Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star drops into Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves.. literally. Possibly centuries before the great calamity in his world, Kenshiro arrives in South Town – a city that has a similar issue with those of power ruling the weak.
He finds kinship in Terry and other Wolves while he’s there. His reasons to clash with Krauser is commendable. We did get some hands-on with the legend before the street date. Fist of the North Star’s Tetsuo Hara even had some notes on the inclusion of his creation.
Back to Kenshiro. Kenshiro has some slower normals in his kit, but his standing kicks have some reach. He does get a run dash. A majority of what he has past this either works best on a hit confirm or close. Long range might not be the go-to for those interested in mastering this fist of legend. Finger Snap of Emptiness leaves -2 if the opponent stops it, for instance.
Kenshiro has some projectile reflecting moves to help with dominance against nearly everyone. Extreme Air Flow gives you some frames back with a jump while Two Finger Intercept keeps Kenshiro in place to throw it back as a smaller projectile. Kenshiro possesses a status that can either wall bounce the opponent on the second special attack hit or dizzy them temporarily after a super. Enough room to follow up.
My gripe with Kenshiro is how a lot of his misses give the enemy a significant window to punish. His status change on an opponent to a dizzy state feels quick, and his wire effect doesn’t feel like it’s much of an advantage. Kenshiro does hit well and I probably should give him props for it. Maybe I’m still in I’m the lab to see where the potential could be. Perhaps he’s not my speed. Then again, Mr. Karate was real dominant in Evo Las Vegas this weekend, so it could be nerves. Kenshiro relies on setups in order to get him in gear, which makes him technical to use.
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is currently playable on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
