Bitmap Books excels in deep dives into retro gaming history and publishes some of the best game art books, and there are two ways to read a new release. The first is how you're supposed to read it: by starting at page one, taking in the introduction, working through the chapters and absorbing the history. The second is to immediately flick through the pages, pausing at the artwork, screenshots, and sketches until you realise you've accidentally spent half an hour staring at a sprite sheet.
That's exactly what happened when I opened this new release, the hefty, weighty Fatal Fury / Garou Densetsu: The Ultimate History. To be fair, Bitmap Books makes it very easy to get distracted. This is another beautifully produced hardback, a large, heavy thing that feels substantial the moment you pick it up, packed with glossy pages, oversized artwork and enough SNK history to keep fighting game fans occupied.
