Source: Kotaku, Xbox.com, Team Xbox

The last, and most beloved entry in SNK's Fatal Fury series, Garou: Mark of the Wolves is slated to come to Xbox Live Marketplace this week, according to Kotaku.

I know that I personally am excited for this update. I've had a chance to play Mark of the Wolves already, and it is a fantastic fighting game! The balance is superb, and the fighting system(which has been completely reduxed from the last entry in the series) is deep and complex enough to keep any serious fighting fan busy, yet at the same time it's still possible to enjoy it without having to learn all of the intricacies - the moves are very easy to learn, mostly just quarter-circles, even for the supers(x2 quarter-circles). The only legitimate complaint I have for this game is the small amount of characters - only about 14, about half the amount of characters in the last game, Real Bout Fatal Fury 2. However, MotW makes up for this in that most of its characters are so fun to use - considering the fact that I only ever use more than 4 or 5 characters in any given game(a true fighting fan, I am not ), MotW is unique in that it's the only fighting game I've ever played where I've repeatedly used and enjoyed using every single character in its roster.

Anywho, enough amatuer reviewing. As you can see, I am very exited for this game, as should just about any other fighting fan with an Xbox 360.

My only concern, though, is how the controls will feel. Judging from the article by Kotaku, it may very well be a port of the Dreamcast version, which had some serious control issues(input delays iirc). Couple that with the Xbox 360's controller(lets face it, no matter how you look at it, that thing is just not good for fighting games), and you'll be in for one seriously sloppy fighter. Of course, so long as it doesn't have the input delays the Dreamcast version reportedly had, a fighting stick should fix a number of the control problems, and considering the amount of online-enabled fighters on the Xbox 360, those sticks would a worthy investment for anyone with even a mild interest in fighters.

Hopefully, everything will turn out fine in the end, and we'll all be in for the fight of our life when Garou: Mark of the Wolves hits the Xbox Live Marketplace this Wednesday.

Hm...outta curiosity, is there any chance I could submit this to NintendoLife?

Head Explodes in SNK goodness

But yeah, I saw the Gatou Theme and Gamer Pics on Market Place, but it's awesome to see an awesome 2D fighter comming out just before KOFXII comes out

Is still crossing his fingers that KOFXII and BlazBlue on 360 are region free

Whoa, it took me a while to realize anyone responded to this. Sorry.

I never noticed those picks before. Weird.

Blazblue is Region-free with NA, but not with PAL. KOFXII is iffy.

This is probably the deepest 2D fighter ever crafted. It's amazing, even still to this day. If you love fighting games, this should be at the top of your wish list.

Yeah, I was waiting to see if this was going to pop up on Virtual Console but no such luck. Oh well, XBLA it is then!

I'm definitely downloading this today to play with my lovely SFIV 2D pad (the Saturn-based one - only cost me £4.99!)

I've only ever played Real Bout Special out of the FF series though - am I going to struggle, Corbie?

I'm glad I got the Hori Real Arcade Pro EX-SE stick now. And James this is deeper than the Real Bout games. It's DEEEEEEP. It's got some combos that are unreal. It took me months to even get on character down fairly well.

Hmm... not sure I have time for that as I'm still trying to learn the subtleties of Vanessa from VF5.

If I pick up Terry will I be able to win just by doing Crack Shoot and Power Geyser all the time? I don't have much more skill than that.

Hey Corbie, didn't this game make your list of the Top Neo Geo Games you would like to see come to the Virtual Console?

Well you can play through it in single-player, but if you ever go up against some of the better players, they'll tear you a new one so fast your head will spin. And it was #3 on the Top 10 Neo Geo Games We Want to Come to the Virtual Console list.

Good Lord! Bonne Jenet is hot!

So, its that good huh? I'm going to download it so I guess I'll find out tomorrow. Are you getting Blazeblue or King of Fighters XII?

Yeah but she's not that great in the fight. I like using Freeman or Kain.

I'm getting King of Fighters XII.

I'm all over King of Fighters XII as if it's made out of gold. I cannot wait for that game.

Remind me not to play against you online, Corb - I like living in my Terry Bogard Burn Knuckle bubble

LOL. Okay James. I'm the same way on the King of Fighters games. I just blast away with attacks with little rhyme or reason.

Searching for the game on YouTube, I found this funny video:

Mai's reaction to B. Jenet's question is priceless.

Must get myself some MS Points today...

Here's a pretty good bout is you like B. Jenet.

And here are my two favorite characters going at it.

I've never played this game, but I may buy it on my disc drive dead 360 just for her.

Whoa!:shock: Judging from the Skill list, this game is a little more complex than I remember it. Funny, I don't remember having that much trouble with it, honestly. It was a lot easier than Last Blade, that's for sure - that game destroyed me! Granted, I never played it competitively, and I spent a lot of time practicing, but a master I ain't, yet still, I had a lot of fun with it, and I thought I was getting pretty decent with a couple of characters. Guess we'll find out once it arrives at noon tomorrow.