The King of Fighters EX: Neo Blood

"A Huge Disappointment."

As you already might have figured from the title of this review, this game is a huge disappointment.
Now, let me explain why.

What Is This?
In short, this is KOF 99 mixed with 2K on a portable console.
Doesn't sound so bad, now does it?
Well, hear me out.
Fighting games were not meant to exist on portable consoles.
There are of course exceptions to this (Match of the Millennium for the Neo Geo Pocket Color for example)
but overall, it's a bad idea.
When you play this, all that you constantly have in your mind is ''Why don't I play on the Neo Geo instead?'', making this game totally unnecessary.
That's a brief ''summary''.
Now, onward to the rest.

Story
I do not really know the story, as I am not that keen on the Japanese language.
I can however tell you that if you haven't read the previews, you will be very surprised on who the last boss is.
No spoilers though.

Graphics
Well, for being a portable game and all, it's ok.
But it really is ugly.
The effects are horrid, and the backgrounds looks like they are from a random NES game.
I am aware that this is a portable console, but I have seen much better.
Especially now when this is the latest of the portable consoles, I was expecting a bit more I might say.

Sound
Please no!
STAY AWAY!
ARGHHH!!!
The music is horrid.
It sounds worse than a friggin' NES game.
ARGH!!!!
I can't stand it!
The songs are a mix of the ones from 99/2K, in case you were wondering.
(Although it's hard to hear when the quality is this low)
The sounds themselves are horrid for some characters and surprisingly good on others.
Benimaru sounds almost like he does in the Neo Geo games, while Kyo sounds like he's high.
(He says MOERU all the time, and it sounds like he says MAURI)

Gameplay
There are a decent amount of characters and teams, but for some reason that only God knows, they decided to make one character in every team 'striker only'.
One of my favorites, Jhun, in the Korea team are now only available for striking.
(Which in a way is good, because I do not want to hear his voice in this game!!!)
Other than that, it's the usual.
Pick your 4 characters and fight your way to the top.
That's basically it.

New Stuff
A friend said this to me.
''It's like KOF 99 with worthless collision detection''
And God was he right.
(Although it features some songs from 2K)
It has the same cast as 99, with a few exceptions.
Iori is not here, and 'in his place' is a girl called Moe (?!) Habana.
Although it's nice with a new face, it's noticeable that she was created on a coffee break.
SNK themselves would never create a character like that.
There are some hidden strikers and a few hidden characters too, but I will not squeal.
Is it enough to get the game for?
It definitely isn't.

Summary
Although it beats a few of the portable 2D fighters, this is still on the brink of worthless.
But I mean, if you want to see a few new designs...
And if you want to bring KOF with you wherever you travel...
Then by all means, buy this game.
But remember, you might get disappointed.
VERY disappointed.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 01/02/02, Updated 01/02/02