The King of Fighters EX: Neo Blood

"A decent fighter for the GBA"

I've never really been a huge fan of the King of Fighters series. What I've played of the series, though, I've enjoyed. I bought this game because I was in the mood for a fighting game and this one looked pretty good. I was a little disappointed, but it's still a decent game.

Graphics- Meh...
Nothing special here. They look like graphics you'd see on the SNES, which isn't a bad thing. My only complaint here is that a few of the animations, like the ones for some of the fireballs, are a little choppy. Other than that, they're decent.
(7/10)

Sound- Yikes...hope you have good CDs
Big disappointment here! where do I start...well first of all, the music sounds like something that could've been on the Game Boy Color or even plain old Gameboy. Also, when you make contact, it's practically inaudible! no satisfying *THWACK!* when you nail your opponent with a kick. Lastly, the in-battle voices could've been better. I recommend turning it all the way down and putting on some music instead. Like the Mortal Kombat theme, maybe.
(4/10)

Story- Who cares?
Story doesn't really matter to me in fighting games, but there is one problem that's kinda story-related. The endings for every character/team are essentially the same, except that every character/team says slightly different things. However, no matter what your characters say, the two bosses will always say the same thing. So, for example, one particular character may just say ''......'' while Geese will ALWAYS say ''Escape? It is you who will flee!'' ...often it doesn't make sense. But since story doesn't really matter to me in fighting games, I don't count this too much.
(3/10)

Gameplay- Pretty Solid
Finally, a good side to the game. It plays like a standard 2D arcade fighting game. The combo system is cool, and the moves aren't too hard to perform, but also not too easy. There are plenty of characters here, and also ''strikers'' which can be called on in battle to perform one attack on your opponent. It would've been better if you could actually fight with these ''strikers,'' but oh well. This is the only GBA fighter I've played so I don't have much to compare it to, but I think it's pretty good in terms of gameplay.
(8/10)

Controls- A little akward...
The controls in this game are fine for the most part, but take some getting used to. For example, hitting the ''R'' button in combos seemed kinda awkward for me at first. Some moves are surprisingly hard to perform on the GBA, but nothing impossible.
(8/10)

In Closing...
This is a decent fighting game for the GBA. If you're a KOF fan, I'm sure you'll like it, and it's rather cheap too at only $15 at most places.

OVERALL SCORE: 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/30/03, Updated 05/30/03