is a 1995 fighting game

Fighting game

Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...

 released by SNK

SNK

SNK is a former name of SNK Playmore, a Japanese video game company . This may also refer to:* SNK European Democrats* SNK Union of Independents* Southeast Airlines ICAO code...

 for the Neo-Geo

Neo Geo (console)

The is a cartridge-based arcade and home video game system released on July 1, 1991 by Japanese game company SNK. Being in the Fourth generation of Gaming, it was the first console in the former Neo Geo family, which only lived through the 1990s...

 arcade and home platforms. It is the fifth installment in the Fatal Fury series, following Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory

Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory

is a 1995 head-to-head fighting game released by SNK for the Neo-Geo arcade and home platforms. It is the fourth game in the Fatal Fury series after Fatal Fury Special . Console versions of Fatal Fury 3 were released for the Neo Geo CD, Sega Saturn, Windows 95-based computers and on the Wii Virtual...

. Ports of Real Bout were released for the Neo-Geo CD, PlayStation (in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 and the PAL region

PAL region

The PAL region is a television publication territory which covers most of Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and most of Western Europe...

) and the Sega Saturn

Sega Saturn

The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...

 (which requires SNK's 1MB RAM cartridge for the system). The game was later included in Fatal Fury Battle Archives Vol. 2, a compilation released for the PlayStation 2

PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

.

Gameplay

Real Bout changes the play controls from the previous Fatal Fury games, reducing the number of attack buttons from four to three: a standard Punch and Kick button, a "Strong Attack" button which can be either, a stronger punch or kick attack, depending on the character. The game retains the three-plane "oversway" system from Fatal Fury 3, which features a main lane for fighting, with foreground and background planes used to avoid attacks or leap towards the opponent. A dedicated button is now used to make an "oversway" (or change plane) towards the background or foreground.

Real Bout introduces a Power Gauge which fills up as player performs normal or special techniques against their opponent or defend themselves, similar to many super move gauges featured in other fighting games. The Power Gauge allows players to perform one of three types of Special Techniques, depending of the level of the Power Gauge.

• When the gauge is at least half-full and colored yellow, the player can perform "Guard Cancels", which are special counterattacks that can be performed by the player after blocking an opponent's attack. They do not consume any filled portion of the Power Gauge.
• When the Power Gauge reaches MAX level while the player still has more than half of his life gauge remaining, then the Power Gauge will enter "S. Power" level. The energy in the Power Gauge will begin to deplete gradually and during that time, the player can perform "Guard Cancels or a "Super Special Move" (a powerful Special Move). However, once a Super Special Move is performed, the remaining energy in the Power Gauge will be consumed and the Power Gauge will return to its initial state.
• When the Power Gauge reaches MAX level while the player has less than half of his life gauge remaining (when the life gauge is flashing red), the Power Gauge will enter "P. Power" level. In this state, the Power Gauge will gradually drain, but the player can perform both, Guard Cancels and Super Specials, indefinitely until the gauge runs out. The player can also perform a "Hidden Ability", an even more powerful Special Move (similar to the Hidden Abilities in previous game), which will consume the remaining Power Gauge at this state.

Real Bout also introduces stages with ring-outs, a gameplay feature previous introduced in 3D fighting games such as Virtua Fighter. If the player performs certain attacks on their opponent while next to the boundaries, the character will eventually destroy the barrier keeping the opponent in the ring and be able to knock them out of the stage for an easy win.

Characters

The game retains the character roster from Fatal Fury 3, with the boss characters (Ryuji Yamazaki

Ryuji Yamazaki

is a video game character appearing in Fatal Fury series and The King of Fighters developed by SNK Playmore . Yamazaki is first introduced as the sub-boss character of Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory, where he is a criminal known as "Dark Broker"...

, Jin Chonrei and Jin Chonshu) now part of the regular cast. Duck King, Billy Kane

Billy Kane

is a video game character created by SNK Playmore . He makes first appearance in the fighting game Fatal Fury: King of Fighters as the sub-boss from the game. In the Fatal Fury series Billy is the right-hand man from Geese Howard, the crime lord from Southtown...

 and Kim Kaphwan

Kim Kaphwan

Kap-hwan Kim , usually written surname first as Kim Kap-hwan, is a character in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series created by SNK Playmore . He is credited as the first ever fictional Korean character to appear in a fighting game...

, who were all last featured in Fatal Fury Special

Fatal Fury Special

is a 1993 head-to-head fighting game produced by SNK originally released for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms. It is an updated version of Fatal Fury 2, introducing several changes to the gameplay system while expanding the available character roster....

, are added to the cast. Series' antagonist

Antagonist

An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...

 Geese Howard

Geese Howard

is a fictional video game character appearing in SNK Playmore's Fatal Fury fighting games series. Debuting in Fatal Fury: King of Fighters, Geese is the local crime boss of the fictional city of South Town. Geese hosts a fighting tournament named "The King of Fighters", in which he faces the...

 reprises his role from the original Fatal Fury

Fatal Fury: King of Fighters

is a 1991 head-to-head fighting game released by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms. Fatal Fury was SNK's first fighting game for the Neo Geo system and served as the inaugural game in their Fatal Fury series, as well as the first game to depict the fictional "King of Fighters" tournament...

as the game's final boss. Real Bout was Geese Howard's final appearance in the Fatal Fury storyline, as the game's ending with Terry

Terry Bogard

is a video game character created by SNK Playmore , and is the main character of the Fatal Fury series. In the series, he is an American fighter who enters the worldwide tournaments called The King of Fighters to kill Geese Howard, a criminal who killed Terry's father. Terry becomes a formidable...

 or Andy depicts the character's demise at the hands of either brother by falling off the roof of his tower. This was reflected by SNK's tagline

Tagline

A tagline is a variant of a branding slogan typically used in marketing materials and advertising. The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of a brand or product , or to reinforce the audience's memory of a product...

for the game, .