Out of all the critically-acclaimed one-on-one fighting games produced by SNK over the decades, Garou: Mark of the Wolves has to rank as one of the most beloved and revered. Released at time when 3D visuals were taking the industry by a storm, it was seen by some as a companion piece to Capcom's equally gorgeous Street Fighter III; a bold proclamation that hand-drawn, 2D visuals still had a place in the market, despite the inexorable march of technology. Like Capcom's deep and rewarding fighter, Garou takes the tried-and-tested fighting game formula and adds layer upon layer of complexity and detail to create one of the most enjoyable examples of the genre.
Set ten years after the dramatic events of Fatal Fury 3, Garou is undoubtedly part of that popular series (it was even referred to as Fatal Fury 4: Mark of the Wolves when it was released on the Dreamcast in North America), but casual observers would be forgiven for not realising this fact; the only returning character is Terry Bogard, and the rest of the cast is entirely new - although some of them are clearly supposed to replace existing Fatal Fury stars and boast familiar fighting styles.
Terry is one of SNK's most famous faces, but he shares top billing in Garou with Rock Howard, the son of series antagonist Geese Howard. With his father's death at the conclusion of Fatal Fury 3 - a death which Terry tried to prevent, as shown in Garou's excellent introduction sequence - Rock becomes Terry's adopted son, remaining at his side for the next decade and slowly learning his fighting techniques. However, there's still some of his man in Rock; his moveset combines the talents of both Terry and Geese, and it's little wonder that he has gone on to become one of the more popular fighters in SNK's stable.
Outside of these two combatants, there are many other striking fighters to master. For example, Kim Dong-Hwan is the son of former Fatal Fury star Kim Kap-Hwan and plays very similarly, while Bonne Jenet is a female pirate who uses the power of the wind to defeat her opponents. Compared to the likes of King of Fighters, the roster in Garou seems pitifully small. This could present an issue to those players who spend months learning the moves of multiple characters, but it's not a massive shortcoming - especially when you consider the depth of the fighting system.
While Fatal Fury's trademark two-plane arenas have finally been removed, SNK has really gone to town on bolstering almost every other aspect of the game. Aside from the usual selection of special and super special moves, characters can evade incoming blows, taunt their opponents and roll out of attacks with timely button presses. The "Just Defend" system is SNK's answer to Street Fighter III's parry system; by blocking an attack at the last possible moment you can replenish a small amount of your life meter and gain the opportunity to unleash a devastating counter attack. Another big addition is the "Tactical Offense Position" or T.O.P. Mode, which has to be configured before you begin a game. You place your T.O.P. activation area on your life meter, and when it's triggered your moves gain additional power, you can use a special T.O.P. attack and your stamina slowly recovers. Understanding and exploiting this feature of Garou can mean the difference between success and failure, and it lends the game a surprisingly tactical feel.
Mastering Garou's battle system as well as honing your skills with each of its characters is something that will take weeks and perhaps even months, making this one of the most compelling fighters available on any system. During that time you'll also be blessed with some of the most exquisite 2D visuals ever produced; while the Neo Geo hardware was limited in terms of overall resolution, SNK's designers really went to town when it came to animation. Every character in Garou animates smoothly and convincingly, and the character designs are eye-catching and distinctive, while still maintaining an obvious visual connection with previous Fatal Fury outings, such as the similarly-striking Real Bout sub-series. The audio is perhaps a little less remarkable; the voices and sound effects are superb, and you almost feel like winching as each blow connects with a dramatic thud. There are some standout tunes here as well, but others seem forgettable and jarring - a possible consequence of SNK's audio team finally hitting the limits of what the Neo Geo hardware was capable of.
Hamster Corp's conversion to the Switch is faultless, and those 2D visuals really look incredible on the Switch's screen. As is the case with pretty much all the SNK fighters released on the console thus far, the game really benefits from the use of the Pro Controller, which has a proper D-Pad. Even so, it's possible to become pretty skillful with the Joy-Con analogue stick, if no alternative control option exists. A match between two skilled players is a joy to behold, so being able to host matches outside of the house is a real boon; the Switch's Joy-Cons really are a bonus for those who fondly recall the joy of local multiplayer matches.
Conclusion
While Street Fighter and King of Fighters continue to dominate the one-on-one combat genre, Garou: Mark of the Wolves will be remembered as an undisputed high-point for this style of game. This is the work of a company at the height of its powers, with an intimate understanding of hardware which was - by 1999 - almost a decade old. The controls are tight, the cast is varied and appealing (if a little small) and the visuals rank as some of the best examples of hand-drawn artwork ever seen in a video game. It therefore goes without saying that Garou is an essential purchase for each and every Switch owner, even if you don't consider yourself to be a fan of the genre.
Comments 54
Hmm... I'm giving it a 10/10 since it just keeps on aging beautifully.
I remember playing this on the Dreamcast, the 2D graphics and smooth gameplay were state of the art at the time. Now that my disc is all but scratch up and the game doesn't run as accurate anymore I'm glad SNK and Hamster brought this over. Now it's portable Mark of the Wolves on the go for me.
Would love to see Street Fighter III: Third Strike join this on the Switch!
9/10 all day long. Wonderful fluid game with a really snazzy presentation.
Hmm. Going to wait for the consensus on ARMs before investing in any other fighters. That and I'm expecting a Smash Deluxe announcement at E3 so I'll pass for now.
I hate it when people use the word 'essential' in relation to one of my gaming systems - I can feel my wallet lifting itself out of my pocket as I read it.
I've managed to avoid the Neo-Geo games thus far.
But apparently this one is essential.
Fine.
Would love to know when the Hori stick is coming out for the switch and how mutch it is going to be?
As one of the biggest fans of SNK and this game in particular I have to strongly disagree with this review.
Shipping a fantastic fighting game without a TRAINING mode or even ONLINE PLAY should knock serious points off of this version of the game. Espec. when other platforms have smiliarly priced editions with online and training (and achievements!).
9? Lol. All hype.
Undisputable high point... but PLEASE.
It's the work of a DEAD company, and it shows.
The cast is the WORST of the serie, without any charisma. Copycats.
Well, not a single word makes sense, I should stop quoting here, though I'm sorry to say it but this review is a joke. The worst I've read on this site.
As he is an afficionado of such retro games I would trust @Damo fully in his assessment. Gonna be hard to resist a buy here.
@gcunit lol! Yea Switch is such a money burn.
Other than terry Borgard. The rest of the characters were forgetful. This was a step back
...I had no clue that there would be other humans on planet Earth that would not love "Garou"! Once again, Nintendo Life comments section has taught me an important life lesson.
I've never actually heard of this.
Watching gameplay footage of it on YouTube, since you've not provided any in the actual review--dear professional gaming sites, this is 2017 and we have the [digital] internet where you can post actual videos in your articles; it's not like the old days of paper and print--it looks very impressive. The sprite work is gorgeous (particularly on the fighters and their animations); it's far more appealing to me than the slightly plasticky 3D graphics in more recent SNK fighting games.
Here's gameplay footage of the game for anyone interested in actually seeing it in motion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvnjoAjYBb4
PS. I watched The Lion King 3D in VR the other day, inside the Oculus Rift and an app called Bigscreen that let's you watch movies inside a virtual cinema (in 3D if they're 3D movies), and it was stunning. The look of actual 2D hand drawn/painted art but seen in a way that actually made it look three dimensional is exactly how I wish modern 3D games that are trying to look like classic 2D games but in 3D actually looked, rather than them all looking very rendered and plasticky and sort of losing most of the stuff that was visually appealing about the original 2D games in the first place. If you have a VR headset I would highly recommend watching The Lion King 3D; you'll immediately understand what I mean. Honestly, watching it in 3D made it pretty much the most beautiful animation I've ever watched, including all the actual 3D ones; it was literally a work of art.
I don't like fighting games, so I'll pass. Oh, hang on...
"It therefore goes without saying that Garou is an essential purchase for each and every Switch owner, even if you don't consider yourself to be a fan of the genre."
Ok, I'd better get this, to see what the fuss is about!
@Tetsuro Opinions, opinions, opinions.
The only fighting games I've played outside of Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat are Killer Instinct Gold, Mace: The Dark Ages, DBZ: Budokai, DBZ: BT2 & 3, and Naruto: CoNR 2 & 3, Bloody Roar, Soul Calibur, Tekken 3, and MvC2.
I would love to get into the Fatal Fury and other SNK fighting series. I would also like to see Guilty Gear, Blazeblue, and others show up on Nintendo consoles.
I haven't even played Tekken Tag Tournament 2 or Injustice: Gods Among Us.
@BionicDodo If everything is an opinion nothing has value.
These characters are far worse than classics (Rock Howard is NOTHING, what is that? A mix of Terry and Kyo? Better Terry AND Kyo. Where are Benimaru, Billy Kane, etc. where are the charismatic characters? Hotaru Futaba is nothing compared to Mai Shiranui), it's a fact.
Music is mediocre at best, fact.
Animations are computerized instead of hand drawn, fact.
Backgrounds are mediocre, fact.
This game isn't bad, at all, it's just a decent game, and this review is completely off.
@Tetsuro If every detail here is a fact rather than an opinion then why read the article at all? Why read anything about things you already know all the facts about? One thing that is a fact - you should try to be a little less obnoxious.
A great review, but to say that even non-fans of the genre should get it is a bit extreme. Unlike a fine platforming experience (and some other genres), not everyone will be charmed by the expertise and the perfect crafting of this beat'em up. It takes someone with a minimal experience in the genre.
@Kanbei To get it and the second version of the Jojo game would be great, CPS3 games look wonderful (they looked even more beautiful in those early 3D games days).
@BionicDodo Reading is essential for understanding if the reviewer is credible or if it talks about fried air. If it's a victim of hype or a good reviewer.
It's obvious that a Neo-Geo fan already know what's good and what's bad by its own experience but it's still important to criticize where things are off. Though I understand that it's difficult to review such genre.
World is full of sheeps.
I remember playing this game a lot. The 2D graphics were pretty great and it was nice to see an older, (wiser?) Terry Bogard.
@Rei You don't need any experience since it's the more streamlined episode of all. It's easy to beat, it has 'easy' characters that appeal to the masses. Those that a sheep would say 'hey, it's cool'. It has computerized animations that looks 'complex' to immature eyes.
This is the 'Fatal Fury' (if we can still call it like that) watered down for the masses.
Still holds up today really well
@Tetsuro You must be a Guilty Gear fan
Ive got this, Sam Showdown 4, and KOF 98. My 4 yr old loves fighting games and he's all about Showdown 4. I wont let him play KOF due to the girl with the bouncing boobs. I grew up with SF2 and never got into the SNK games- my first one was SNK vs Capcom on the Dreamcast. Im coming into this with a pretty much blank slate and am interested in finding out which one I like the best.
@GrailUK Nope, not really. I do like SNK beat 'em ups, outside of SNK I like Street Fighter II and Street Fighter Alpha 2.
Capcom is very good as SNK. Though I love more SNK because characters have far more charisma (Birdie for example is horrible in SFA), backgrounds looks better, high quality gameplay, etc. Though SF has high quality gameplay and collisions, also graphically solid.
SNK died in 1998. From 1999 onward produced just average games.
I agree with those commenting the reviewer has been caught up in the hype. 7 out of 10 game, 8 (perhaps) when it's firing on all cylinders. SFIII: Third Strike (for example) however blows this out of the water. Give us that.
Actually this game follows the events of Real Bout, not Fatal Fury 3.
I prefer Real Bout but this one isn't bad. I already have the PS4 version so I will be skipping this.
@gojiguy You know those things are not gonna happen as long as we're getting the MVS versions of the game under ACA. Or MAYBE we get online later when Nintendo's online services go live. We don't really know the scope of what HAMSTER can handle in terms of online play and technical resources, they're a small company. In order to have it all, SNK themselves would need to come in and release ports of those other, more complete, versions of the game. Which, of course, would compete with the ACA releases and their agreements with HAMSTER. Who knows? If enough people buy the ACA titles, we might see it happen.
@gcunit You know what? Metal Slug 3 is another essential game, ask around if you like, it's a secret to everybody
Why tho .. snooze 💤
Personally I find that the D-pad on pro controller is not as suitable for fighting games as I thought, it sticks out a little too much for fast and precise input. Also the in-game manual is a joke. But a masterpiece is a masterpiece, this game is a blast to mess with.
Classic, this game is on every current gen console. I think it's on PC and mobile devices too. So I guess everybody wins with this one.
I'd totally buy it, if it weren't an arcade game with no other modes than single- or multiplayer.
@gojiguy I agree. I've been anticipating this game for a week. Since then, I noticed that PSN had their port of this game on sale (Vita/PS4 cross buy). I bought it, fully knowing that I was still going to get the Switch version. I just couldn't wait. While both ports have their pros and cons (when compared to the other), I think that the Playstation port proves that enhancing an older title with online support is VERY possible to execute successfully. Nintendo could stand to learn a valuable lesson. All these ports of great fighting games, and no online multiplayer lessens sales
@impurekind - I couldn't agree more. I've not seen The Lion King 3D, but pure 2D has so much artistry to it. Not that there's no talent in making 3D models, it's just that pixel art does it for me. I'm currently playing the King of Fighters games, and they're utterly gorgeous.
@Tetsuro Everything you claimed as fact, is not fact, but your own opinion, (except computerized animations, which no one gives a crap about except you, and certainly doesn't warrant lowering a review score) of which most don't agree with. I have been playing 2D fighters since they debuted in arcades, and Rock is one of my favorite SNK characters. Sorry dude, but your personal opinion isn't magically facts, because you want it to be.
@jbopatrick It is, the fact that you adore decent games doesn't mean they are great.
Quality is about quality, not about amusement of one person. And not about 'I got first'.
I can say that I enjoyed more Last Blade than Last Blade 2 but the latter is same level quality wise. It's not the case of Mark of the Wolves that's clearly inferior to RBFF or FF3 on many points, especially the roster of characters.
@Tetsuro @Tetsuro I see. Sorry, I was only reacting to what I understood from the review (that any people ignorant of this kind of gamewould be able to see its good points in terms of a fighting game): I think that such things are clear to see in this genre only if you have played a minimum of this kind and are appreciated only if you have a certain taste for beat'em up games.
PS: I played a lot to those games with my little brother back when he was a SNK and Terry fan but I tended to prefer SvC as "recent" NeoGeo game and Real Bout (not sure anymore wich episode, probably the Special or the second one). I also largely prefered the graphic style of the Real Bout series.
What I am trying to say is, I certainly have not the ability to judge those games since I am not quite knowledgeable.
edit: just read a previous comment, I doubt a 4 year old child would notice the pirate's boobs dancing on their own. XD I know I was not sensible to all the breasts and penises in Dragon Ball.
@Rei Real Bout episodes are all excellent, you can't go wrong with any of them. Real Bout 2 has the best graphics of any SNK game (beat 'em up), period. The first has the best music and a bit slower gameplay, it's also harder. It's really all about taste with these episodes, it would be difficult to say 'this is the better one'.
And the Garou in this review can't hold a candle to any of them.
This is a solid fighting game. If you don't want to bombard your Switch with all of them, this would be a good choice or starting point. I may repurchase this game even though I have the PSTV version.
Other great choices are Waku Waku 7, KOF '98, and I'd like to say Samurai Shodown 4. However; I haven't played that particular one yet.
These are fantastic and inexpensive arcade fighting games to pass time with. I'll eventually buy them all.
@Damo do you happen to know if it's possible to play local multiplayer with 2 joycons?
@NImH Yep, you can with all of the Neo Geo games released so far
@Damo i cannot figure out how to make it happen... Not the first time a solution is looking me right in the face, but might you shed some light? 😌
@NImH When you're in-game, drop back to the home screen and enter the controller options screen. Disconnect both Joy-Con and hold down the L and R buttons on each to configure them as separate controllers. Go back into the game, and boom.
@Damo my thanks to you! That did it!
None of that stuff happened in Fatal Fury 3: Road to Final Victory. The last canon game before hand was Real Bout Fatal Fury. That's when Geese fell to his death, for real that time.
@Kanbei SFIII is included in the street fighter anniversary collection coming march 2018
@_tane Yes, and with online play! Super pumped!
@Kanbei Your dream came true... I am grateful
@ZmanTheTech Ha yes! I am having a blast with it! Have you picked it up?
@Kanbei Oh you know it! I was really hoping they would've added online to Mark of Wolves too, but the fact i could get it (legitimately) for $7.99 and play it locally both (eng/jap) is fair enough.
I'd love to see marvel vs capcom 2 on the switch. I had it for ps2 and paid 30 pounds for it for it to be left at my ex partners. Great game though and best in series by a longshot👍⚒️
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