King of Fighters R-2

"The cast makes this worth the purchase."

When I was ordering my Neo Geo Pocket Color, I was browsing for games I knew and for what I could afford within my budget. First I snatched Sonic Pocket Adventure, as I knew that it was praised as one of (if not the) best portable Sonic ever. Then I grabbed Fatal Fury - Final Bout, as I knew of the series from years ago in an old magazine.

When I saw King of Fighters R-2 amongst the games, I immediately knew I had to get it. The first time I heard of the series was in an old 1995 Video Game Buyer's guide from EGM, and from the various games of the series that I had played. King of Fighters 95 for the Game Boy and the King of Fighters 99 for the Dreamcast were excellent games, though the King of Fighters EX for the Game Boy Advance left a LOT to be desired.

However, willing to give SNK's own handiword a shot, I ordered the game, eagerly awaiting the arrival. Soon enough, it arrived, and after giving Fatal Fury a shot, I plugged in King of Fighters (KoF) R-2, hopeful that the game was superior to the lackluster Game Boy Advance outing.

I was shocked.

First, the super-deformed graphic style were already appealing to me, as I fell in love with them from the Game Boy KoF 95 title. Second, the animations were superb, easily some of the best that I had seen on a less-than-32-bit portable system. Backgrounds resembled a sizable ammount of the Dreamcast version, though due to system limitations, they were nowhere near as gorgeous. However, they are quite good given the hardware, and with the lack of graphical goofs, I was not complaining. One note - this game is designed to run on both Neo Geo Pocket Color AND Neo Geo Pocket. This does mean that the graphics are outclassed by Fatal Fury and Gals Fighters, but they get the job done, and are far better than a sizable chunk of the Game Boy Color's best attempts.

Sounds were above Fatal Fury by default, as the sounds were not as high-pitched or as annoying, but certainly lower than Gals Fighters. However, this was a first generation Neo Geo Pocket Color game, and despite this handicap, it does the job well. Sound effects are average noises for any fighter, but I found them to fit quite well in this cart.

Controls and gameplay are usually crutial to each other in a fighter, and KoF - R2 is proof that SNK used to churn out great arcade games. Control is easily adapted to with the thumb-stick directional pad on the NGPC, and while you have to press the A and B buttons harder to pull off heavier attacks, the game is still easy to learn. Modes in the game are varied, including the standard KoF modes such as Single, Teams, Vs, and an all-new mode of creating your own fighter. This Figher Maker was designed for a link-up with the first Dreamcast KoF game, though I lack the link-cable to test this feature in the Dreamcast version. On this cart, you go on an RPG-like quest, gaining items to modify your attacks and encountering story mode-style dialogs. While nothing new in the long run, it is a great feature that most games do not take advantage of, and is quite fun to play.

The cast of characters is extremely nice, and only a very few favorites of mine are missing, possibly due to hardware reasons (Chang anyone?). However, Yuri IS in this cart, whereas she was absent as a selectable character in the first GBA KoF title, making up for this missing character. In addition to the main fighters, winning random matches against the hidden cast of fighters nets you other characters, such as Rugal, Kyo 95, and a differient Yuri, to name a few. Having been playing close to a year now (off and on), I only have half of the hidden cast, meaning that the game remains fresh even after this time.

Replay value is typical of most fighters - with two NGPCs and two carts of this game, you can keep playing for years. Without the requirments for 2 player VS, the game will not last as long. However, the quality of the game more than makes up for this drawback, and the cast is more than enough to keep this cart. There are better fighters on the NGPC (namely Gals Fighters), but this game is still worth the US$14 investment if you have an NGPC.

There is only one real weakness in the game, and it is with the ending. It might be me, but I don't find myself enjoying Rugal's aircraft carrier blow up and sink while a genderless figure cast in shadows by the setting sun to be very appealing. This irritant alone is what keeps this game from reaching a 9, showing that the game is quite good otherwise.

If you own an NGPC, get this cart, if only to see the Fighter Maker mode. And if you are just now purchasing an NGPC, be sure to grab this along with it - this is a great example of a good game for the hardware that will not disappoint.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/16/04