The King of Fighters: Battle de Paradise review by Z-Force

One of the more unique games on the NGPC is King of Fighters Battle de Paradise. Unlike the more traditional fighting games of the series, this game is a board game of sorts, not unlike Mario Party.

Graphics
For the most part, the graphics are good. The colors on the board are bright and colorful, and the graphics of the various minigames range from plain and simple, to very good depending on the game. When the strikers show up in games, they are drawn very well, much like the rest of the NGPC's fighters.

Sound
The sound is generally decent. Nothing really stands out, but there isn't anything that really sucks either.

Gameplay
Like I said before, the game takes a page from Mario Party in basic format. The object is to collect more stars and coins then your foes. However, there are several differences. For one thing, you don't have a minigame after every turn like you do in Mario Party, instead there are VS panels that take you to a mini games. There are a lot of different mini games that cover a wide variety of game types. Be warned, that on the normal and hard difficulty levels, the computer is very good at these games, and is a ruthless opponent otherwise. Another major change in BdP as opposed to Mario Party is its use of cards. There are lots of different cards that you can buy in a shop, and use them to help you or hamper the opponent. Also, there are event panels in this game, where you will meet up with another character which might be good or bad, depending on your character's alignment. In this game you can change to justice or dark, which alters certain things in the game. This game plays in Japanese, but there is a nice FAQ available on GameFAQ's that will help greatly in learning the game.

Replay Value and Extras
The computer provides a tough challenge on the higher difficulties, which makes it a fun game to play even when by yourself. After each game, the stars you earned can be used to level up your strikers, which can then be transferred to the import version of KOF: Evolution. Also, the coins you earn are transferred into ability points (which are doubled if you happened to win) these points unlock artwork and new strikers and boards. All in all, the game will keep you interested for a long time.

Overall
This is a very fun game, easily one of my top 10 for the system. There's a lot to keep you interested, and the game is lots of fun for fans of Mario Party, KOF, or board games in general. Pick this game up if you can, especially if you can find it for a bargain price like I did.