| Garou: Mark of the Wolves | Stories | Move List | Gallery | Soundtrack | Achievements | Credits |
Certainly, they existed... Those blinded by ambition. Those consumed with vengeance. But here, they do not exist. Only winners and losers here. For here, THE MIGHTY RULE!
-Intro
Yes, they do exist... Those who sacrifice all for their ambitions. Those who endanger all for the taste of revenge. Whose actions are just? Justice is not the issue. The victorious will survive. The vanquished shall fall. This is the only justice. For ten years later... THE MIGHTY RULE!
-Prologue
Legends don't die... They get better!
-Tagline
Garou: Mark of the Wolves (
In 2006, as part of SNK's celebration of the series' 15 year anniversary, a retrospective movie was made to take place shortly after. It recaps the events of the canonical Fatal Fury games: Fatal Fury, Fatal Fury 2, Fatal Fury 3, and Real Bout Fatal Fury; it is particularly notable for appearances or mentions of characters previously missing from the MOTW era, as Geese Howard, Duck King, Richard Meyer and Blue Mary. The main illustrations were done by Eisuke Ogura, and some illustrations were made by Tonko.
In December 2016, the game was released for three platforms: for PS4 and PS Vita, on day 3, and for Steam, on day 9. There was already another PC version, released by the Humble Bundle, in January of that year, and another released by GOG, in October 5, 2017. In May 11, 2017, as part of ACA Neo Geo, the game is released for Nintendo Switch.
In January 22, 2020, Code Mystics updated the online mode of the game to utilize GGPO, also known as "Rollback Netcode," attested as one of the most reliable online play protocols in the industry. The same process occurred with The King of Fighters '97, The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match, The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match, The Last Blade 2 and Samurai Shodown V Special (only on PS4). [1]
The main illustrations are made by TONKO.
Story[]
Set ten years after the death of the notorious crime lord Geese Howard, the city of South Town has become more peaceful. Now, the stage is in the neighboring city of Second South Town. A new fighting tournament called "King of Fighters: Maximum Mayhem" starts in the area, and several characters related with the fighters from the old era of King of Fighters tournaments participate within it.
Prologue - from the official Garou: Mark of the Wolves Website[]
However, just starving does not mean you are truly starving. It only becomes meaningful when you fight to not starve and continue to seek.
-Kain R. Heinlein
There was once a group of men who dedicated everything towards the fight.
One was bent on revenge. One was consumed with ambition. Justice had nothing to do with them.
However, with their beliefs held with their fists, they fought.... and decided their own destiny.
This is a story from the past.
Ten years would soon follow....
Ever since that invitation was opened, the young man was unsure of what to do.
.... The King of Fighters.
A famous martial arts tournament spectacle, drawing martial artists and fighters throughout the world to its event. Not since the death of Geese Howard, has one been held ever since.
... Why is that?
The young man read the invitation over again.
The Official Announcement of
The King of Fighters - Maximum Mayhem
Addressing - Terry Bogard - Champion of the Prior King of Fighters
Since ten long years, the world famous King of Fighters Tournament has returned.
As previous champion, we personally invite you, Terry Bogard, with all anticipation, to return and participate and compete as the reigning defending champion.
In addition, according to word within the martial arts world, we also invite and encourage you to bring Rock Howard, whose fighting abilities and martial arts prowess has garnered us with awe. We hope that both of your willing participation will make this King of Fighters Tournament an amazing year like no other.
In addition, should you win this tournament, we are offering an additional bonus to your first place prize. Please consider and look forward to doing your utmost best.
Furthermore, with the graces of our sponsors, there will be a special winning product from our organizer. It is....
Just like the last time, the young man's eyes closed and looked away. Turning his head to the skies, the young man then continued reading.
.... For now, all we state is that we have information pertaining to Rock Howard's mother.
Should you win, we shall be glad to divulge such information to you.
Please look forward to this incentive. We also look forward to your participation.
Heinlein Family Butler,
Arnold Sebastian
When the young man finished reading the invitation, he closed his eyes again. A few seconds later, as he opened them, they widened, with confirmation and resolve upon making up his mind. All the while, he voiced his decision to the man preparing for the trip ahead.
"Terry... I've decided."
"What's the plan, Rock?"
The young man stood up from his seat. He gave his answer.
"Two tickets to Second South, one way."
Back Story 1 - from the official Garou: Mark of the Wolves Website[]
Kain and Grant....
These two men had a deep connection, immeasurably deeper than most would suspect...
Nineteen years ago, when Kain lived in the slums as a child, there was one man that he could call his best friend.
That man's name was Abel.
Both of them were orphans, but from the time they met, they were inseparable. They became the best of friends and they did everything together. In and out, both of them understood each other better than anyone else. And even when hard times and difficult times came up, they protected each other and stuck it through thick or thin.
One day, however, Kain and Abel came across a terrifying sight. A young boy, no less than Kain's age, was ganged up upon and lynched.
The gang that was beating up the boy were a group of thugs infamous throughout the area for their viciousness and brutality. Their words and actions made it clear that they were bullying the boy to take out their anger and frustrations on.
The young boy didn't even defend himself. Helpless, he knew that even if he resisted, they would continue beating on him. No matter how long or how hard, the boy was forced to endure. That was all he could do.
Nothing repulsed the gang from stopping. The sickening sound of bones being broken or flesh crunching. Even after the deafening, atrocious chaos echoed throughout the streets, and the gang left, the boy had long passed away from their assault.
Several hours passed. No one came, or noticed. Only Kain and Abel did.
When they felt it was safe, they took the boy's body and decided to give him rest. On a hill overlooking the beach, they dug a grave for him there. Afterwards, Kain and Abel stared off into the sea.
Kain then looked at Abel.
"I hate this.... I don't want to die and rot away in a place like this.... I hate it!"
Abel was speechless. After a short while, he turned back at Kain, with a look on his face.
"I know how you feel. I don't want to die in place like this too. If you're going to push forward, then I'll push forward too."
"That's right! We won't die in a place like this! .... I won't die here!"
Cain clenched his fist. His resolve had gotten stronger.
"I want power.... The power to obtain everything! And.... I need your help, Abel!"
"... I understand, Kain. I'll help you. If you lead, I'll follow. If you stand in front, I've got your back..."
As the sunset sky stares upon them, the sunlight cast two long shadows on the ground. Between those two solid shadows, two friends held their hands towards tomorrow.
Back Story 2 - from the official Garou: Mark of the Wolves Website[]
The relationship between Rock and Geese[]
An old but quaint apartment, out on the outskirts of South Town.
Rock, a seven year old boy, lived a modest life with his mother, Marie.
His and Marie's life wasn't filled with riches, but he grew up in a warm home, happy and with a mother's love.
Rock knew he had a father. But, no matter how much he wanted to meet him, Marie would get upset if he said that he wanted to meet him.
"Rock, please, don't bother your father. He has.... more troubles than you realize."
To not make her upset, Rock would hide his curiosity. Still, he held to the hope that he would be able to meet him someday.
One day however, Marie comes down with a fever. Since then, she was never able to get better.
Rock, only a child, does all he can to try and help Marie. Feeling helpless, and as a mother, Marie laments of Rock's responsibilities her serious illness has shouldered upon him, knowing no child should ever have to go through what she did.
During this, delirious with fever, Marie utters her spouse's name. Her husband's name was Geese.
Hearing this, and knowing his mother needs help, Rock acts upon meeting his father, for the first time in his life.
Into the depths of the city, Rock heads towards the infamous place known as Geese Tower.
Stating who he is, all clear the way for the young boy to meet the man known as Geese Howard, the kingpin of South Town.
Before his father, Rock tells him who he is, about Marie, and her serious illness. He hopes his words will get through to his father, for him to help her, as she pleads at home in her critical condition.
The man known as Geese however, is merely annoyed. He dismisses the boy, and his staff throw Rock out onto the steps of Geese Tower.
Only able to return home empty handed, that night, Marie's last breath was silent, passing away before her only son.
Shedding tears of anger and sorrow, hatred was all that was felt for Geese Howard, the father of Rock Howard, since that night.
Rock's feelings after Geese's death[]
Shortly after, Rock meets the man known as South Town's local hometown hero, the Legendary Wolf, Terry Bogard. Since then, Terry has taken Rock as his ward.
A year later, still, Terry does not know the secret of Rock's origins.
Soon on in, throughout South Town, another King of Fighters tournament blazes word throughout its streets.
Clashing fists with the infamous Geese Howard again, this time, it would be their last meeting. Geese's death was the result.
Rock still felt resentment towards his father, since he let him and his mother down that night. Now, after Geese's death, his emotions inside of him were mixed.
Sentiment towards his father, his last living blood relative, was there. But, all those emotions then didn't matter to Rock.
Shortly after the tournament, Rock openly challenged Terry to a street fight. Without a word, Terry accepted.
Night and day, Rock did his best. Something awoke inside of him. Terry easily managed to deflect every blow, but was curious and excited to see Rock do his best.
As night came, Rock lay on the lawn, motionless. He knew that he never had a chance to land a single hit on Terry, but still went for it. He stared at the moon, in the night sky.
Like the moon, he thought, Terry stood out, having carved his own existence. Even in the vastness of everything, feeling so tiny and small in the scale of things, Rock felt alive. Faintly but surely, his heartbeat sang.
Still, an inkling in the back of his mind, was prominent, no matter how small. What now, he asked?
Years passed.
On a trip with Terry, Rock was on a journey, with no destination.
On his mind, was a decision to take a journey of his own, a journey of his own self discovery.....
Development[]
Multiple changes to Garou were made to show a bigger difference from previous games due to most characters being new. The character of Rock Howard was created by Nobuyuki Kuroki in 1998. Both he and Yasuyuki Oda wondered what type of hero would succeed Terry Bogard in Fatal Fury's latest game, Garou: Mark of the Wolves. While they were not confident with Rock, they still decided to make him as the new protagonist. Rock was designed to contrast previous 'masculine' Fatal Fury characters by giving him a more bishonen appearance, something Nobuyuki Kuroki felt the sequel needed to balance the cast and an issue he felt Real Bout suffered. Similarly, Hotaru was given a moe inspired look to balance the playable characters. Terry was also redesigned, labeled as "cool" by the SNK staff was because they thought Terry's previous look had become outdated. Kengo Asai, who previously worked in Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer, Money Puzzle Exchanger and The Last Blade, is also involved in development of the game.
SNK director Nobuyuki Kuroki stated in February 2020 that he is personally interested in 'reviving' Garou, whose supposed sequel suffered from development hell and cancellation, presumably due to SNK's financial predicament at that time (and its bankrupcty two years later). A sequel was confirmed to be in development on August 7 at EVO 2022. The teaser trailer of the project was released in August 5 at EVO 2023.
Gameplay[]
Garou: Mark of the Wolves general gameplay mechanics and art style are changed to more closely resemble SNK's The King of Fighters series using a similar button layout (
for weak/light punch, 
for weak/light kick, 
for strong/heavy punch and 
for strong/heavy kick). However, chaining normal attacks into each other tends to be strict on timing, and may involve heavy usage of the recurring feint mechanic (
+ and or 
+ and ) in order to cancel them smoothly, much like older games within the Fatal Fury series. Stage gimmicks and plane-changing, as seen in previous titles, were removed.
T.O.P. System[]
The Tactical Offensive Position System or T.O.P., is a new system. Before each match begins, the player is given option to adjust the T.O.P. meter's influence onto three different places on their character's life meter (beginning, middle, end). When a character's life meter reaches the white T.O.P. section, the character will flash with their HP bar's T.O.P. section turning orange, and enter a special state which will grant them the following advantages:
- Increased damage output
- Slow health regeneration
- Ability to perform T.O.P. attacks, which often deal heavy amount of reduction to the defender's guard meter if blocked
Once the character's life meter falls out T.O.P. range, the character will lose these benefits.
Just Defense System[]
The Just Defense allows players to benefit from defending by activating it against incoming attacks at the last second within 7 frames. Players can perform Just Defense against any type of attack, even being able to Just Defend in midair despite the lack of air blocking. Just Defense has following advantages:
- Small health recovery and Power gauge gain for each successful Just Defense activation.
- Ability to Guard Cancel.
- Guard durability does not decrease unlike when blocking attacks normally.
- Less blockstun frames by 2 frames, which also results in less pushblock.
- When done successfully, it is indicated by a larger blue-dome-esque flash effect upon impact of the defender and a different guarding animation.
- Multiple successive hits can be blocked from continuous Just Defends rapidly like so, and it is possible to heal back into T.O.P. range and reactivate it once more (but on the flip side, also accidentally heal past its HP regen range and deactivate it).
It is comparable to the Street Fighter III series' Parrying, except the latter is more offense-oriented (done with a forward direction instead of back), has no pushblock, grants an attack reset and gives no life regeneration (along with only completely negating any chip damage from specials and supers). Additionally, a mechanic similar to Just Defense was introduced in Street Fighter Alpha/Zero 3 that instead reduces guard meter consumption, made visually prominent by a brief white flashing of the character if successfully done.
Characters[]
Overview[]
This game is noticeable for adding an almost entirely new cast of characters, with only one returning character. Due to being the main protagonist of the Fatal Fury series, Terry Bogard is the only veteran character present in the game. The new characters added to the roster are:
Official Roster[]
Returning Character[]
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New Characters[]
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Bosses[]
- Note: Both bosses are playable in all modes of the game.
Sub-Boss[]
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Final Boss[]
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Stages[]
Note 1: The intros appears only in Story Mode. The Sub-Boss stage don't have an intro.
Note 2: Marky, the little boy who appears along with Kevin in Story Mode, isn't present in Versus and Practice Modes.
Warning: The sight of some stages can cause epilepsy.
Normal Stages[]
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Boss Stages[]
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Gallery[]
Trailers[]
Cancelled Sequel[]
The game's sequel, tentatively titled Garou: Mark of the Wolves 2, was reported to be in the works on the Neo Geo system several times by Korean news sources. Since 2002, the project has been put on hold and eventually cancelled. According to Falcoon at the 2005 KOF Party, the game's sequel was around 70% percent complete by the old SNK staff. Ureshino reported that a new grappler character and Joe Higashi's apprentice were added to the roster, called Kuan Konta. Recently, new details about the sequel were revealed.
Critical Reception[]
Overview[]
In Japan, Game Machine listed Garou: Mark of the Wolves on their January 1, 2000 issue as being the most-successful arcade game of the month. GameSpot named Mark of the Wolves the best fighting game of 2001. It was nominated for the publication's annual "Best Game No One Played" and "Best Dreamcast Game" prizes among console games, but lost these respectively to Victorious Boxers: Ippo's Road to Glory and Phantasy Star Online.
Reception Table[]
Aggregation scores[]
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Review scores[]
Award[]
Trivia[]
- Just like Capcom's Vampire Savior, this is the first time SNK used the series' Japanese title name for a global release. Later console releases would restore the correct localized title, as seen in the game's Dreamcast release.
- The game's proper English title can be seen in the rom tilesets, but for some reason, there is no way to make the game display it. The Dreamcast release uses a modified logo, replacing Garou with Fatal Fury, while retaining the Garou kanji in the logo backdrop.[2]
- The subtitle for Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001 for English versions is a reference to this game.
External links[]
- Archived SNK USA official site
- Archived SNK official site
- Staff comment section
- Xbox Live Arcade page
- Steam page
- GOG Store Page
- Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves at Sega Retro
References[]
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