Video game developers SNK must have cried out in anguish, "Hey, that was our idea!" when Capcom's Street Fighter II was released because SF II bore a striking resemblance to Fatal Fury, SNK's ace in the hole. Fatal Fury had been in development before SF II but, alas, the latter beat SNK to the market. Street Fighter came to dominate the field of fighting games and spawned so many imitators that Fatal Fury was in danger of getting lost in the crowd. Thanks to some unique features though, Fatal Fury lived a long and happy life with many sequels of its own.

Fatal Fury players had a choice from a trio of heroes, brothers Terry and Andy Bogard and their friend Joe Higashi. The backstory had the protagonists traveling to fictional South Town, USA to take part in the King Of Fighters Tournament and to track down the man who had killed the Bogards' father. There were eight bad guys to fight, including ultimate villain Geese Howard, and the player faced the first batch of four in whatever order he chose. Those four were the kickboxer Duck King, Brazilian capoeira master Richard Meyer, boxer Michael Max and Tung Fu Rue, an old man who transformed into a musclebound monster. Getting past them meant that Terry, Andy or Joe faced Hwa Jai, Raiden the wrestler, Billy Kane and finally, crime boss Howard.

The game had a two-player mode that allowed two of the good guys to team up against one of the bad guys. Teamwork had its disadvantages however, since after the bad guy was beaten, the two heroes had to fight each other to determine who would advance.

Each fight took place in front of a different venue, like a restaurant, an arena or an amusement park. Fatal Fury offered a twist to the straight-line fighting of similar by allowing the players to move into the background to avoid an opponent's attack.

Fatal Fury 2 was released a year after the original and impressed its fan base with a variety of eight selectable players, instead of the original three. It also featured a "desperation move," a last resort weapon that allowed an almost-beaten player to fight back with extra power and gain some time to recoup. Eight more sequels arrived throughout the 90s, making Fatal Fury a success despite the stringent competition.