King of Fighters Round 2 - review by Sunboy

King of Fighters R-2 review by Sunboy

Sunboy's Information:
Platform: Neo Geo Pocket Color
Players: Two
Creator: SNK
Genre: Fighting
Time to Complete: 30 minutes
Time to Get All Secrets: A month

Personal Stats:
Hardest fighters: Yuri Sakazaki, Riot Rugal
Coolest fighters: Iori Yagami, Kyo Kusanagi, Shingo Yabuki, '95 Kyo

When I slapped in this baby, I was ready for some serious fun. After watching the killer introduction, I teamed up Kyo, Chris, and Yashiro. My first impressions were: damn, this game has low damage and damn, this control is bad. The damage isn't low, but the way the lifebars work (see below) makes it seem that way. The control has minor problems, easily overlooked.

Graphics: A-
The stages were carefully drawn and filled with many vibrant colors to bring the setting to life. The were characters are cleverly made "super deformed" to give you the illusion that they are big and it works! The life bars are very annoying and take some getting used to. When you are damaged, the disappearing portion, instead of turning red, it blinks before it disappears. It gives you the feeling that you aren't doing very much damage. Weird. I has very happy to see they didn't cut out the animation for Shingo falling on his face during Twilight Ride. Support for the original Neo Geo Pocket decreases the number of colors a sprite can have to two, so Chris has blue hair, Leona has green hair, Shermie's is pink, and Terry has red pants. I hope KoF R-3 (which is in development right now, 080899!) doesn't support NGP because nearly no one has it, anyway.

Sound: A+
I was pleasantly surprised by the sound. The tunes are very accurate and being a KoF music fanatic, you'd better believe it! ^_^ If you're like me, the NGPC tunes will be accompaniment to the real songs you're hearing in your head as you play. Also, since I'm a KoF music fanatic, I wish the tracks wouldn't change after each opponent is defeated. It should stick with the first one played. I like the savor the sounds. The hits sound pretty solid, but nothing to get excited about. If you play too much KoF (also like me) you'll hear all the characters talking in your head. I was very, very happy to see that the characters talk to eachother in english (it's written at the bottom of the screen.)

Control: B
This is the only part of the game that concerns me. If you want to throw out a light attack, you have to tap the attack button VERY lightly. I have a hard time doing Kyo's Ara Gami chain (236 a, 236 A, B.) I have a hard time with Yashiro's comboes. When I try do: Jumping B, A, 6B, 41236 A, 236 A, I get: Jumping B, A, 6B, 623 A. This is EXTREMELY annoying. This other problem only affects Kyo, Shingo, Yashiro, and Saishu. You must be precise with 236236 A, because if there is any slip up, you'll get a Million Might Bash/Burning Shingo/Orochi Nagi.

Substance: A+
This is one of the reasons I like The King of Fighters series. The substance. KoF is an original series with INTERESTING CHARACTERS (hint, hint, Capcom!) None of the special techniques (rolling, cancel knockdowns, etc.) were removed. Getting all the secret characters presents a strong and lasting challenge. And about that, sometimes you will be challenged by a single fighter. THE CHALLENGER IS NOT ALWAYS A SECRET FIGHTER! If the character has strange colors, that's a secret one. Terry has red eyes, Kyo is green, Ryo is blue, etc. What's really cool is that you can use the secret character and the normal version on the same team! Kyo, '95 Kyo, and Iori are a killer team. The Making Mode also adds some more replay value to the game. It's like SFA3 for Playstation's world tour, but better. It actually has a STORY! (another hint, Capcom!) It's interesting that you can earn new moves in this mode, so choose a character that doesn't have a 236 or 2141236 move, like Riot Yashiro. The characters' limbs get huge when they attack. It's kind of funny. I think some characters got faster (Kyo) and some got more range (Yashiro,) whether they needed it or not. I'm pretty sure I comboed Orochi Nagi. I played Yashiro to death in The King of Fighters '98, so I was really surprised (and happy) to see that he can chain a 41236 A after 6B. Yashiro Nanakase is probably the strongest fighter in the game, besides that evil Rugal. He was made WAY too strong. SNK should have at least left in the continue service so I don't chuck my NGPC out the window! That was a problem with ALL OF THE KOFS! The bosses are just so damn hard! I can beat all the characters on the harded difficulty on maybe one or two credits, but then Riot Rugal is so strong I could never win. It's not a really major problem, but it would improve the game a bit if the bosses wouldn't be so hard from now on.

Overall: A
Go pick up this one and you can beat up on shortstacks to your little heart's content! You cannot go without this one. If KoF R-2 didn't exist, I wouldn't have a Neo Geo Pocket Color or any portable system. I am very happy with the extremely high quality presented in The King of Fighters Round 2. Seriously, no KoF fan should be without this. It's not a cut down of KoF '98 like the gameboy version were. This is a whole new game, with a fabulous new story mode, a new character, new endings and new secrets. I'd say The King of Fighters Round 2 is The King of Fighters '98 Special. I've never written such a long review in my life! *Whew!* That took a good fifty minutes. *cough* Gameboy sucks! *cough*