SNK absolutely knocked it out of the park back in 1997 with REAL BOUT FATAL FURY SPECIAL. Now, you can carry one of the greatest fighting games ever made right in your pocket without dealing with clunky emulation.

MODERN UPGRADES FOR A RETRO CLASSIC

Hamster Corporation faithfully brought this NeoGeo masterpiece to modern screens, and they completely nailed the execution. You can aggressively tweak the visual settings to recreate that gritty, old school CRT monitor aesthetic. But they didn’t just dump the ROM and call it a day. You get incredibly convenient quality of life upgrades like a quick save system, totally customizable virtual controls to keep your thumbs from cramping, and online leaderboards to see exactly how your high score stacks up against the competitive community.

DITCHING THE CHEAP RING OUTS

The combat engine got a massive overhaul from the original release. The frustrating ring out system is completely dead. The game now relies on breakable barriers on the edges of the stage, pushing you to trap your opponent and literally smash them through the scenery to end the round. You still fight on a tight two dimensional plane, but dodging between the foreground and background lanes is absolutely critical for avoiding heavy projectiles and punishing reckless swings. The freshly upgraded Power Gauge also makes the combo potential entirely insane.

A MASSIVE BRAWLING ROSTER

The lineup is totally stacked. You get a massive base roster that brings back heavy hitters like Tung Fu Rue, Laurence Blood, and Wolfgang Krauser. Geese Howard canonically died in the previous tournament, but he ignores that minor detail to return as a terrifying hidden final boss in the secret “Nightmare Match.” Beating him unlocks him for your own roster. You can even uncover hidden, alternate versions of fan favorites like Blue Mary and Andy Bogard, officially pushing the playable cast to 23 unique fighters.