Archview #45: Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition

 Can I have the port of Real Bout 3 for PS1 please? You can keep this one in Japan.

 Lo and behold, one of SNK's earlier 3D fighters! The victim to the 3D treatment this time is Fatal Fury, and while it's not great, it could've been much, much worse.
 The game retains the Punch, Kick, Strong and Evade buttons from the 2D installments, however, the evade button instead of throwing you to the back plane, produces a side step of sorts, more like a roll really. The game has 2D roots so, naturally, it has an energy gauge that allows for special attacks. At the beginning of each match, the gauge starts at 50%, taking damage reduces it and dealing it increases it, however, the gauge will always try to stay at 50%, which means that if it falls below, it will raise slowly, and if it's above, it will decrease slowly, untill you max it out that is. Reaching 0% leaves you dizzy, while having it at "MAX" allows for Super and Overdrive moves. Overdrive moves consume much more gauge, but in turn deal massive damage. By using a bit of gauge, you can also use a counterattack, executed while blocking, and a "Fierce" attack that leaves the opponent dizzy.

 As for modes, there's only: Arcade, VS, Team Battle and Training, not a whole lot to do. For what it's worth, there's a couple of cutscenes during Arcade Mode, reminicent of the original Fatal Fury, plus, each character has an ending... that lasts 5-10 seconds and makes absolutely no sense, most of them anyways. As for the roster, there are 12 default characters and two unlockable ones, of these 14, 2 are new comers to the Fatal Fury Universe(3 if you include Mr.Karate(Ryo)). It's a bit disappointing, since Fatal Fury has a nice cast of characters that skipped this installment, where the hell is Blue Mary or Cheng?
 The game looks very decent, stages are the usual, for the PS1, endless 3D stages with 2D backdrops, at least they look quite nice, albeit a bit boring. Characters look really good, if a bit simple, but some animations feel a bit awkward. Then there's the official art for the game that actuall looks quite cool and unique, specially the loading screens. The music is very dull, and sound effects lack oomph, to top it off, voice samples are really low quality. All in all, the game itself feels as if it lacks... something.

 All in all, it's not a terrible game, and on the flipside, considering other 3D fighters from SNK and the 90s, the game could've been much, much worse.
 5 outta 10.