Fatal fury began its life as a second fiddle response to the Street Fighter juggernaut, yet is noteworthy for attempting to develop the genre and avoiding cloning its characters after Capcom's classic (well, not too much, anyhow).

On the whole the emulation of the Neo.Geo originals is spot on here, meaning these will play and feel just how you remember them from the arcades of yesteryear. The remixed audio is ok, but purists will opt for the original sounds to maintain the old school flavour.

Fighting game fanatics who remember a time before everything shifted to 3d will lap this up. Classic characters, over the top moves and a straightforward fighting system across 4 games all for a bargain price!

So, who can remember the golden era of the good old arcade fighter? Yes that's right, it was the early 90's and back then arcade machines could be found almost anywhere (even down at the local dairy) ready to claim your coinage! 2-D fighting games were in their prime. Amongst the groundbreaking Street Fighters and the brutal Mortal Kombats there was indeed another great fighting series: SNK's Fatal Fury.

The Fatal Fury series is about the story of two brothers – Terry and Andy Bogard – and their quest to avenge the death of their adoptive father. Fatal Fury: Battle Archives Vol. 1 is an arcade perfect compilation of the first four Fatal Fury titles – Fatal Fury (1991), Fatal Fury 2 (1992), Fatal Fury Special (1993), and Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory (1995). Here's a brief rundown of each game:

The original Fatal Fury consists of three main playable characters – Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard and Joe Higashi. In this game you compete in the very first King of Fighters tournament which is based in Southtown (hosted by none other than the sinister Geese Howard) where you must defeat each opponent in a series of 1-on-1 best of three round fights (like most other fighters) only in this particular title there's also the option to have 2 player co-op 2-on-1 fights as well! Of course, being the first game of the series it has some rather basic moves: Punches, kicks, throws, jump attacks, and special moves (sorry, no “super-dupa-ultra-93 hit combos” here!). You can also knock your opponent into the background and move between two planes, also known as ‘plane switching’ (this was to be an ongoing feature throughout the Fatal Fury series). Unfortunately Fatal Fury isn't without it's flaws – laggy controls, limited number of playable characters and moves. However the visuals and music are pretty good for their time, and the storyline is simple yet decent. Most of the fighters are unique and display lots of character (Duck King, Tung Fu Rue and Billy Kane spring to mind), and the last boss is still one of the most challenging fights found in any game!

Fatal Fury 2 goes international and therefore expands the character roster further with the debut of Mai Shiranui, Kim Kapwhan, Cheng Sinzan and Jubei Yamada. The fighting engine has gone through a complete overhaul as well – you can now do light and heavy attacks, taunts, backsteps, dodges, and the introduction of ‘desperation attacks’ (which you can do when your health bar is flashing red) which makes this game a lot more playable than the original.

Fatal Fury Special is an awesome ‘expansion’ of Fatal Fury 2. This has even more playable characters: Ryo Sakazaki appears from the Art of Fighting series, Duck King and Tung Fue Rue return as well as the option to use previously unplayable boss characters (Billy Kane, Axel Hawk, Lawrence Blood and the menacing Wolfgang Krauser)! This would have to be my favorite title in this collection mainly due to the wide selection of fighters.

Now we return to Southtown for Fatal Fury 3. This title has vastly improved 2-D graphics (easily rivaling those of Street Fighter Alpha), sound and gameplay. The fighting engine is more faster and fluid allowing for a greater variety of combos, counters, and hidden moves! The ‘plane switching’ system has improved somewhat as you can now switch between the foreground, mid-ground and background. New characters include Blue Mary, Bob Wilson, Hon Fu, Sokaku Mochizuchi, Franco Bash, and Ryuji Yamazaki.

There aren't many secrets or unlockables in this collection which is a bit sad. There is an option to change the background music to an updated remixed arrangement but I personally prefer the original music. A colour edit mode is also included for all you fashion designers out there! As with most other fighters out there, to get the most out of this game you should play this with your mates (especially your old school friends).

All in all this is a faithful collection of retro fighting games from a classic series. It is also worthy to note that a lot of Fatal Fury characters would go on to other titles such as The King of Fighters and Capcom vs. SNK series just to name a few. I can't say that this title will be everyone's cup of tea (a lot of new generation gamers wouldn't get a lot out of this collection) but if you're a big fan of the old school, or feeling a little nostalgic, you should definitely give Fatal Fury: Battle Archives Vol. 1 a go!

I've been waiting for this for a wile now I've got it plus it's got 4 “FATAL FURY” games that I can't wait till to play again when it arrives I'm gona play it “HARD OUT” and clock all of them so till then can't wait come on bring on the game.