Best Characters for Beginners in Fatal Fury: City of the…

Summary

Mai Shiranui is strong at midrange, with fast footwork and combo potential but requires follow-ups for special moves.
B. Jenet is beginner-friendly with high-pressure strikes but requires space control for optimal execution of specials.
Marco Rodrigues offers a familiar shoto moveset, focused on juggling foes, making him an adaptable choice for beginners.

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is finally here. The game carries on where Garou: Mark of the Wolves left off 26 years ago, while bringing back more classic characters from the series, like Billy Kane and Mai Shiranui. The gameplay has also been spiced up with its new REV mechanics, which can do everything from boosting special moves to push blocks, provided the player has enough meter to fuel them.

It seems like a lot to handle, but thankfully for players weaned on Street Fighter 6’s Modern mode, FF: CotW has something similar with its Smart Style, where the trickiest moves gain simpler commands. That way, beginners can get a look at its different modes, like Episodes of South Town as well as online. But if they don't fancy diving into the deep end of the fiery pool, they can toe the waters with these more easy-to-grasp characters.

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7 Mai Shiranui

Not Too Easy But Not Too Hard Either

Poking attacks are great for stopping opponents and trapping them in combos.
Fast on her feet, with strong midair attacks.
Her specials can be slow and leave her unsafe, making them better as follow-ups to her normal strikes.

The Alluring Kunoichi, Mai Shiranui, only makes the list because she’s a series’ mainstay. Players may also have seen her in two Dead or Alive games, Street Fighter 6, and all but one King of Fighters game. If beginners havedabbled in those, they know what to expect from Mai. If they’re completely new to fighting games, they’ll still find her poking attacks handy for stuffing their opponent’s strikes from a distance and opening them up for a set of combos.

If players use Mai's special moves out of the blue, they'll be left open for punishment as they often leave her unsafe. They're best used as follow-ups to her pokes. Players can then choose to stay on the offense, or use Mai's quick leaps to try and catch them unaware when they get up. It's a lot for beginners to take in, but she's a good pick to show how strong a character's regular attacks can be.

6 B. Jenet

As Welcoming as She Looks

Good high-pressure strikes, and fast on the attack.
Good at rushdown attacks, making her better for players who prefer to go on the offensive.
Her specials can leave her open, and their space-controlling follow-ups require practice.

The blonde bombshell, B. Jenet, has a straightforward toolkit. She’s all about pressing the offense on her opponents with her quick strikes. So, all beginners need to do is stay in their opponent’s face and keep hammering Jenet’s buttons, right?

Well, to a degree. It’ll be enough to handle the AI at most difficulty settings, and might even help them online against other starting players. That said, many of Jenet’s special moves also leave her open for punishment if they whiff, so players will have to practice how to control the surrounding space to get the most out of the pirate queen. Compared to the likes of Kain or Tizoc, playing with B. Jenet will feel like a breeze for beginners.

5 Marco Rodrigues

A Shoto Whose Moves are Familiar Yet Different

His shoto skills will be familiar to players familiar with 2D fighting games.
Plenty of moves to help him close in on opponents and pummel them up-close.
Uppercuts and spin kicks are better for juggling foes than a pure rushdown approach.

A student of Art of Fighting’s Ryo Sakazaki, Marco Rodrigues is a shoto with all the standard shoto moves, like his Kououken fireball, leaping Kouhou uppercut, and lunging Hien Shippu Kyaku spin kicks. By mastering these three moves, beginners can become pros in no time.

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However, that’s not strictly true. Marco does excel at getting up close and personal, particularly with his new dashing Harai Uke counter-attack. But he doesn't play like more rushdown-friendly shotos like Street Fighter’s Ken. He’s better at knocking his foes into the air, then juggling them with combos like a Tekken character. Still, if players can't wait until Ken makes his FF debut in the summer, Marco will offer a different kind of karate to put into action.

4 Rock Howard

Not Quite as Blunt as His Namesake

Probably the first player beginners will experience, as the tutorial character.
Versatile, offering good zoning attacks and up-close offense.
Has some tricky moves that require some practice to master.

Given he’s the new main character of the Fatal Fury series, one would expect Rock Howard to be more newbie-friendly to let players get their bearings — especially as he's the main tutorial character. That doesn't necessarily mean he's the easiest character to play, but he is more intuitive than many of his rivals.

He plays like a mix of both his dads, as he has Geese Howard’s projectiles and Terry Bogard’s anti-airs and dashing knuckle strikes. This means he can zone his opponents out with constant Reppukens and Shippukens, close the distance with his Hard Edge, or wipe out a chunk of their life bar with his Shining Knuckle super. Still, he isn't completely simple. His Rage Run setups and command throw tricks will take more training mode sessions to get to grips with.

3 Preecha

As Direct as a Punch to the Face

One of the simplest new characters for players to use.
Simple, strong target combos that can chain off her specials.
Can counter projectiles and close distance fast via moves like Hyperbolic Kick.

The disciple of FF's Muay Thai mainstay Joe Higashi, Preecha, might be the simplest of the game’s new characters. She’s less testing for beginners than her loudmouth master, as her projectiles and swinging kicks only require a quarter-circle motion, or a button press in Smart Style, over Joe’s half-circle swings in his past appearances.

Even if players stick to Arcade Style, her special moves will help her close the distance and open opponents up for her target combos. Some of them even come with their own follow-ups, which only require an extra punch or kick afterward to add insult to injury. As such, if beginners play with Preecha, they’ll get strong results in a short amount of time.

2 Terry Bogard

Offers a Sturdy Set of Knuckles for Newbies to Use

Familiar, adaptable moveset that can fit multiple approaches.
Moves offer decent damage and combo potential.
Strikes are largely safe on block or whiff, as they don't telegraph his approach as much.

Casual fighting game fans might know the basic ins and outs of Mai’s moves, but they’ll be much more familiar with what Terry Bogard brings to the table. He’s been in a wide variety of other fighting games, such as Smash Bros, Street Fighter 6, every King of Fighters game since its inception, and many more.

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Terry has a familiar photo set-up, but he’s more versatile than Marco. He can play keep-away with his Power Wave and anti-air attacks or close the distance with a Burning Knuckle or Crack Shoot, which can set the opponent up for more pain via his combos. His moves are fairly safe too, so beginners won’t suffer too much if they flub a combo, or spam against the AI. Human opponents will be another matter.

1 Hotaru Futaba

Fewer Risks and More Rewards

Quick and easy combo strikes.
Reflect projectiles with Kobi Kyaku.
A good pick for learning how to feint and brake moves for longer combos.

Hotaru Futaba is currently at the top of the tier list because she’s a powerful character in anyone’s hands. Her individual strikes don’t do much damage, but when they’re strung together, they can build up the pain, like in her multi-hit Soushou Shin or its super-move equivalent Soushou Tenrenge.

Doing them whenever and wherever won’t help players, which is why they come in handy as combo enders. They chain in nicely whenever she can Brake out of her launching attacks like her Kobi Kyaku, which can also reflect her opponent’s projectiles if they’re timed well. Her only weakness is that she can't withstand damage very well. However, with her roll call of strengths, beginners will soon find ways to reap plenty of rewards from playing as her.

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