KING OF FIGHTERS EX2

By MilkManX

KING OF FIGHTERS EX2: HOWLING BLOOD

GENRE:3 ON 3 FIGHTING with Strikers.

PLAYERS 1 or 2 (Link. 2 copies of game needed)

Ever wanted a great KOF game on your GBA? We finally have it. KOF EX2 is excellent. I never played the first due to the severe backlash it received but I had hopes for this one. If the KOF 94 team really worked on this one it shows! You basically get KOF 2000 on the GBA with some tweaks. Great control and a good roster for a portable game.

KOF EX2 is a side story from KOF 2000. I cant tell you much since this is an import and I cant read enough Japanese to get into detail. The Iori and Kyo rivalry is definitely a big part of the story though. New characters too! I haven't tried them yet.

screenshots courtesy Marvelous Entertainment

Here are the Teams:

GRAPHICS: 8/10

In my opinion the best looking 2d fighter on the GBA. Sure Alpha 3 has a bit smoother animation and Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo and Duel Blades have bigger sprites but KOF EX2 gets it just right. Fluid animation, great looking combos, some cool sprite effects when you do supers all add up to a great experience. All the backgrounds are nice and have the same parallax as the Neo-Geo KOF 2000. 8 out of 10 for some more animation to be crammed in and some room to grow

GAMEPLAY/CONTROL: 9/10

Did you like the control in Super Street Fighter 2 on GBA? Imagine that but maybe a notch sweeter. I didn't care for the control on SFA3 for GBA, it was very stiff. Normals, Command, Specials, and especially Supers are easy to pull off. If there is one complaint that everyone will have is that there isn't 4 buttons on the face of the GBA. In my opinion though the controls are nice enough that the L and R buttons respond great. Looking at the options there is a setting for 2 button control but I have to figure this out. There are strikers in this game also. You pick only 3 fighters and as your first fighter fights the 2nd is his striker. When the second fighter fights the 3rd guy is his striker. The 3rd guy has no striker and must rely on his own guts! KOF EX2 has great control that wont make you curse the D-Pad...unless you have very large hands in which case you curse the GBA all together. You also earn ranks on your characters and it assigns you levels. This has something to do with the unlockable secrets. Also you need to beat it with all of the Teams to get all the endings...which I cant read.

SOUND/MUSIC: 7/10

Okay here is where the Neo has the GBA by its nuts. The hit sounds are all nicely done but the voices aren't sampled very loud. The music is better than most GBA games though. It doesn't sound like GameBoy Color music like some GBA games. Tunes are mostly from KOF 2000 from what I can tell. I like these tunes for a GBA game they are good. Not the best but good.

REPLAY VALUE: 10/10

This will probably be my most played GBA game. More than SSF2T because of my love of KOF. Not only do you get a great version of KOF but there are secrets to unlock. Hidden characters I have heard and some others too.

OVERALL: 8/10

Basically it comes down to this. Are you a KOF fan? Do you own a GBA and like to play it a lot? Would you like an excellent version of KOF on the go? This is a great version of KOF for the weak in the 2d Fighters GBA. I cant wait till they make a 3rd one. Maybe we can get some other Neo Fighters on the GBA and there is also that Metal Slug port too!

MilkManX

JPN Cover: KOF EX2: HB
 

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