Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is an exciting arena for Kenshiro's explosive Hokuto Shinken

enshiro's unique pressure point mechanics make his combos as deadly as they are dazzling.

Fist of the North Star in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves still feels like a pinch-me-I’m-dreaming kind of thing, but here we are at long last. The inheritor of Hokuto Shinken and Japanese martial arts animation icon Kenshiro has come to City of the Wolves and he’s more than prepared for battle. SNK let me have a Hundred Fist Crack at Kenshiro’s moves and combos, and I came away feeling like his ebbing-and-flowing pressure point mechanics might make him one of City of the Wolves’ most dangerous fighter yet.

The true heir to Hokuto Shinken

Kenshiro should need no introduction, but if you didn’t know, he’s the hero of Fist of the North Star (Hokuto no Ken). He’s also a martial artist whose gimmick is he can strike the pressure points of his enemies and utterly kill them in a variety of ways (usually making them explode). He’s not as overpowered in City of the Wolves as he is in Fist of the North Star, but he has a gimmick that encapsulates his abilities in an exciting way, giving him versatility and damage that some characters in the game can only dream of.

Kenshiro’s kit is kind of okay on its own. His main neutral skip has him rush the opponent in a full standing advance, and though it can cross-up in Heavy and REV versions, it also looks telegraphed and easy to counter with most normals. He doesn’t have a projectile outside of counter projectiles from his Extreme Airflow and Two-Finger Intercept counters. Also worth noting that these are two counters for projectiles, not physical attacks, which feels a bit redundant. Despite that, he has a solid multi-hit rush move in his Hundred-Kick Rush and even a solid aerial combo move with Seven Stars of Death.

Now here’s the part that takes Kenshiro from okay to absurd: his pressure point mechanic. When Kenshiro hits the opponent with any REV version of his moves or either of his REV Blows, he sets a sparkly star effect on them. If Kenshiro hits another REV special move or REV Blow, he will pop the star effect that get a significant pop-up on his opponent for which his combos can be extended for tremendous damage. Moreover, if his supers hit an opponent in that sparkle state, he’ll cause them to be dizzied when they get up, allowing for more damage.

The trick to using Kenshiro effectively is managing the application and popping of his pressure point gimmick multiple times in a combo string. By considering where and when your enemy will burst, you can utilize Kenshiro’s move list in some ridiculous ways. I particularly like his Fist of Penitence. If you have an over-pressuring opponent, you can use this command grab super as an invincible wake-up to not only turn the tables with strong base damage, but if you hit the light version on an enemy in sparkle state or just land the heavy version in any form, it also stuns opponents, letting you continue their destruction after you hit the move.

Omae wa mou shindeiru

I love the attention to detail on Kenshiro’s fighting style. He moves well and has an okay all-rounder kit at the surface level, but when you mix his pressure point gimmick into that, he’s a mauler. I particularly love that they gave his Hidden Gear such a special finish if you manage to defeat an opponent with it. Kenshiro was sitting at the end of SNK’s current slate of DLC and he tied a ribbon on this year’s planned content so far with considerable style. I don’t know how or if SNK beats this one, but I’m excited to see them try. After all, Hokuto Shinken is supposedly invincible.

These impressions are based on an early PC version featuring Kenshiro ahead of his launch. Kenshiro comes to Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves on PS5, Xbox, and PC in June 2026.

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