Overview

SNK milked the popularity of the Fatal Fury series with numerous album releases — the good, the bad, and the redundant. Unfortunately, Fatal Fury The Best -Selected by Characters- falls into the second and third categories. While a compilation of the best tunes from the franchise had potential, this album focuses primarily on voice acting and the tackiest musical moments of the series.

Body

Right from the start, Fatal Fury The Best manages to alienate most audiences. The "Introduction" is an arrangement of Duck King's gimmicky theme set to some extremely hyperactive announcements from the character's voice actor. He serves as the MC for the rest of the album, introducing other popular characters from the series — Terry Bogard, Mai Shiranui, Ryuji Yamazaki, Li Xiangfei, and Blue Mary — in a series of brief Japanese discussions. The album also includes various drama scenes featuring these characters, taken from the SNK Character Sounds Collection and Real Bout Fatal Fury 2 Drama CD. Any prospective buyer should expect to hear lots of Japanese monologues and even more overacting...

Before each character is introduced, the album also features a specially arrangement of one of their character themes. Highlights include the big band jazz arrangement of Terry Bogard's "Kurikinton" from the Fatal Fury Special Image Album and the dramatic orchestral performance of Blue Mary's "Kiss Me" from Fatal Fury Symphonic Sound Trax. Less appealing are the jarring vocal renditions of Mai Shiranui and Li Xiangfei's themes, both featuring immature vocalists and frivolous pop backing. Mai's character has inspired some incredible instrumental arrangements since her debut, so it's a pity that SNK once again selected a track with limited appeal.

Moving to the end of the album, "Ending" is another brief musical interlude featuring yet more annoying MC. The characters finally come together in "Symposium Pao Pao Cafe" for an eight minute long discussion. Finally, listeners are presented with "Dance de Peace", an original image song featuring an ensemble performance. With candypop stylings, hyperactive vocals, and more annoying interruptions from Duck King, it represents the final album pretty well.

Summary

To enjoy this album, you need to: speak Japanese fluently, be a passionate Fatal Fury fan, enjoy girly vocals and hyperactive MCs, and not own previous album releases for the franchise. Does the rule you out? Yep, thought so.