Bogard, and while Andy is training, she attacks him. She’s a bit in a bad mood with Andy (he’s been ignoring her) and at first Mai seems to be a fighter who fits in well with him.
But once Andy finds out what happened to his brother, thanks to his friend Joe Higashi, he returns to his normal serenity. In fact, it’s easy to say that Andy is too cool for school. He doesn’t want what Mai is selling (while the rest of us do!).
Now that we’ve met Andy and Joe, the three main characters from the Fatal Fury series are now alive on our screen and, boy, do they really look and sound like you’d expect. As if they came out of the Neo Geo arcade machine and directly onto the television screen.
Once again, the organ music from the film’s introduction plays in the background as Jubei, the teacher at the school where Andy and Mai trained, tells the group the story of Wolfgang Krauser.
I should point out that as a writer, the most important rule is to show and don’t tell. In this scene, we see Andy grab his knee and then make a fist. This is a great example of the rule. They could have made him say, “I’m angry!” or “This makes me so angry!” But instead, they showed him getting angry. Amazing!!!
Jubei challenges Andy to a fight because he won’t let Andy rush into Krauser. As they fight, we are once again shown the emotions of a character as we see Mai’s eyes tremble and shine with concern and care for Andy.
Round 3 – Fight!!!
I don’t want to spoil the whole movie. Just know that we are rewarded with more flashbacks, this time masterfully showing Terry’s background. After this, Terry begins to pull himself together and get back into the game.
There is a long climactic battle. Our hero and villain fight, exchanging kick for kick and punch for punch. And yes, the unthinkable happens.
One last spoiler… and this is the moment that hurts my feelings the most. Krauser… his…. His… his huge organ is destroyed. No, not your psychopaths! The one where the haunting music plays! Man, what a loss!
It may seem like I’m repeating myself, but the music in this movie is a character in itself. And when the film’s seventy-five minutes are up, it only seems like twenty minutes. It flows that well.
Final thoughts
Fatal Fury 2 is one of my favorite anime movies from the 90s. Yes, I’ve seen Akira. It was my favorite in the ’90s. I’ve probably seen it 10 or 11 times. But when rewatching anime movies from the 90s, I have to say that I prefer to watch Fatal Fury 2 over and over again.
So, I would include Perfect Blue and Fatal Fury 2 as my favorites. I mean one is a cinematic masterpiece and the other is, well, Perfect Blue. 😛
I’m kidding! I’m kidding!
What do they say? There is no accounting for taste. In this blog, we believe that. Taste is subjective and not objective. To each his own. 😊