King of Fighters R-2 review by Torture

When I bought my original, monochrome, Neo Geo Pocket, I also purchased King of Fighters R-1. Instantly, I was astounded by the quality of the game. Never before had I played a fighting game on a portable that looked and moved as smoothly as R-1. So, it was only fitting that I get King of Fighters R-2 with my Neo Geo Pocket Color. Much like the first, it is a great conversion, but besides the enhancement of color, R-2 has many new features that make it even better than the first.

Graphics
There isn’t much to say regarding the graphics, after playing R-1. The game graphics are pretty much the same for the returning characters, and the new characters look good in the Super Deformed style as expected. The main thing to go over for graphics is the addition of color. Overall, the color of the system looks great, and the character artwork, which was great in R-1, looks phenomenal in color in R-2. The in game graphics look great in color too. The only problem is lack of variety. The color on many characters is simplistic, using very few colors per charatcer. Some characters end up looking better than others. Yashiro and Iori are among the best looking characters, while Shingo looks lacking. The animation, however, is superb, actually looking smoother than R-1, and Shingo animates better than perhaps any other character. The detailed animation is amazing for a portable. Shingo’s hair moves very fluidly as he moves in his fighting stance. Overall, the game looks great, and the animation sets a standard for portable fighting games.

Also worth mention are the backgrounds. Like always, SNK did an amazing job shrinking the backgrounds down for R-2. Some of them don’t come off as well as others, like the street, but the Korean fishing port, and the Arabian market stand out as visually delightful. Basically, SNK took their winning formula from R-1, and took it to the next logical step.

I want to make one thing clear to those who have not bought the color unit. King of Fighters R-2 looks beautiful on the monochrome Neo Geo Pocket, and I often play the game on both units.

Sound
This category has always been tough for me to comment on. This time I had some reference point, the first game. I popped R-2 into my original NGP, and R-1 into my color unit, and compared the sound simultaneously. SNK has really improved the sound across the board. The sound effects are better, the music is better. SNK must be growing more accustomed to the machine, especially its sound capabilities, because in my opinion, R-2 is quite an improvement in sound over the original, and I wonder what surprises in sound await us Neo Geo Pocket gamers.

Gameplay
Again, Neo Geo Pocket fighting shines in this category....just as I said in my review of R-1. First of all, there are new characters, and some changes. Despite looking very cute super deformed, I must question the judgment of SNK putting Kasumi Todo in the game. All in all, I don’t think the character lineup is as solid this time around. The new character, while not bad, don’t seem to add as much. Saisyu seems too much like Kyo. Rugal doesn’t seem to be as cool as boss either. I enjoyed fighting Orochi, while Rugal can be far more aggravating. But that’s just a small complaint. Some returning characters have undergone changes. Some have changed controls. Yashiro seems stronger, with a more effective punch combo. Yuri had a move removed, but seems as strong as ever. Athena seems to have been weakened a bit. Overall, there seems to be better balance though.

As for how it plays. It’s King of Fighters. If you’ve played they arcade versions of the series, or good console conversions, you’ll easily feel at home with R-2. The game even seems quite a bit more challenging overall, as the computer opponent seems to have a few new tricks. My only complaing about AI is that the enemy doesn’t seem to want to do anything at the beginning of rounds. But that’s a minor issue. The game plays wonderfully, and has the strategies expected in KOF. As in R-1, the control scheme is perfect, and recreates the arcade feel admirably. The best adition to the game is making mode, which is a simple story mode. In it, your single fighter has to fight whole teams, sometimes multiple teams, and often the stage causes a weakness of some kind, or has another condition.

Making mode adds great longevity to this title, as collecting the skills is a tough mission. The DC link should add even more. Also, searching for the hidden guys in regular play is also a great challenge. The only disappointment is that the endings seem weaker than in R-1, which had endings that impressed me. But it’s not a big issue, and does not detract much from the game. Making Mode more than makes up for it.

Overall
There isn’t much to say...it is King of Fighters. SNK took all the important parts of the arcade game, including the 2 playing styles, and successfully crammed it into a tiny Neo Geo Pocket cart. SNK took their successful formula for R-1, and impreved on it. The control is still a dream, the visuals are great, on any version of NGP, and the new modes add great new otpions to gameplay. There is little reason not to get this game. If you dig fighters, this is the best yet...and if Fatal Fury is better, KOF R-2 is still the best place for team action.