Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves has been a solid modern iteration of the franchise. It’s brought back the classic SNK fighting franchise with a respect for older fighting styles and characters, filtered through a crisp sense of movement and power. It’s also been consistently introducing some fitting new characters — and unexpected guest figures like Cristiano Ronaldo — to the roster. The DLC has followed suit, with a larger focus on guest characters and returning fan favorites.
The latest of the latter is Blue Mary, who has been a consistent hero in the lore of the franchise since she debuted in 1995’s Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory. A love interest for Terry and a capable fighter in her own right, Blue Mary has always been a deceptively tricky grappler who may be hard to master but can deliver some devastating combos if played correctly. That remains the underlying design of the character in the modern iteration, with a clever focus on combos that naturally blend together her grapples, feints, and throws. After seeing Blue Mary’s skills firsthand, it’s easy to see why Fatal Fury fans should be excited for her return.
No Technique, No Victory
The latest DLC for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves brings back Blue Mary, updating the character for the fast-paced modern iteration of the classic fighting game. A master of the Sambo fighting style — which is reflected in her emphasis on grapples and throws — Blue Mary can deliver a string of blows and grabs that can completely reshape the flow of a fight. In fact, Blue Mary’s biggest trick is that her normal attacks come with the possibility of grab extenders, which can turn a seemingly basic combo into a surprisingly powerful throw.
Turning a seemingly straightforward combo into a suddenly massive throw can mess with the momentum of any fighter. To complement this, the modern version of Mary also has a number of special moves that serve as counters and dodges, like the Spin Fall, Vertical Arrow, and Real Counter. These moves can force the opponent to fall for a feint, setting them up to be brought down by a powerful blow. Coupled with her natural speed, surprising range, and quick maneuverability, Blue Mary can control the stage with ease.
To compensate and keep her from becoming too powerful, Blue Mary’s actual damage output is scaled back compared to characters like Nightmare Geese, who can rip through an enemy’s health bar with a few well-placed combos. Likewise, her lack of an outright ranged attack can leave her vulnerable to an opponent who can succesfully dodge her blows or move out of her grabs, making her something of a compelling glass cannon who is best utilized as a tricky technical danger rather than just an overwhelming brawler.
Throw Your Opponents For A Loop With Blue Mary
Introduced in Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory, Blue Mary has proven to be one of the more recurring fan favorites of the franchise. While there are plenty of characters in the franchise who only have a game or two to their names, Blue Mary has been a consistent presence in the series and has been present for some pretty fun crossovers. She’s been a consistent grappler that whole time, as reflected in City of the Wolves. For longtime fans of the series, Blue Mary’s return is a fun update for the new game that does a good job highlighting what makes her unique among the game’s fighters.
Blue Mary benefits best from a slick and sly playstyle, putting emphasis on using feints and dodges to lure an opponent in for a devastating grapple. While she can’t withstand too many big combos against her, this serves as the right balance to keep the character engaging without overpowering her. Blue Mary is perfect for players who want a little risk with their fights, who see the opportunity to defeat their opponent mentally as a big part of the appeal of a one-on-one duel. It’s easy for Blue Mary to lose a fight if the player isn’t controlling the stage and countering her opponent, but it makes her victories all the sweeter.
The fluidity of her movement and combos is perfectly attuned to the bright visuals and crisp speed of City of Wolves, which makes all of those chained combos land all the more effectively. The game benefits from an increased pace and speed overall, so Blue Mary’s focus on speed and stage control with grapples and throws Blue Mary feels true to the earlier depictions of the character, amplified to fit the speedy approach to combat that the modern iteration of the fighting game relies on. Blue Mary is a great blast from the past and a perfect addition to Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, with a punishing combat mechanic that is hard — but extremely rewarding — to master.