Thankfully, this time around, Garou manages to miss the avoidable pitfalls, which could have easily compounded the unavoidable ones (ie: some measure of input lag) of today’s hardware selection. This is especially important in the case of Garou, as its history with console releases apart from its native NeoGeo has been spotty at best.

If a re-release offers no meaningful improvements over its original form, or worse, is markedly inferior to an emulated counterpart, it’s obviously best left alone.

Generally speaking, when discussing re-releases of classic games of virtually any genre, you’re weighing the cost of admission against the experience of playing the same game emulated. Put all these elements together, and you have one of the most beloved fighting games of the same resurgent era that saw the rise of crossover titles, the emergence of 80% of the “Capcom Five”, the renaissance of Virtua Fighter, and the birth of the Evolution Championship Series. The smaller the slice you select, the more pronounced your advantages when you’re in TOP status. This includes access to a TOP move, accessed by pressing the light kick and hard punch buttons together, and feels quite like a precursor to Street Fighter V’s V-skills. You can’t play Garou to your true potential until you fully utilize the Just Defense system.Įntirely unique to the game is the TOP system, which allows you to select a slice of your lifebar that will see you gain various buffs as long as your current health level is somewhere within that scope. Although generally safer than 3rd Strike’s parry mechanic, and more rewarding in the sense that it restores a sliver of health for every attack covered, “Just Defense” is a timing-based reward for blocking attacks the instant they land, and serves as Garou’s only way to defend while airborne. Why Should I Care?Īt the time of its 1999 release, Mark of the Wolves was celebrated not just as a technical breakthrough for the NeoGeo hardware with its amazing level of animation, but a legitimate alternative to Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike as a technical marvel among the rest of the genre at the time. Including Rock, the rest of the cast is comprised of newcomers. Where Street Fighter III brought back Ryu and Ken right away, and eventually Chun-Li in 3rd Strike, after vehement backlash from the fans, Mark of the Wolves only carries main series protagonist Terry Bogard to its roster, replacing him at the same time as main character with his adopted son, Rock Howard.

Garou also aligns well with Street Fighter III in its cast of almost-exclusively new characters. Garou was a visual breakthrough when it landed on the NeoGeo in 1999.

Garou mark of the wolves platforms