The almost forgotten chapter of Fatal Fury, and probably the most immediate and fast-paced game of the regular saga.
User Rating: 8.1 | Real Bout Garou Densetsu Special: Dominated Mind PS
Real Bout Fatal Fury Special Dominated Mind was the last franchise of the regular Fatal Fury saga on mainstream consoles before the revolutionary Garou: Mark of the Wolves. Produced as an exclusive for Sony's PS1, it sported an anime intro and bonus contents. Technically it came before Real Bout 2, and so Rick and Li Xiangfei weren't part of the cast, but the roster was enriched by the previously unplayable mid-boss Alfred and by a new final boss, White, based upon Kubrick's infamous Alexander de Large. Real Bout Special Dominated Mind wasn't simply an enriched porting of RB Special, it made a revolution in the Fatal Fury game play that makes it unique: the suppression of the double layer system, that previously had been one of the trademarks of the serie. Not having to jump from a layer to the other made the game undoubtedly more fast-paced and so, even if the reason for this change was probably due to the PS1's 2d difficulties, it came out truly good in the end. The game thus was played more like Street Fighter Alpha 3 than any Fatal Fury Games, and this, combined with its old-school SNK tactical depth and the presence of almost all the characters of the Fatal Fury saga, made it truly a wondrous and rich experience for any 2d beat'em up fan. The graphic was some of the best 2d the PS1 could produce with its limited hardware, and the sound effects and musics were as good as in any other Real Bout game. This game has not enjoyed a great deal of popularity even inside the SNK fan base, because it was made only for PS1 and only came out in Japan, but surely it was more a victim of underratement, lack of knowledge and company policies than of his own flaws.
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