Ken Masters, the flashy Street Fighter martial artist and former millionaire, officially steps into the Fatal Fury universe this summer. His appearance as the second free DLC character in City of the Wolves‘ Season Pass 1 continues the recent Capcom and SNK collaboration that includes notable rereleases of classic fighting games (SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium and Capcom vs. SNK 1 and 2), and Fatal Fury’s Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui guest-starring in Street Fighter 6.
SNK’s spin on the character will feel familiar to anyone who’s played as Ken in Street Fighter 6. In this incarnation, Ken has his expected Dragon Punch, Hadouken, Jinrai Kick, Quick Dash, and Tatsu, but with tweaks and required changes brought about by City of the Wolves’ fight mechanics. If Ken’s upcoming release will be your first time controlling the fighter, rest easy knowing that he fits into SNK’s recently released fighting game quite nicely. He’s a combo-heavy character with fire-enhanced specials and supers that can quickly drain a life meter. However, I discovered notable differences and similarities between his game incarnations while playing a prerelease demo build. And, for the most part, SNK’s take on Ken is awesome.
Ken looks great in City of the Wolves’ comic book-inspired graphics style (Credit: SNK/PCMag)
New Command Normals Make Up for CotW’s Fewer Buttons
City of the Wolves is a four-button fighting game (or five-button if you make heavy use of the Rev button). However, Ken is from a six-button fighting game. So, how does SNK make up for the missing inputs? Command normals!
By default, pressing down+HK unleashes the equivalent of Ken’s Medium Kick in Street Fighter 6, not the Hard Kick. So, if you want to bust out a low sweep to knock a foe off their feet, you must press diagonally down+HK. Likewise, tapping Hard Punch launches Ken’s Street Fighter 6 Medium gut-punch, but pressing forward+HP tosses out his familiar Fierce attack. It took me a few minutes to adjust to Ken’s tweaked control scheme, but I soon used him mostly as I do in Street Fighter 6.
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Ken Now Has City of the Wolves’ Feint and Rev Blow Moves
Due to City of the Wolves’ Feint, a move that lets you pop a fake attack to bait opponents into an action, Ken has a fake Hadouken. The most obvious use-case scenario is to Feint a fireball to hopefully cause an opponent to jump over the Hadouken that never comes, and then anti-air the challenger with a Dragon Punch. Now, I couldn’t use that in practice since online multiplayer wasn’t available in the demo, my offline FGC buddies weren’t available during the test period, and the CPU didn’t fall for it. You can also use Feint to cancel the recovery time on certain normal attacks, opening the doors to new combo routes.
Ken giving Kevin Rian the business (Credit: SNK/PCMag)
City of the Wolves’ Selective Potential Gear (S.P.G.), an updated version of Mark of the Wolves‘ Tactical Offensive Position (T.O.P.) system, is an essential gameplay tool. It’s a short, yellow bar you set to one of three positions on your health gauge (beginning, middle, or end), and it activates when your remaining health falls within its borders. The benefits include increased damage output and the ability to perform armored Rev Blows that let you absorb a few hits before landing a big attack.
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Ken’s Rev Blow is his Street Fighter 6 Drive Impact, a swinging hook. It’s the most sensible move for SNK to use as a Rev Blow, considering the similarities between City of the Wolves’ Rev System and Street Fighter 6’s Drive System. Unlike the Street Fighter 6 version, the attack doesn’t produce a wall-splat when you land the punch on a cornered opponent. Instead, it crumples or knocks down the competition depending on the situation, so adjust your combos accordingly.
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Ken performing a leaping line-sway attack (Credit: SNK/PCMag)
Line-Sway Maneuvers? Yes!
The Fatal Fury games are known for their line-sway (or lane-switch) system, a mechanic that lets you move between a stage’s foreground and background for offensive or defensive purposes. This system appears in City of the Wolves in limited form as a gameplay element tied to the Dream Amusement Park Morning stage. The moves aren’t exclusive to Fatal Fury characters.
You can use the line-sway to maneuver Ken outside of harm’s way, knock opponents from one lane to another with a hook punch or jump kick, or create combo situations. Giving Ken lane-change abilities makes the character feel like a fighter who truly belongs in a Fatal Fury title. And, as someone who played both Fatal Fury and Street Fighter II religiously during their 1991 debuts, it’s absolutely wild to see Ken, the Capcom icon, leveraging a SNK gameplay mechanic once thought lost to time.
Other Notable Ken Attacks and Tactics in City of the Wolves
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Breaks are related to Feints, in that they can cut particular special and super move animations. Think of them as City of the Wolves’ take on Street Fighter 6’s Super Cancels. This opens new offensive opportunities, most notably linking attacks that aren’t ordinarily linkable. For example, you can Break the HK and Rev versions of the Tatsu hurricane kick to shorten their distances and set up opponents.
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Ken’s Just Defend, an advanced blocking technique that recovers health and has other benefits, uses his Street Fighter 6 parry animation. In a nice touch, Ken can perform an aerial Just Defend. The move fits into City of the Wolves’ combat system—notable because Ken lacks an air-parry in Street Fighter 6.
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When Ken’s Dragon Punch and Terry Bogard’s Burn Knuckle collide, the punches deflect each other, pushing the characters slightly away.
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Ken Enters South Town This Summer
Overall, SNK’s spin on Ken Masters feels great so far, blending well into Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves’ many gameplay systems. Naturally, his true effectiveness will be revealed when the character is released to the general public. The free Ken DLC is slated to arrive later this summer, though no firm date has been provided. Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is available now on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.
About Jeffrey L. Wilson
Managing Editor, Apps and Gaming
