The fighting game term “Shoto”, as defined by the Fighting Games Glossary created by Richard “Infil” Pusch, is an archetype “that has a fireball, a shoryuken, and a tatsu. Their main gameplan is to play solid footsies with fireballs and pokes, and then uppercut you when you jump at them”. I bring this up because one of SNK’s prominent ninja characters has a move that could change up her gameplan.

The new Fatal Fury game, subtitled City of the Wolves, has given the series’ resident buxom female fighter Mai Shiranui a slight upgrade. Namely, an anti-air. Her Dragon Punch/anti-air move is Hana Arashi, which is an uppercut that hits upward and is invincible enough to be used as a reversal. In fact, using the Rev system allows you to cancel to different moves leading up to her ending combos with her new move.

To sum up her moveset, Mai Shiranui has a projectile (Kachousen), a horizontal travel attack move (Hissatsu Shinobi Bachi), and now her new DP. She also has some decent pokes that let her connect with her Revved-Up versions of her existing moves for big damage. Ergo, she’s a Shoto character to join alongside Terry Bogard, making her technically beginner-friendly. Except she also has a dive kick (Musasabi no Mai air version), a slow divebomb attack from the air (Ukihane), and her trademark Ryuuenbu flame move that can somehow trick players into pressing buttons as it leaves you safe even when blocked.

Also some extra notes about Mai in other previews and videos online:

• The EX version of her Musasabi no Mai dive kick can be done when jumping backwards. Basically this is a great “gotcha” move since most folks don’t expect a divekick when Mai jumps back.
• Her Ukihane air attack doesn’t knock down and can combo to other nasty normals/moves.
• Her Brake moves are Hissatsu Shinobi Bachi and her Hana Arashi/DP. Yes, there are nasty extended combos you can do with these, especially after a Rev Cancel to a special.

You can decide for yourself if she’s Shoto material or not by checking out her gameplay straight out of the Tokyo Game Show 2024 showfloor. I was only given less than an hour to learn a lot of things on the fly, so excuse the scrub gameplay.

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves will be out for PC and consoles on 21 April 2025.