I’m back! I’m over my January vacation (something everyone online takes part in because ad revenue is down and not because they need a social media detox) and ready to sling out all manner of content here at GAMBIT once again. 2021 is a new year and with CES behind us means that we can get back to pushing out all the hot and spicy reviews that you come here for. And first off the bat is a somewhat follow-up to my last Nintendo Switch review. We kick off 2021 with another Neo Geo Pocket release for the Nintendo Switch in Fatal Fury: First Contact.

I adore my Nintendo Switch for many reasons, but the biggest has to be the fact that we get all manner of smaller digital releases that I’d almost never take a look at on the other major consoles. Fatal Fury: First Contact is the another Neo Geo Pocket classic that is sure to please fans of the portable console and the Fatal Fury series. As with most Neo Geo Pocket games, Fatal Fury: First Contact scales down amazingly well, especially for such a technically dense fighter.

---

---

Fatal Fury: First Contact might seem like an original take on the series but is, in fact, a version of Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers. And while it’s not as deep as the arcade original, the amount of content crammed into such a small space is impressive. What I really love about this title is that it serves as a great way for those new to the Fatal Fury series to get into it. I say this because the fighting is trimmed down and while still a challenge, it’s no Fatal Fury from the arcades. I know a fair amount of people who grew up with Street Fighter II and were wary to try the offerings from SNK, mostly because Neo Geo machines were harder to come by.

Fatal Fury: First Contact does everything right for all levels of play. The port is fantastic with the emulation being spot on. It’s no surprise that the Neo Geo Pocket was a fantastic portable and the pairing of its games on the portable Nintendo Switch make for match made in heaven. Fatal Fury: First Contact was meant to be played in short bursts on the go and I found myself all through the holidays sneaking in a few matches during our small faily get-together. It’s amazing how a game from an ancient portable system still looks fantastic in 2021.

---

---

I already spoke about how this is a great way into the Fatal Fury series because the gameplay is pretty straightforward and doesn’t require months of practice simply to get to grips with the game. When I reviewed The Last Blade: Beyond the Destiny, I loved the game as I loved the series, but it wasn’t super newbie friendly because of the type of combat and stances it used. With Fatal Fury: First Contact, everything feels tailored to the largest common denominator in terms of players. With most older fighting games you will almost always hit the dreaded “difficulty wall” that hits after a couple of fights. Fatal Fury: First Contact never feels like it ever hits that wall.

That isn’t to say that the game doesn’t get difficult, rather, the difficulty ramps up alongside you in what feels fairly natural. Instead of these deep and elaborate combos that take massive amounts of brain space to memorize, Fatal Fury: First Contact relies more of simple combat with little touches to help mix things up for those wanting something a little deeper. Just be aware that this is a portable game we are talking about and not something designed to be on the main stage at EVO.

As for the game itself you get an impressive 13 characters across three difficulty settings. The design of the cast is incredibly fun-sized, something that helps the combat flow much nicer. Just look at Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter II and you’ll see why just shrinking character sprites down to Game Boy proportions don’t turn out that great. SNK was smart to understand that this isn’t a mini version of Fatal Fury and instead its own beat entirely. That said, everything here went into cramming in a good fighting game without all the fluff, including the story and extras. It lacks the frills of even other Neo Geo Pocket releases, including The Last Blade that I covered last year.

---

---

I know a lot of people are going to be hard on this title when the reviews hit the ground and that’s a shame. I understand their potential concerns of there not being a whole lot here to sink your teeth into and that there is only a few hours of value in this offering, but all those people are wrong even though they are right. You have to understand that this was an early Neo Geo Pocket title and meant exactly for those short trips and to get the quick fighting fix on the go. To want or expect something along the lines of the core Fatal Fury series from the home or arcades is a bit silly.

My only real gripe with the release is the timing of it all. You would expect this to to be the first release in the Neo Geo Pocket lineup on the Nintendo Switch. It’s in no way bad, but it lacks a fair amount of content of later releases on the platform once SNK managed to figure out how to create and cram content onto a cart. Coming from something like The Last Blade: Beyond the Destiny to this feels like a step back, something that wouldn’t have happened is this one dropped first.

For what it does, Fatal Fury: First Contact is a solid release in 2020 considering that it released pretty much in this same form twenty years ago. But while I still love this release, especially for the SNK fan who wants to experience all their fighting offerings, I am praying to the big spaghetti monster in the sky that SNK releases a physical collection of this line of Neo Geo Pocket games sometime down the road when they finish up the individual releases.

---

---

Final Score:

---

---

About Author