Because the European version of the SNES port was on a smaller cartridge, Big Bear, Cheng Sinzan, Axel Hawk, and Laurence Blood had to be removed along with their respective stages to fit the smaller cart size, whereas Ryo Sakazaki is playable from the start.

The game contains an unused alternate background for Terry's stage where the faces on Mt. Rushmore are replaced with Billy Kane, Laurence Blood, Wolfgang Krauser, and Axel Hawk. Additionally, Mr. Big from Art of Fighting will also appear in the background flying across the screen using his Cross Diving move.

According to the SNK team in a 1995 Neo Geo Freak Magazine interview, Geese Howard's "Wicked Shadow Fist" move was going to be in Fatal Fury Special, but did not make the cut due to time constraints. However, Geese's move did return in Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory as it was on the SNK team's "must add" list from the very beginning of the development.