Fatal Fury 2 is the second entry in SNK's fighting series. Our record gives 1992, names Magical Company as publisher and lists the Super Nintendo, a combination worth clarifying: 1992 corresponds to the original arcade and Neo Geo release, while the Super Nintendo conversion followed a year later.

What set Fatal Fury apart from other fighters of the era was its two-plane system. A character can switch to a rear or front line, after which attacks miss until both opponents occupy the same plane. It was an attempt to give combat depth at a time when genuine three-dimensional graphics were out of the question.

Converting to the Super Nintendo meant real compromises. The Neo Geo had more memory and larger sprites, so home versions had to cut animation frames, audio samples and sometimes sprite size as well. Even so, it was exactly these conversions that put arcade fighters within reach of ordinary players. 1992 was the peak of interest in the genre. Fighting games shipped on every platform that year and differed mainly in their character counts and in how faithfully they reproduced the arcade original.

SNK built its position on fighting games that looked markedly better in arcades than the competition, because the Neo Geo had a great deal of memory available for image data. Home conversions were consequently always a compromise between fidelity and what the target machine could manage. The series continued through further instalments, and its cast later mingled with the company's other brands, making Fatal Fury one of the foundations of its fighting catalogue.

On OldGame.cz you can check this title's year, developer, publisher and series, and page through its images.