Though gameplay is two-dimensional, characters can move between two different planes during battle. Breaking an opponent through one of the barriers located on either side of a stage causes them to become stunned.
Characters
The game retains the cast of the original Real Bout, with the addition of Tung Fu Rue, Cheng Sinzan, Laurence Blood, and Wolfgang Krauser from Fatal Fury Special, with Krauser serving as the new final boss. Geese Howard, who was killed off in the end of the original Real Bout, appears in this game as a hidden final boss in a special "Nightmare Match" and as an unlockable playable character in the home versions. The game also features hidden "extra" versions of Andy Bogard, Billy Kane, Blue Mary, and Tung Fu Rue for a total of 23 characters.
Development
Release
The game was ported to the Neo-Geo CD with several additions such as a Versus mode and a music video starring Blue Mary that is shown to the player after completing the Arcade mode following the credits. This port also saw a release for the Sega Saturn, using the 1MB RAM cartridge expansion of the system in order to retain sprite animations. A port of Real Bout Special titled Real Bout Fatal Fury Special: Dominated Mind was released for the PlayStation in 1998 only in Japan, which adds Alfred Airhawk from Real Bout Fatal Fury 2 as a playable character, and includes an all new boss character named White. This port adds animated videos for game's intro and character's endings. These cut scenes were produced by Sunrise. The story of this version centers around White's brainwashing of Billy Kane and attempted takeover of Southtown's underworld in the power vacuum left by Geese Howard's death in the original Real Bout. In this version, Geese sports a halo over his head, a reference to his passing in the original Real Bout. Dominated Mind also features new moves, hidden unlockable super moves, super cancelling, and removed the two line battle system from the game. The extra versions of Andy, Billy, Mary, and Tung are removed. The Game Boy version, titled Nettou Real Bout Garou Densetsu Special, was released only in Japan on March 27, 1998, featuring simplified graphics and two-button gameplay. This version features only 12 playable characters: a roster which consists of Terry, Andy, Joe, Mai, Blue Mary, Duck King, Kim, Jin Chonrei, Billy, Yamazaki, Laurence, and Krauser. Geese Howard appears as a hidden character, as well as Iori Yagami from The King of Fighters series.
Reception
In Japan, Game Machine listed Real Bout Fatal Fury Special on their March 1, 1997 issue as being the most-successful arcade game of the year. The game was a success in the arcades.
