Overview

Fatal Fury Special brought the series with such widespread success that SNK decided to release an image single for the game. Featuring the voice of Power Ranger's Reiko Chiba, the single includes an original song and a cover version.

Body

The single features a surprising vocal arrangement of idol Mai Shiranui's theme, entitled "The Beauties of Nature". While Reiko Chiba clearly resonated with young audiences in Japan, her youthful, untrained voice won't appeal to most Westerners. The melody also sounds contrived when presented on vocals. Despite being co-produced by Tenpei Sato, the arrangement isn't particularly convincing either. The passages featuring traditional Asian instruments are pleasant, but they clash terribly with the dated pop beats and cheesy string parts.

The single also includes the original image song for Fatal Fury Special, "Non Stop! One Way Love". Given it was conceived as an idol song, it does exactly what it was supposed to do with its happy-go-lucky melody and frivolous singles. That said, it will still only appeal to select audiences, with its youthful vocalist and vapid arrangement. There is also a karaoke version of the song for enthusiasts out there.

Summary

This image single won't find an audience in the current era. The single successfully monopolised on the popularity of Fatal Fury Special by appealing to youthful audiences. But it has so many problems, from concept to arrangement to performance, that modern audiences will find it unstomachable.