Title - "Garou: Mark of the Wolves"
Alternative title(s) - N/A
Genre(s) - Fighting - 2D
Platform(s) - Arcade, Neo-Geo and Dreamcast

Note: I might spill out some spoilers. So be careful when reading if you're new to the game. Thanks.

Well! The first video game review here is for the first game I made a guide on. That's interesting.

"Garou: Mark of the Wolves" (or "Garou Densetsu IV" as I sometimes call it) is the most recent game of the "Garou Densetsu" series. The game was first introduced in 1999. SNK, this is a mark of goodness indeed. So, what's up ahead for Terry Bogard?

Story: "The King of Fighters 1998" had no story. Did you remember that? Well, there was a side story that year. Geese Howard had just died. (Do the math if you don't believe me.) This is just a flashback from the old days. Terry later finds out that he had a son named Rock that year. (You have seen him in the old days as well.) Just like what Jeff did to Terry and Andy, Terry decided to adopt Rock.

After ten years of hard training, Rock wants to know about where he came from, mainly where was his mother located. Of course he has challenges along the way, like my favorite fighter Hotaru, Bonne Jenet, and of course Terry. Unlike many "Garou Densetsu" games, there's only one plane you are fighting on. (In several games, it is two or three depending on the game.) More details will be explained on how to play the game.

• A - Light punch
• B - Light kick
• C - Hard punch
• D - Hard kick
• A+B - Brake
• Start - Taunt
• Forward or backward+Start - Another taunt, but your opponent must be down.
• Close up w/ C - Throw (usually)
• C+D - Tactical Offensive Position Attack, something that'll be described later.

If you are glowing red, that indicates a guard crush warning. There's air blocking. When you brake a move as in like slowing down the motion of an activity, you will pull off possibile combinations and you will not commit many mistakes.

Just Defend: this is one of the new fundamentals you have to learn in "MotW". Basically, you block an attack at the last second. You can tell by the blue aura. Also, you gain some health back. I personally like this better than parrying because this is easier to perform. Doing this a lot does not lead to a guard crush. Now, let's go to the final new fundamental.

Tactical Offensive Postion: after you have picked your fighter, you'll see a bar telling you to pick where to place the Tactical Offensive Position/T.O.P. section as well as its length. You can put it in the beginning third, middle third or desperate third. (I usually put it in the desperate third. In my opinion, this is the best place to start. You will not stress out that you'll lose the mode.) While in T.O.P. mode, you start glowing. Your health will gradually increase until it hits the limit and your offense increases by 25%, assuming that you didn't change the length, but if you did, your attack bonus increases. Oh yeah. You also get to use a T.O.P. attack by pressing C+D. These attacks are your double-edged swords. Though they're powerful, these will leave you wide open if you block or whiff.

The Roster:

• Rock - I told you his story.
• Terry - He's just here to look after Rock and seek new challenges as well. You already know who he is, right?
• Hotaru - A kawaii kid looking for her brother. (She plays like Athena, but I don't know who's more cuter. *lol*)
• B. (Bonne) Jenet - A pirate out to get the money, who has an interest for Terry. (See her quote if you beat Terry with her. How many girls have an interest for Terry? *lol*)
• Dong Hwan - Kim's elder son, the silly one. (He's still good though.)
• Jae Hoon - Kim's younger son, the serious one.
• Hokutomaru - Andy's new pupil.
• Marco/Butt - Ry's student.
• Kevin - A cop who sort of plays like Mary. (No, they're not related, even though you may think so.)
• Gat - A mysterious wonderer.
• Griffon/Tizoc - A wrestler.
• Freeman - A real violent fighter and a freaky one too.

The Bosses:

• Grant - A family friend of Kain.
• Kain - He's the final boss. He's also Geese's brother-in-law. He's the one that'll tell you, if you're Rock, that Marie, his sister, is your mother. (Her picture can be seen in his stage.) Both parents were killed; so he now has the chance to take over Southtown. Going to trust your uncle or what?

Are you ready to fight now? After you picked your fighter and you have set your T.O.P. mode, you'll see eight slots. There are 3 rounds with each one lasting a minute. Health's on top, power bar's on the bottom. The power bar will say S power (one level of power) and P power (maxed out). Two levels are all that you'll work with. Lights with your DM (mainly QCF X 2 motions) use one stock, while hards use both stocks.

Two last words. One, when you use a continue, you can select your advantage by pressing the corresponding button, like "KoF 1999" and "KoF 2000". The other is that when you face Grant, finish him off in the second or third round with a triple A average or you won't face Kain. That's it. Ganbare!

Fun - 10

Do I have to tell you why this gets a ten? Okay. The fundamentals make the game worth your while. The characters are a blast. Sure, a good amount of the elements from the past are gone, but the spirit lives on still. Overall, this is one fun game.

Life - 10

Despite the short roster, everyone is worth a try. It is a game with a lot of value. That's for sure.

Story - 10

You know that SNK will shine here. After all, this is the lastest "Garou Densetsu" game. It had to be good. Then again, SNK is known for their wonderful stories.

Control - 10

Smooth, sweet, easy, this will be a breeze to learn.

Audio - 10

Voices are top notch as usual. The music is different, but I like it. Jenet even has one of Terry's old beats and had it altered a bit. I'll allow that. It is fine by me. Why couldn't "SF III" do that? Oh and don't forget the announcer too. He was fine.

Art - 10

The art so beautiful. No stage sharing and the stages look much better here. I like many of them, especially the casino, the cafe and the train stage. (Dong, Rock and Terry's respectively.) The characters are all full of life and personality. Even Freeman is like this.

Overall - 10

"Garou: Mark of the Wolves" is a blast. I don't know why many people have not played this game yet. It's so fun. Go and play the game if you haven't done so. Where's my new "Garou Densetsu" anime?

+

The graphics, the addition of Hotaru, story, audio, controls/fundamentals, game play, every category got a perfect score.

-

Fans of the previous games will easily not like certain parts of this game like the subtraction of certain characters.

Date of creation - 11/28/02 (11/24/02: real date)

Last update - 10/21/04

Back