Controls
- Move forward
- Move backward/block attacks
or 
or 
- Jump
or 
or 
- Crouch
- Punch
- Kick
- Throw
Mechanics
- Health: There is a total of 97 points of health in the game (96 points of health plus one magic pixel for 97.)
- Blocking: Like any fighting game, you can hold back to block attacks standing or down back to block low hitting attacks. You will take chip damage upon special moves connecting on block, which can also lead to checkmate scenarios if you're close enough to death.
- Throws: Throws are finnicky. When you're not close enough in proximity, your character will whiff the throw attempt and put themselves in a whiff animation, where their pushbox also pushes the opponent farther away slightly. You need to basically be hugging the opponent for throw to connect, and it can still whiff. Hold forward while doing a throw attempt by walking into the opponent to ensure it doesn't whiff. Throws cannot be escaped from. You will have the most consistency performing throws by pressing 6C instead of 5C. Even 5C by itself, right next to the opponent, won't always work. In the corner, throwing the opponent against the wall will make them wall bounce off the corner, landing back on the same side that they were grabbed from.
- Mid-range normals: Unlike any other fighting game, there exists a third range beyond close and far range for mid-range normals. These perform when you're just slightly farther away from the opponent, but not close enough for the close proximity check to trigger. This is a small range with fewer chances of using these normals, but nonetheless have their own properties.
- Lane switch attack: Lane switch attacks cannot be manually activated. Instead, they can only be performed after a series of attacks with either the A or B buttons. For the A button, you need to walk into the opponent and press the A button a couple of times for it to trigger. It is random what attacks will come out and when the game decides to give the lane switch attack; still being tested further. For the B button, the lane switch attack comes out every other B press. If, however, you try to press the attack button for either punches or kicks, and the attack whiffs, this resets the chain of events required to build up to the lane switch attack.
- In essence, you will likely never see this in player matches unless you both really don't like or can't do special moves.
- Jump attacks: Each character has 6 total jump attacks, between their diagonal jump attacks for each button, an attack for when they're rising up in their neutral jump, and an attack when they're falling from their neutral jump.
- Variable Frame Data: Attacks in Fatal Fury do not have a consistent, set frame advantage on them. It depends on the attack, special moves are exempt from the rule, but generally there is a variance between how plus you are after doing an attack whether it hits or is blocked. Some attacks can be either plus or minus depending on their threshold.
- Hurtboxes: Each character's hurtboxes and pushboxes are the same. Whatever space the character occupies is also their hurtbox, leading to many questionable interactions of characters flying past each other or seemingly doing nothing. Upon being hit by an attack, characters are completely invulnerable, thus making combos impossible. This only seriously matters for Joe's tiger kick, which uniquely hits twice.
