Why this game?
Because it's a real bout as opposed to one of those fake bouts, and it's special. Duh!
Jokes aside, Real Bout Fatal Fury Special is titled this way because it brings back and refines the line system from Fatal Fury Special, where characters have two full lines to work with (as opposed to one main line and one or two side lines). Though this may seem to expand both players' options in theory, it actually limits them; as long as both players are on different lines, they each only have access to special moves, a set of line normals and ways of moving in and across lines. Normals, including command normals, are gone, and many special moves can't touch the other line.
A lot of the game, then, revolves around exploiting the line system. Some characters can poke with their line normals, whereas others can position themselves right behind the opponent and fish for crossups. No reversal can break out of this; the only defense is one's own line check, which can either be outranged or stuffed by a meaty. Players can tech roll if they have the meter to avoid situations like this, but even that has its counterplay depending on the matchup. Vortexes in RBS can be very strong if your character has the tools to keep it up.
However, line abuse isn't the only means of forcing aggression; like KOF, the Real Bout series also places a strong focus on jumps and hops. Every character can turn around in the air, essentially giving everyone a crossup, while simply doing hop + C can be a great way of rushing down on its own. Throw chain combos into the mix, giving characters conversions from lights, lows and both with ease, and you have something which plays like KOF offense, but is much more accessible. The clash between air normals also informs a lot of Fatal Fury's neutral; both poking and defending. Overall, anyone who's warmed up to KOF will feel right at home with any of the Real Bouts.
Aside from all this, there are character differences between this and RB2 which players of either can appreciate. Chains are different, some movesets are different and there are minor adjustments to existing moves as one would expect. Still, the main draw of RBS compared to the other Real Bouts is its heavy focus on line abuse, making it feel much less defensive than RB2 without resorting to RB1's absurd power levels.
Where is Geese?
Geese Howard's page has been moved here. Geese is never selectable in the arcade version, but he can be unlocked on console and NGCD with a code. (PROTIP: Wait until the high score list shows up, then input 6987412363, A, B, C. If the notation confuses you, you're drawing a 'G'.) In the Saturn port, he is unlocked from the start.
Where is training mode?
There is a button for training mode in the RBFFS room toolbar on FightCade. There is also training mode in the Saturn port and in Fatal Fury Battle Archives Vol. 2 for PlayStation 2.
Is this game available on current gen systems?
RBS is on the PlayStation, Xbox and Switch storefronts for $7.99 USD. These are arcade accurate ports with many options for the dipswitches, video, audio and controls, letting you can change options like free play, scanlines and key bindings. This is convenient for local setups.
Where is Alfred?
Alfred is not in this game. He is in Real Bout Fatal Fury Special: Dominated Mind for the PSX. Similar title, but different system mechanics such as no line switching, the addition of super cancels (cancelling a special move into a DM, or a Final Impact as the game calls it) and a parry system.
I'm getting my ass beat on Fightcade and I don't know why I'm losing. How do I take real situations from my matches and practice them when I can't replicate them in training mode?
Try replay takeover. First, open a replay, then hover over Game on the emulator toolbar, hover over Lua Scripting and click on Fightcade Training Mode. Press Alt+5 on your keyboard to begin recording a mission (these are clips saved to be played on repeat). Press Alt+5 once again to end recording and the mission will begin automatically and play inputs recorded on P2 side. If you were P2, you will need to do extra steps to have the mission play properly. Open the training mode menu by holding for a short time and releasing the coin button and switch to the recording menu. Change "Record P2" to "Record P1", then switch to Basic Settings and select "Add-on". Select "Missions" and select "RBFFSPEC". Select the mission you want to replay and close the training menu. The replay will start and play back P1's inputs.
Where does my favorite character lie on the power curve?
The tiers for this game look like this:
Old Tier List
- Banned: Geese
- Top: (EX) Billy, Sokaku, Duck
- High: Mai, Krauser, Kim, Yamazaki Joe, Terry, (EX) Andy, EX Mary
- Mid-High: Mary, Franco, Laurence
- Mid: Hon-Fu, Chonrei, Chonshu, Bob
- Low: (EX) Tung, Cheng
2022 Tier List
Courtesy of joshthefunkdoc. Detailed writeup here.
- SS: Geese, Billy, Duck, Mai, EX Billy
- A: Kim, Yamazaki, Terry, Sokaku, Chonshu, Laurence
- B+: Hon-Fu, Krauser, Franco, EX Andy, EX Mary, Tung
- B: Andy, Mary, Joe, Chonrei, Bob
- B-: Cheng, EX Tung
