Survival Mode is designed for those who have a tad more experience and skill.

The goal is to win as many battles as possible with the only hope for replenished health coming from the occasional dropped bauble from your adversary. This non-stop series of battles has your randomly selected opponents dropping power-ups. Along with Story Mode is a Survival Mode. Cheap? Sure, but it's there if you need the assistance.

If you're defeated in the Story Mode, you have the option to continue the game at a lower difficulty, with your power meter full (to perform a devastation move right off the bat) or with your opponent at 1/4 health. For those who aren't so good at fighting games, you can still get through the Story Mode. Do you start off a match with this extra power or save it for when you are close to death?

There's a slight bit of strategy to where you places your T.O.P. section, your character gains additional power and access to new moves. It can be at the beginning of your health meter, the middle or at the end of your bar. Before entering battle, you select your T.O.P. The most notable element of the fight mechanics is the T.O.P. If you can do the standard fireball moves and aren't intimidated by multiple punch and kick buttons, you can handle everything Fatal Fury offers. The characters have personality (who wouldn't want to play as a dude named Butt?) and the fight moves are easy enough to pull off that even casual fight fans can get some enjoyment out of it. Fatal Fury is halfway between Street Fighter and Guilty Gear, both in terms of its zaniness and its complexity, which makes for a good balance. It's a bit of a disappointment and most will likely give Fatal Fury one look and think 'too ugly to be any fun.' But get past the bad music and decade-old visuals and you'll find a deep, enjoyable fighting game.

Rather than hi-res character models, you can turn on 'soft focus' to make them blurry. Though there are some decent wallpapers to border the visuals, this hasn't received the love and attention Capcom's paid to its downloadable fighting games. Little has been done to improve on Fatal Fury from its original release. Though it's ten years old (and looks it) Mark of the Wolves' gameplay still holds up, making it a great option for folks who are tired of Street Fighter. In fact, Mark of the Wolves is one of my favorite Dreamcast games. Though it may have an unfortunate name, Fatal Fury: Garou – Mark of the Wolves is a fantastic old-school fighter.

Garou mark of the wolves release date