The King of Fighters EX: Neo Blood
"The sequel to a fighting dynasty"
Geese Howard has once again resurfaced, and he has organized yet another King of Fighters Tournament, drawing in the world's best teams of fighters.
This is the first portable King of Fighters game on the GBA. The King of Fighters has appeared on a previous portable system, SNK�s own Neo-Geo Pocket Color, with some good results. Can developer Marvelous Entertainment successfully bring the King of Fighters franchise back into the portable arena? Read on and find out.
Visuals:
KOF EX doesn't look too shabby on the GBA. I mean a lot of fighters resemble their counterparts on the Neo-Geo quite well. The backgrounds look pretty cool too, for the most part. However, the animation isn't all that great. Some fighters have a frame-by-frame fighting stance, like Robert, that end up looking pretty bad.
Sounds:
One element found in King of Fighters games that fans enjoy is the great music. But KOF EX's music is... awful. The music is bland and sounds like it's coming from an 8-bit system. There are voices found in here too, and they don't sound too bad. They do sound a bit compressed, however. I wouldn�t be surprised if you ended up turning the volume very low, because the music just gets annoying.
Gameplay:
The gameplay made a fairly good transition from the arcade and consoles to the GBA. Almost all of the moves from each character are in this game. And the line-up is fairly solid too, which includes, but is not limited to: the Bogard brothers, Mai, the Ikari Warriors, Kyo, Ryo, Robert, King, Kim, Athena, and several other regulars. Some characters appear as strikers, such as K� and Joe. Why the hell is Joe left on the sidelines as a striker?! Joe Higashi should have been playable as his own character. Andy should�ve been a striker instead. Ah well. KOF EX features one new character: Moe Habana. She basically looks like some typical teenage girl with a long-sleeve shirt tied to her waist.
Anyway, the controls are decent. It�s not as comfortable as, say, using an arcade stick or whatever, but the GBA�s controls get the job done fairly well. The control pad is a bit too small, so you may have to input some commands twice to get it right.
Replayability:
There are two unlockable characters and several hidden strikers. After you get all of them, you probably won't be playing KOF EX that often. The game does have a two-player link-up mode, which adds a little bit of replay value.
Bottom Line:
The King of Fighters EX, with its fair share of problems (poor hit detection, choppy animation for some fighters, etc.) is still a fairly good fighter for the GBA. KOF fans and fighting game fans in general should look into Neo Blood.
Final Score: C+
Also recommended...
The King of Fighters �99: Evolution (DC)
The King of Fighters 2000 (DC)
Super Street Fighter II Turbo: Revival (GBA)
Did You Know...?
- The King of Fighters series also had a few titles on SNK's Neo-Geo Pocket Color.
- Joe Higashi kicks ass. Why wasn't he included as a playable character, dammit!
- The boss of KOF EX: Neo Blood is Geese Howard, who is supposed to be dead. Hmm.
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Last Updated ::
5/9/2005
The King of Fighters EX: Neo Blood
Developer: Marvelous Entertainment
Publisher: Sammy
Genre: Fighting
Year released: 2002
Number of Players: 1-2 simultaneous w/ link-up (Multi-Pak only)
ESRB: Rated T (Mild Violence)
Save: Game Pak
Misc: N/A