Garou - Mark of the Wolves [Model NGM-253]

Released in November 1999.

'Garou' translates from Japanese as 'Hungry Wolf'. 'Mark of the Wolves' is a reference to the legacy left behind by Terry to a new generation of fighters - specifically, Rock Howard. This can also refer to the legacy left by other characters from the previous Fatal Fury & Art of Fighting games. Kim Dong Hwan & Kim Jae Hoon are sons of Tae-Kwon Do fighter Kim Kaphwan. Khushmood Butt is a master of Kyokugenryu Karate, the same martial used by Ryo Sakazaki from Art of Fighting. Hokutomaru uses Shiranui-style Ninjitsu as his fighting style, this is the same ninja arts that Mai Shiranui uses, however Hokutomaru was trained by Andy Bogard.

Garou pushes the capabilities of the Neo-Geo MVS hardware to its limit, giving some of the best-looking graphics to date. Some critics saying that there is life after all in the Neo-Geo hardware, which was past its prime when the game was released.

Hokutomaru's stage has quite a few references to the rest of the "Fatal Fury" series. To the extreme left of the stage is a billboard with a picture of the old style Terry Bogard. A portrait of Geese Howard and his lieutenants can be seen on another billboard (this is the same picture that is seen in the flyer for Real Bout Fatal Fury). There is also a picture of Andy Bogard and Mai Shiranui holding hands posing as a bank advertisement right above another picture of Alfred.

The sign that Khushnood Butt shows off in his victory pose is a Kyokugen Karate dojo sign.

The Rock Howard music stage contains a part of Robert Miles' seminal trance tune "Children" (1996).

Rock Howard is the son of the notorious crime-lord Geese Howard, the boss of previous Fatal Fury games. Rock was trained to fight by Terry Bogard and has incorporated moves from Terry and Geese's styles into his own fighting style. Rock is also related to Garou's main boss of the game: Kain R. Heinlein. Geese Howard married Marie Heinlein, whom is the sister of Kain. So, we can assume that Kain is Rock's uncle.

The word 'Tizoc' (The Griffon Mask's Japanese name) means 'sick leg', or 'lame leg'. It was the name of an ancient Mexican tlatoani, or leader, who ruled from 1481 until 1486, when he was poisoned by Aztec aristocrats.

If a double KO occurs, a round is won by each fighter, which can end a battle on this quite unsatisfying note. Moreover in this case, the player has no fighting level, neither displayed on the screen nor counted for the points.

Soundtracks release:
[JP] Jan. 21, 2000; Garou - Mark of the Wolves [SCDC-00006] Scitron