| Introduction
My videogame addict friend always reminds me that
King of Fighters was THE Beat' em Up, and as arcade
veterans SNK originally produced it, there was no reason
to dispute this. SNK had a rocky few years with, among
other things, the cancelled support and further software
development of their Neo Geo Pocket Color handheld.
This hasn't stopped them though and taking a page out
of SEGA's book, they now appear to be concentrating
on software for other systems. The GBA is far from short
on beat' em ups and it's debatable if we need any more
mediocre attempts on this genre. Let's hope King of
Fighters EX: Neo Blood was worth the trouble of actually
putting it onto a cart.
GamePlay
The number and variety of game modes offered here
is truly overwhelming, and as a result, it means you'll
be playing King of Fighters for quite some time. Beginners
should definitely swing by the practice mode, which
is one of the best I've encountered in this type of
game. It allows you to not only battle it out in a relatively
safe environment, but also change your opponent’s attitude
and aggression. This ranges from altering their counterattack
conditions and guarding ability to their attack patterns.
All this allows you to fine-tune your own fighting skills
at a level and pace that suits you.
Other options include Team Play and Single Play,
which take you through the story mode with a team of
players or a single fighter respectively. Survival Endless
has you battling it out against all the computer-controlled
characters, and is possibly the toughest of all the
various modes, because as soon as you've defeated one
opponent another seemingly appears from nowhere. Survival
Time Attack again puts you up against all the computer-controlled
characters but this time against the clock.
All the various stats are automatically saved to a battery backup, which is
essential for a Beat' em Up, as I can't imagine inputting a password in order to
save the various fighters' form and winning bouts. There's also a multiplayer
option allowing two separate GBAs to be linked up although this does require
two coppies of the game. This opens up most of the options available to a single
player and I don't need to tell you that playing against a 'real' opponent as
opposed to an AI one is always far more satisfying.Controls
As with all fighting games, the control system is
all-important and King of Fighters is no exception.
The manual lists a handful of moves for all the various
characters but also advises gamers that there are many
more to be discovered. The options menu also gives you
several button sets allowing you to choose the best
for your gaming style. It all seems a little overcomplicated
to me but the PR guy from Sammy assures me that this
is just the way Beat 'em Up fans like it.
Graphics
Visually the game is well above average but far from
outstanding. This seems to plague many of the handheld
fighting games as vital frames of animation are compromised
for space-saving reasons. The various menu systems work
fine and some of the backgrounds from the various fighting
environments are wonderful, but the fact remains that
the movement of the main characters just isn't as smooth
as it could be. A mixed bag really, which does its job
in a functional manner but never really rises above
that.
Sound & Music
Both the background music and sound effects throughout
this title can be ranked as average. This is mainly
because they appear to have been ported from the original
arcade machine, but the GBA can now handle far more
sophisticated audio as has been demonstrated on a number
of recent titles. It does its job in the context of
the game but never anything more than that, which is
a real shame as the game deserves a lot more.
Final Comments
The thing that did impress me about King of Fighters
is the AI which is well above average for a game of
this genre, and as soon as I stood around for too long
or tried to retreat, I was attacked. The game’s also
packed with multiplayer modes and a two-player game
runs from a single cart. On the other hand, while the
visuals, animation and sound are not the best I've seen
on the GBA, the addictive and engaging gameplay more
than make up for this. If you've been hanging around
for the release of the next Street Fighter, The King
of Fighters could well be what you've been looking for
to fill the gap; Beat' em Up fans really should check
it out now.
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