The King of Fighters '96

"Looks great and sounds great, but is WAY too easy!"

This port is for hardcore KOF fans only, whom will eat this game up like candy. For other fighting game fans looking for a portable fighting game, look elsewhere unless you're a beginner. It seems that Takara did a great job in every aspect except for one when they made this game...sadly, the aspect they looked over is one of the most important aspects of a fighting game. It's a shame...this game could have rocked.

Story: N/A
The King of Fighters Tournament is an ongoing SNK/Neo Geo tradition. It needs no introduction or story.

Gameplay: 4
Even though it's a GB cart, they managed to fit 15 fighters into this game, including many favorites (Ryo, Kyo, Mai, Andy, Terry and others). This game may only have one punch button and one kick button, but all special moves of the available characters made it into the port. You can charge up your super meter if the enemy is far away or dizzy.

Why does gameplay get a 4? This game is so easy it's not even funny. On normal difficulty, all I have to do to win is jump kick towards my enemy then either mash the punch button or the kick button, then repeat. I'm sorry but I don't want to pay money for a game that I can beat that easy. Even if I put it on hard mode, all I have to do is pick Mai and MASH ALL OF THE BUTTONS and I will perform her trademark flaming tumble elbow move EVERY SINGLE TIME! Sounds fun, eh?

Graphics: 10
This game looks as good as a GBC exclusive game. You'll see how great the graphics in this game are right when you first take a peek at the intro sequence. As for the in game graphics, all the characters are very well detailed and animated while still being quite large. The backgrounds, while lacking animation (this is just the GB, after all), are also well detailed.

Sound/Music: 8
The music obviously isn't Neo Geo quality, but the songs are very good for the GB and fit the martial arts action well. The sound effects are standard and don't get on your nerves at all.

Control: 10
Walk/run left to right, jump, duck, charge super power, punch, kick, special moves. Seamless controls are critical in fighting games, and this port has it.

Replay Value: 7
Like all fighting games, you can beat the game with everyone and then link up with your friends and butt heads.

Bottom Line?
This port would have been incredible if only the CPU AI was a little bit swifter. Unfortunately, because it's not, this game is only good for people who aren't good at fighting games. This game proves the fact that awesome graphics and sound don't equal fun, which is why I give it a 5.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 09/04/01, Updated 09/04/01