Review

Gameplay 96%

Garou: Mask of the Wolves was one of the last games released for the SNK Arcade System, the Neo-Geo. It is the 8th entry in the “Fatal Fury” franchise, and by this time the gameplay, graphics, music and whole game’s design had been perfected making it one of the best fighting games of the last millenium.   In the bottom left side of the screen you have the virtual joystick to walk to the sides, jump upwards or diagonally and crouch. You can also perform a short hop by quickly pressing up releasing the stick. To run, press forward twice in a row quickly, and do the same backwards to perform a retreat by dashing back. With the joystick you also input commands for special moves, such as half and quarter circles, which is common in Fighting Arcades. In the bottom right side you have the buttons. Weak Punch, Strong Punch, Quick kick and Fierce Kick. You also have a button for special attacks if you don’t want to make the whole command, just push the stick in a certain direction and press it; and the same goes for the Supers, which you need to fill the S Power bar to perform, by attacking, blocking and countering your opponent. There are also buttons that perform the same move as pressing two at the same time, since doing that on a touch screen can be quite hard. Like every traditional fighting game, you select a character, and your objective is to deplete your rival’s life bar before you get yours empty. A new feature in Garou, was the T.O.P. bar, a special section in the life bar, that when your HP got there, allowed you to perform a new Special Move, and also boost your attack power. Another original feature in the genre, was the Just Defense system. When the opponent attacked, if you wait to the very last moment to press the joytick backguards and block, the attack would be completely deflected, plus making you gain a little HP, making the fights far more strategic and technical. The combo system works pretty good, and your able to connect many hits in a row, input a special attack, and then cancel your moves to input a super attack. You can also lift up your opponent in the air and keep on hitting with some specials. Some characters can even connect 2 Super Moves together. There are 12 characters to choose from and enter The King of Fighters: Maximum Mayhem tournament, plus a mid-boss and final boss you can play against. Everyone has a unique martial art and fight style, giving a lot of variety to the game.

Graphics 92%

At the time of release, Garou featured one of the best visuals you could find on a 2D arcade title. You can notice that it has low resolution for today’s standard, but it makes up for it with superb animation, that still holds up great compared to mobile games of today.   The backgrounds look awesome, with many different scenarios to play in, which even change with every passing round. You can start at mid-day, see the sun setting on the 2nd round, and then fight at night on the 3rd. Some stages feature lots of different characters watching the tournament, or just performing everyday duties. There are places without people, like a clocktower or a forest, but you can see mechanical devices or animals moving around, giving the game a life-like appeareance. The special attacks look pretty good, with flashing lights, fire or thunder effects added. The T.O.P. moves give the characters motion shadows behind, creating a speed special effect, and when you activate a super move, the whole screen becomes dark and the camera character zooms in, before unleashing a move that just shows great eye popping visuals (at least for its time).

Production Quality 77%

Garou is still played on fighting game tournaments nowadays, as it is still worth playing, and a favorite among arcade enthusiasts. And while this port is the original game that you can take everywhere, it suffers from problems proper of a fast-paced arcade adapted to a touch screen.   The game is compatible with bluetooth controllers for a nice experience, and while it’s possible to pull out most command moves with the touchscreen, you’ll probably get it right just 1 out of 8 tries, if you’re lucky. Nothing much has been added from the original Neo-Geo title, and most players would be all right with just having a port on the go, but some extra challenges would’ve been welcomed, like those found in the PC releases of The King of Fighters series.

Value for your Money 67%

Garou: Mark of the Wolves is worth $3.99 in Google Play and the Apple App Store. It is a dollar cheaper than the PC port on Steam, and it costs way less than the modern console versions; but for the average mobile consumer, anything worth more than $3 is a no-no. Anyone that spent countless coins in the original arcade would find this a bargain, but is a tough sell to a newcomer.

Launch Video

Summary

Garou is one of the greatest fighting games to come out to arcades. By today’s standard, the character roster may be too limited and picky players may not like how it looks in a modern HD display, but for someone that truly enjoys the genre, this is a masterpiece that it’s still worth playing and the price is perfectly reasonable. Buy now if you ever had fun with the original Coin-Op, but casual players may want to look for a simple free puzzle or runner instead of here. Pros

• Superb Animation and Gameplay
• Versus Mode via wi-fi
• One of the best Neo-Geo games on your mobile device

Cons

• Way too hard to play with touch controls
• Nothing much added in this port

Game Help Gury Rating 90%