Garou: Mark of the Wolves
SNK Playmore, 1999
Leaving an indelible mark
SNK is still around doing things in this modern fighting game landscape. Their latest release, Garou: City of the Wolves, is a certified banger and is getting a lot of play in the critic sphere because the original is so beloved. And that’s one of the best things Mark of the Wolves managed to do: Leave a good legacy and stay relevant 25 years later.
Mark of the Wolves does a lot of things with the Fatal Fury name for the sake of progress. Taking place 10 years after the death of crime lord Geese Howard during the King of Fighters Tournament as depicted in Real Bout Fatal Fury, Mark introduces a new cast with Terry Bogard returning to the fray to lead the charge. Terry takes the young Rock Howard, Geese’s scion, under his wing to fight for South Town and justice in general. But the specter of Geese haunts them. And there is a new villain in the mix, Kain, to take Geese’s place and up the stakes. The plot is interesting and engaging. Getting used to a whole new cast minus Terry takes a minute and learning their background and motivation is fun.
The character designs are cool, as they are in most SNK games. The sprites look great and are large and detailed. The backgrounds, while colorful, aren’t nearly as detailed, though there are a lot of animations going on that make them lively. Overall, the look isn’t too different than what you’d expect from an SNK arcade game, but the Dreamcast does give it a little boost.
The soundtrack is a little generic, which is surprising because I was expecting some nice tracks. I’m spoiled by the often-maligned SvC Chaos, which had a great soundtrack despite the surrounding mess, because it was released in the same era by SNK. However, despite the generic undertones, the soundtrack doesn’t deter the surrounding overall product.
And the surrounding product, gameplay-wise, is fine. New mechanics, like the Tactical 
Offense Position and Just Defend, are welcome new pieces in the series’ repertoire. Just Defend, which is like Street Fighter III’s parry mechanic, has hung around and made appearances in other games such as Capcom vs. SNK 2’s K‑Groove so I’d say it’s a good addition 25 years later. And with the new mechanics, the game plays well, too. If I could pick it up and play it with little exposure to SNK’s style of fighting and do well, it’s safe to say that Mark has a good feel. That feel is present in the varied modes, with Survival as the most fun out of all offered.
Mark is a great fighting game and still holds up well. It has the attraction of early 2000s fighting game finesse, and it serves as a good introduction to the world of SNK if you’re not well-versed in the series. A well-rounded fighting game with strong mechanics and good environment are the marks of a future legend.
undeniably cool when you get down to it: Jet Grind Radio is the future.
looks phenomenal. It’s the first game to use this technique, and it set the standard in 2000 in terms of presentation. The backgrounds are also well done and inspire runs through the game. It’s clearly an early 2000s game, but that only portends good things about the Dreamcast and what it was capable of.
While everything is great in terms of presentation and control, I’d be remiss in mentioning that there is one bothersome flaw with Jet Grind Radio. While the controls are easily analogous to early Tony Hawk games, it wasn’t easy to pick up the game and know what’s going on immediately. It’s a little too inaccessible at first, like it’s asking you to have some in-depth knowledge ahead of playing for the first time. You may not be familiar with the concepts the game is throwing at you, and it’s the game’s responsibility to ease you into the fray. Thankfully, the surrounding game is so good that you’ll come back to get more in-depth with the trappings of Tokyo-to.
directions. The color palette is beautiful and the character animation shines. And, yes, even though Psikyo carried over Morrigan’s dog-tired sprite from Darkstalkers it still works here. You immediately know who she is, and it doesn’t look to terrible against the backdrops of bullet hell. The other characters look good for late ’90s animation. While the animation is good, the soundtrack is passing, if not a bit late ’90s mediocre. It’s not terrible, but it doesn’t standout. A single track caught our attention, which is 
roster, even the lower-tier characters.
Also adding value is the soundtrack, one of Capcom’s masterpieces. The game is set in the mid-to-late 1980s and it sounds appropriate to that era. Beyond the bangers for multiple characters — Sagat, Balrog and Juli/Juni instantly come to mind — even the narration deserves praise. It’s over the top but it fits perfectly. The soundtrack also works well with the graphics. The sprites are big and colorful as are the detailed and stunning stages. It’s one of Capcom’s better-looking games and is a massive improvement from the rest of the Alpha series. It almost looks like it belongs in an entirely different game series.
and-mouse game is surprisingly addictive. In the form of the Dreamcast’s ChuChu Rocket, the concept manages to jump the barrier of weird and branch into the realm of entertaining.
on the playing field. There are so many factors that can affect your mice total at the end of a round that it’s impossible to win by talent at moving rodents alone. One must consider the fact that only three arrows can be placed by a character at any given time. With level layout also taken into consideration, the idea that you can be in the lead for five seconds and that be enough to win is a real possibility. Throw in the power-up aspect and constantly changing conditions of the match area and there is a real recipe here for disaster disguised as fun.