Essentially Fatal Fury 4, Real Bout is around the time that the series started deviating and becoming hard to numerate and place in chronological order. It's technically the fifth game in the series as Fatal Fury Special counts as Fatal Fury 2.5.
As a one-on-one fighter it has a moderate difficulty and one can get far by alternating between button-mashing and finding the right moves to defeat certain opponents. It also introduces the power guage, a feature now rather frequent in all games of these genre, which can unleash special moves once it has filled up. I do feel that some of the characters are a bit overpowered though.
The main gripe that I have with this game is that it only changes locale every six wins instead of every two. You have to win two rounds against three oponents before you get to see the other pleasingly animated fighting arenas around South Town. My favorite villain of the series, the wonderfully named Geese Howard, returns for the second (and final) time, having last been featured in the original game. At the end of this one he falls from the top floor of his skyscraper refusing to be saved by Terry Bogard. Part of this plot was tied in with the animated movies that were out about that time.
The ever-changing naming of the series (Fatal Fury, Real Bout, Garou, Wild Ambition, King of Fighters etc) is a nightmare to keep track of, and I feel that it may have hindered its chances of catching on the West, but it seems that over time more and more gamers have been drawn to this series as they seek an alternative to Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. They seem to do quite well as digital downloads and with Garou: Mark of the Wolves (the 9th, and currently last in the official series) doing quite well as and HD remaster then there's still plenty of potential for the others to find a wider audience and more appeal.
Some of the melodies within the soundtrack are quite catchy too. There is a soundtrack album as well as an arranged album if you want to check them out.
Overall, a fun, if slightly frustrating continuation of a needlessly complex series.