The King of Fighters '95

"A Fighting Game for the GameBoy? Hmmm..."

A Fighting Game for the GameBoy?
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And what a great fighting game it is! The programming geniuses at Takara have managed to create a pretty good port of the arcade blockbuster for the GameBoy of all things.

Unfortunately, most people will usually take a glance at this game and them immediately brush it off as nothing more than a piece of garbage. What these people don't see, however, is the actual depth of the game. This GameBoy port contains every arcade version Special Move, Desperation Move, and Super Desperation Move for all the 15 playable fighters. How's that for a "piece of garbage?" Plus, you'll find an intricate juggle-based combo system, dodging, and even taunting!

Story
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The storyline remains faithful to the arcade. Fighters from all over the world are being invited to compete in the Kings of Iron Fists Tournament to see who is the strongest. A cast of 15 playable characters have entered this tourney which include Kyo, Iori, Benimaru, Ryo, Yuri, Terry, Joe, Heidern, Ralf, Athena, Sie, Kim, Mai, Eiji, and Billy.

I admit, the storyline is a bit cliched, but who cares about storylines in fighting games anyway? :)

Controls
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Unfortunately, the GameBoy only has two available action buttons while the arcade version required four. How did Takara ever tackle this obstacle? Well, the length of time that you hold the button will determine the strength of the punch/kick. For example, a tap will result in a weak attack while holding the button will result in a strong attack. This will take some getting used to, but most people will get the hang of it in no time.

Charging up the power gauge meter consists of holding down on the directional pad while holding the A and B buttons; holding the A and B buttons with the direction pad in neutral will initiate a dodge move. A taunt is accomplished by simply pressing the select button.

Special moves are executed through run-of-the-mill direction pad and action buttons presses. For example, to do Kyo's fireball move, do a quarter-circle forward, then press (or hold) the punch putton.

Gameplay
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King of Fighters '95 will pit a team of three fighters against another team of three. The team which knocks out every team member of the other team will move on and will continue doing so until they defeat 5 teams. After that, the team goes on and encounters the boss characters which they must defeat. Simple enough, right?

Don't expect arcade-exact gameplay here, folks. Some speed and timing of attacks have been altered, and combos which worked in the arcade probably won't work on the GameBoy. You can always bypass this problem by making up your own GameBoy-exclusive combos! :)

Graphics and Sound
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The graphics of King of Fighters '95 are suprisingly good (for GameBoy standards, that is). The characters' likenesses are faithfully reproduced, although now in 'pint-sized' mode (yep, Billy Kane still swirls that infamous bo stick of his and Athena still does her cute victory pose). Each characters' walking animation consists of about three measly frames but special moves are pretty well-animated. Unfortunately, there are only about four backgrounds in the whole game and that might discourage a few people.

Sound has to be the worst aspect of the game; there are only about three tracks in the entire game and these tracks are annoying as heck. Please turn down your GameBoy while playing this game. :)

Replayability
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As with all fighting games, the replay factor of this game is almost limitless, especially with two players. Of course, some people will probably get tired from the simple-natured graphics and sound. I didn't. :)

Bottom Line
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Okay, so it isn't an arcade-perfect translation. But what can you expect? Its a GameBoy game for gosh sakes! If you're looking for a decent fighter that you can take with you anywhere, make sure you try and find an import copy of King of Fighter's 95 for the GameBoy. Please, don't miss out on this gem!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99