Mr. Karate will be jumping into the King of Fighters: Maximum Meyhem tournament in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. And of course, he’s coming out swinging. SNK provided The Outerhaven access to the character so we could first hand test out the full power of the Kyoukugen heir. Or master. Draped master. High drape.
Mr. Karate is not a character to be taken lightly. He’s got a run for a dash and a wall jump. His stance differs from his other appearances with a resemblance of the Not Ryo nor Takuma member of the Kyoukugen school. Mr. Karate borrows from the whole family to a point. For instance, through his new stance, he can channel Takuma with the Shouran Kyaku command move knee from Drago Supremo Stance. Once high kick is pressed, Mr. Karate runs at his opponent for the grab and knees to the face to open opponents with a grab.
The Drago Supremo stance itself can absorb projectiles and counter with two variances. Dragon Dance through this can also throw back projectiles at the opponent. Mr. Karate can even kick back the projectile to the opponent. Drago Supremo can also activate a Dragon Step, which can evade an attack while moving Mr. Karate backwards. Dragon Roar seems to be a move similar to Mary’s Quick Step, but can be done after certain moves are performed. For instance, it could follow up on other attacks for a free dash. Razz can also raise an opponent’s Rev meter. Spirit Charge can lower Mr. Karate’s Rev meter, too. Pretty much similar to Art of Fighting’s mechanic, but to help cut opponents from their Rev abilities quicker.
Mr. Karate’s Ryuugeki can be turned into Haou Shoukou Ken based on Yuri’s interpretation of the move during her NEST saga appearance( ’99, 00, 01) if it’s held down. His uppercut can turn into a Kyokugen Ryuuga, which is similar to Marco’s move and done after the button is held. Mr. Karate doesn’t need Super bars to do it, though. Mr. Karate gets the combo heavy Ryuko Ranbu and Super Haou Shoukou Ken as his supers. The latter can be held similar to Krauser’s Kaiser Wave, but throws out 3 hits as a Redline super. 52% of the opponent’s Rev gauge gets filled if it’s blocked in its’ entirity.
Mr. Karate is a shoto through and through, but at the same time, a versitile one with more tools to throw at his opponents for follow-ups. A sure-fire all rounder to join the cast to bring out a third next to Ken and Marco – for sure. However, he’s scarier than his previous renditions. How Mr. Karate’s story and EOST run leads to the in-development new Art of Fighting game remains to be seen. Perhaps we’ll know on May 27th.
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is currently available for the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Steam).
