REVIEW: The King of Fighters: Round 1
marks SNK's first time bringing the KOF series onto a handheld...
and what better system than their own Neo Geo Pocket to do just that? 14
of the most well known KOF characters make their appearance in KOF: R-1,
along with some recognizable backgrounds and gameplay features based on The
King of
Fighters '97. Players can choose from "Extra" &
"Advance" play modes similar to KOF '97, and
most characters play closely to their original versions.
Chibi-style all the way.
KOF: R-1 came out before the
Neo Geo Pocket was in color, so the graphics were a dreary "black & white".
Instead of the traditional KOF sprites, all
the characters were redrawn "chibi style". The super deformed art style gives the characters a
charmingly cute & cuddly big-headed look. It works especially will since the Neo Geo Pocket
system itself is an equally cute
system.
...Ahh, I love my good old NGPC. The system's d-pad makes classic moves
especially fun to pull off.
You can see the pain on
Kyo's face...
Overall, King of Fighters: R1 is a straight forward
2D fighting game and will be a familiar gameplay experience if you're familiar with
series. There's some fan service thrown in for old school fans as well,
including some pretty decent endings and artwork.
KOF: R-1 is a clever tribute to the KOF
series and a decent handheld fighter for the time. Flaws? The
character count was a bit low considering the series, and the gameplay system
& speed could use some tweaking. And probably the main flaw of this title is
that it's in black & white. Thankfully, the sequel
King of Fighters R-2 improved on all of these factors. ~TFG
Webmaster
...Ahh, I love my good old NGPC. The system's d-pad makes classic moves
especially fun to pull off.
