The King of Fighters EX2: Howling Blood

"KoF Lite. About time."

INTRODUCTION

Let's get down to it. King of Fighters EX: Neoblood was disappointing. 27 fighters, but 6 were restricted to striker-only duty. Flaky hit detection, especially in combos. Horrid control options. Street Fighter Alpha 3 killed KoF EX in almost every aspect. And yet, SNK Playmore decided to give a portable KoF another go, and had Marvelous Entertainment whip up a new KoF EX, this time based on King of Fighters 2000.

Did it work? Absolutely.

GRAPHICS - 8/10

The character sprites from King of Fighters 2000 have been faithfully scaled down to portable size. Backgrounds are vibrant, and, in true KoF style, change just a little every round. Knocked out characters hang around the background, bringing back memories of the first KoF games in the series. Excellent character portraits. Stylish character selection screen. Fantastic. My only real nitpick in the Graphics department are the new characters. Reiji and Miu look fine, but when you put Moe and Jun next to the other characters, they look much like Morrigan did in the Capcom vs. SNK games: really cartoony and out of place. Especially Moe. They should have changed her sprite after KoF EX. A few frames of animation are missing as well, but that's easily overlooked as you play the game.

SOUND - 8/10

The soundtrack from the arcade game is easily distinguishable, even on the GBA's speaker. Character voices are present as well, although in limited number.

CONTROL - 8/10

Mercifully, the GBA has a 4 button layout, which makes it perfect for a KoF game. (The Street Fighter games suffered here due to the lack of two buttons for medium attacks.) Marvelous also added an option to change the layout of some functions, although in a limited way. Still, it's far easier to control than the first EX was. If, that is, you consider playing KoF on a GBA ''easy''. (Strangely enough, I had an easier time playing this game on a GBA SP than on a normal GBA.)

GAMEPLAY - 9/10

It's portable KoF, folks, and this time, it feels like it. Combos hit correctly, moves can be canceled, and just about every combo you can pull off on the arcade version you can do on EX2. Strikers are in full effect. You won't find a better portable version of King of Fighters, unless you think about bringing your own Neo Geo everywhere. Everything is exact, down to the classic SNK ''cheesy boss'' fight. Slowdown is a minor problem, and it only occurs when both fighters have thrown their strikers in and are attempting a special. It's rare, and doesn't last long enough to hurt the overall experience.

REPLAYABILITY - 8/10

There's a hefty bit of unlockable stuff in EX2, and to do it, you have to master every character in the game. And after doing that, you have to master the newly unlocked character. Two player link cable gaming is also supported, so if you have a friend who wants to throw down, you can.

BUY OR RENT? - BUY

I say buy, but it's really a tossup here. If you can find a place to rent it, give it a whirl and see if you like it. If you're a fighting game fan in general, I do recommend that you pick it up. It's worth it.

CONCLUSION

The only portable fighting game I can honestly say is better than this is SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium for the Neo Geo Pocket Color. King of Fighters EX2 is on par, if not better than the Street Fighter games released on the GBA. EX2 is what the first EX was not: a true heir to the King of Fighters legacy.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/22/04