It's pretty obvious that even decades after their creation that Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat are the leading fighting franchises locked in their own deadly battle. Even back in the 16-BIT era this was a war with both sides having their own dedicated fanbase. But before I even got a chance to play either of them I was introduced to the underdog series of Fatal Fury, known as Garou Densetsu (Werewolf Legend???) in Japan.
I distinctly remember one sunny Sunday evening in April 1993 (less than four months after I got my MD for Xmas 1992) coming home from a country ramble to find this game and Summer Challenge sitting in my room (I got new MD games pretty much every week). With neither of the leading brands to compare it to I became hooked on the story of brothers Terry and Andy Bogard (I loved Terry's style), their friends, enemies, and the trouble around the fictional seaside city of South Town.
Naturally, the MD version isn't as high-powered as the arcade. If you want a faithful home version you'd probably be better off with the Neo Geo CD version. Though even this has a mere three playable characters it's still a fun game that didn't deserve to play second banana to Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. All three franchises have enjoyed repeated success and several theatrical movies between them, and Fatal Fury has evolved into the prolific King of Fighters series, with a mental SIXTEEN installments to date, not including the multiple sequels before it reached that point. I just don't think that Fatal Fury gets the credit it deserves for the gargantuan series that it started, and I was right there at the start before it was cool.
The MD version features a soundtrack that lasts about 24 minutes but has never been released, though a slightly longer arcade soundtrack got its own release.