One of the most exciting games to watch at Evo 2025 was Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. From KojiKOG’s memeworthy and dramatic reaction to his loss in top 8, to the incredible grand finals betwen Go1 and ET, and all of the exciting moments in between. It was a great reminder of how much fun the game can be. While I wasn’t able to talk to anyone from SNK at the actual show itself, Producer Yasuyuki Oda and Animator Masami Obari were kind enough to answer several questions of mine via email relating to the release of Ken in City of the Wolves and a few other topics that I felt would be of great interest to fans of SNK and fighting games in general.
One of the biggest surprises to me once I got my hands on with Ken is how similar to his SF6 counterpart he is, despite this being a completely different game. Can you talk a little bit about some of the challenges involving taking a beloved character from one series and making them fit under a whole new set of rules and mechanics?
Yasayuki Oda, Lead Producer on Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves: The biggest initial concern for us was finding how to bring Ken into the Fatal Fury gameplay system and world without compromising his identity as a character. Our development team has so many people that are passionate about the Street Fighter franchise, and I think their love and dedication to the series really shined through in all the little details we worked on for Ken. We slowly worked out over time how to incorporate Ken’s fast speed and flashy flame-based attacks into the system of City of the Wolves, constantly asking ourselves “What was missing?”, “What could we improve on?”, “What were Ken’s strengths and where could we leverage that?” After much repeated trial and error, this version of Ken finally took form.
Ken is a character that’s always been very strong in Street Fighter 6, thanks to being able to convert most regular hits on block to a Jinrai Kick that forces some risky decision making on defense, a plus on block gap closer in his heavy dragonlash kick, on top of just having really good neutral buttons and a balanced tool kit. Were you ever concerned that some of these elements might make him a bit too strong in Fatal Fury?
Oda: As you said, bringing Ken over the same way he is in Street Fighter 6 would undoubtedly make him a strong character in City of the Wolves. Of course, we had to make careful adjustments as we adapted him to the game. Integrating mechanics like Braking and REV Accel were challenging, but I think we were able to highlight what makes Ken special while also giving fans a chance to experience a different playstyle within the systems of City of the Wolves. We’re looking forward to seeing what fans think and how they engage with this version of Ken.
With Terry and Mai appearing in Street Fighter 6, and now Ken, and later Chun-Li coming to Fatal Fury, do you have any interest in working together with Capcom once again for another entry in the Capcom vs SNK series? Or is that a far off dream?
Oda: That would be something, wouldn’t it? However, there is nothing I can talk about at this moment. We are always happy to receive questions like this because it shows how enthusiastic the fans are for another Capcom vs. SNK. It’s a great source of motivation for us.
How do you feel overall about guest characters in fighting games? Do you think it’s a healthy trend for the genre, and do you think we might see more in future SNK games, or even in future updates of Fatal Fury?
Oda: I think it’s a great trend. Of course, it is important to respect the story and world of other games, but the introduction of guest characters has great potential for the future of fighting games to create new “chemical reactions.” That is to say, it can lead to unexpected outcomes and birth something new.
As for City of the Wolves, there are still characters we need to bring back before we start thinking about more guest characters. Please rest assured that we are putting all of our focus on that right now. Even after Mr. Big releases, there are still many new characters and new aspects of the game we are working on, so please look forward to them!
I know she’s still a bit of a ways off, and we’ve got Joe coming first, but can you share any details about Chun-Li’s appearance in Fatal Fury? Will it be similar to the approach of Ken, in that you’re looking to her iteration in Street Fighter 6 as a primary source of inspiration?
Oda: We are using her SF6 version as a base, but since many of our staff are fans of the entire Street Fighter series, we have a few surprises and finer details we’re planning to add. We’re looking to make this version of Chun-Li, like Ken, a culmination of all her past iterations, so please look forward to it.
For Obari-san, what was it like getting to create the animations for such an iconic character that’s outside of the world of SNK, like Ken. Were there any kinds of signature touches you felt like you were able to add, or did you try to keep things as close to the source as possible?
Masami Obari, Animator on Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves: First of all, I would like to say that it was a great honor to work on this project. I am extremely grateful to Capcom for this opportunity. As for the original elements, I would say the most work went into designing these characters in my style. I’d like to call it Bari-Ken! (Haha). It was extremely fun to draw Ken within the style and animation of the Fatal Fury anime.
Are there any dream crossovers that you’d like to work on, either within the realm of fighting games or outside of it?
Obari: I’m a huge pro wrestling fan, so I would be extremely happy to see a collaboration with a real pro wrestler. In terms of fighting games, I would be excited to see a crossover with Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer, a game I was originally in charge of the story and character design!
And finally, canonically, who do you think would win in a fight between Ken and Terry?
Obari: To be honest with you, I think Terry would win. I think they are evenly matched in terms of strength, but Terry is carrying a lot on his shoulders, and his will is strong because of that.
That being said, as a director of the anime, I would prefer not to decide and have the two work together to fight a common enemy.
Mitchell Saltzman is an editorial producer at IGN. You can find him on twitter @JurassicRabbit
