Rock Howard is the new focus in this week’s Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves gameplay trailer. Introduced in Real Bout 2, and becoming a full-fledged fighter in Mark of the Wolves, Terry’s wolf cub is back to reprise his star role in the sequel. Rock has already been shown in several gameplay trailers before.
Surprisingly, there are some things that the matches may have left out or need a bit more of a magnifying lens on. Rock has been in several games, as a playable character, such as King of Fighters XIV, XV, and Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, with Capcom vs SNK 2 as his guest star role.
Rock seems to have some new tools at his disposal. An aerial Reppuken can be done, and nearly just like dear old daddy Howard, Yet, it’s hard to see how the projectile arc is since it’s come out pretty fast. It could be a SPG based move, also. No Rock Howard reveal is ever complete without the display of Raging Storm – another Geese Howard move that Rock has had since his inception.
It always begs the question as to how Rock obtained Raging Storm or any of Geese’s tools despite being abandoned by Geese in the first place. Rock still has Geese’s Shinkuu Nage counterattack throw, which can be still combed off of for setups.
Rock Has Something New That’s Kinda Borrowed
It seems that High Angle Gesyer has a new master. Rock seems to be that owner of a legacy Terry Bogard Super Desperation Move that disappeared from existence post the King of Fighters 2002 / NESTS saga. While Terry replaced it with Buster Wolf, from Mark of The Wolves, it seems to have been passed down to Rock. He calls it out while he does it as his Potential DM. “This one’s for you, Terry!” is said by Rock when he does it.
If you’re an Insomniac Spider-Man series fan, you may have recognized Griffin Pautu as the voice of Rock Howard in the English trailer. With Kevin Rian’s reveal coming in a few weeks ago, and Billy Kane’s return to Southtown’s very own King of Fighters tournament, there’s no telling who will be next to come. If we’re basing it on the lore, there could be several characters who can help Rock uncover the mystery that was brought in his Mark of the Wolves cliffhanger ending. Betting-wise, I’m looking at either Gato or the Kim brothers being the next in line to be revealed.
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves will be available in early 2025 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC through Steam and Epic Game Store.
