Ahh, SNK...the company that doesn't know whether it's dead or alive. Back in the '90s when arcades were still places of unparalleled gaming, SNK and Capcom warred constantly for combat supremacy with their bevy of 2D fighting games, most notably SNK's King of Fighters series and Capcom's Street Fighter series. While the Street Fighter series of games enthralled more rookies and casual fighters, the real underground fighting game fanatics held SNK's yearly King of Fighters installments in higher regard. The King of Fighters series of games features a medley of SNK's most famous brawlers from their games; Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, and even Ikari Warriors characters knuckle up yearly in this digital fight club. With unique fighting moves and systems, excellent graphics and character designs, and its refreshing "team combat" mechanic, King of Fighters has always been a series that other fighting games are judged by. Each new edition still fetches loads of money for the Neo Geo. So why is it I was worried when I heard that The King of Fighters EX: NeoBlood was coming to the GameBoy Advance? You might think I shouldn't be worried, given there are some good fighters on the GBA. Certainly this game would be all right then, right? Of course, there was also the crap-fest we call Mortal Kombat Advance on the system and right there...there's the fear. So how did it turn out? The answer (as if we had to worry): surprisingly good.

As was said before, the King of Fighters games were 2D fighters known for their unique team-based combat engine. You can put together a team of characters and do battle with other teams in a quest to take some sort of championship or whatever the purpose of this tournament is this time. KOF EX: NeoBlood stays true to its predecessors in that respect, letting you pick from more than 20 fighters to form your crack squad of combatants. There are a nice amount of modes in the game for you to sink your claws into - first off, there's team battle mode, where you can select 3 main characters and a "striker" assist character to take opposing teams to school en route to the last boss. Then, you've got the one-on-one single battle mode, where you pick one main character and one striker and take it to the proverbial house. After that, you have the two-player versions of those modes, the obligatory practice mode, the survival mode, in both endless (defeat as many fighters as you can on one life bar) and time attack (how fast can you run the gauntlet of fighters on one life bar) flavors. Once you're done staring blankly at the various modes, you can get into the real reason these games are relevant - the fighting.

If I were to prattle on about the nuances of the fighting system in this game, or any fighter for that matter, you'd probably be reading this for days until you go insane or vultures feast on your eyes. Since neither one of those is conducive to good readership here (though the vultures bit might be funny to watch), we'll skip the really minute details here. Suffice to say, all of the really cool things from the recent King of Fighters games have been translated very well here; you've got the Striker system, where you can summon an assist character ala Marvel Vs. Capcom to set up juggles and combos; you've got the Armor and Counter Modes, which give your character special qualities like the ability to chain most every move together at high speed and temporarily let you use unlimited Desperation Moves (read: super attacks) in Counter Mode; and you have the modern power meter systems, where you generate "stocks" of super energy to use for all of those moves. What a friggin’ run-on sentence…

The GBA has all of the systems and ideas from these games covered, but how about the controls? Thankfully, SNK games only used four buttons, and the GBA has that aspect covered nicely. Unfortunately, trying to use the shoulder buttons for fighting games - which requires almost perfect timing - is a bit of an annoyance. Sammy, in their infinite wisdom, anticipated that (probably from their frustration in trying to nail somebody with Kyo's Zanretsu Ken move or something) and created a three button control mode for the game, in which pushing left or right and the R shoulder button lets you use a strong kick or punch attack, and leaves the fighter-unfriendly L button out of the mix. This mode, once you get used to it, is pure genius. You'll be double-buffering Desperation Moves with Striker juggles and Slash Kicks in no time.

Visually, King of Fighters EX: NeoBlood is dually astounding and disappointing. The first thing you'll do with your GBA after firing this cart up is gawk in disbelief, as you wonder aloud whether your GBA has turned into a Neo-Geo arcade machine. Huge character sprites, crazy special attack effects and lively backgrounds mark the ocular joy you'll partake of when playing. But then you'll sigh, because there seem to be quite a few animations missing from the characters. SNK was always one of the foremost 2D game designers, and their games were always lavishly animated… so when the characters move somewhat "herky-jerky", for lack of a less lame-sounding term, it brings pain to my 2D loving heart. Well, at least Mai's main weapons are still moving healthily, and her ninja fans are okay too!

The sound is still as okay as it ever was in the arcades, which means there's really nothing to report here. The tracks in SNK's fighting games were never as memorable or catchy as those in other titles, but they got the job done; such is the music in KoF EX: NeoBlood as well. There are a few treats for those who've been playing this game series for a while though, in the form of nicely remixed songs you'll recognize from past installments. The sound effects though are a different story, because they are truly excellent. Basically all of the voice effects from the arcade games are present and sound as clear as day, if only a tad down-sampled from the originals. You'll know it's Athena laying into you when you hear her shrill "PSYCHO BALL!" cry pierce your ears.

If you're a fan of SNK's fighting games, how could you be anything but pleased with this game? It's got just about everything there is in an arcade KoF game, only packed in a tasty fun size. If you're a fan of Capcom's 2D fighters, you still might want to try this game, if only to expand your horizons a little more and to find out where those pesky characters from Capcom Vs. SNK 2 came from. If you're just a fan of fighting games in general, you could do no wrong in stuffing your stocking with this game either. Lastly, if you're a total newbie to fighting games, KoF EX: NeoBlood is a hell of a pugilistic primer. As portable fighting games go, King of Fighters EX: NeoBlood is a top-notch contender. Try it out, and then give it a buy. Now I shall be waiting for my portable GBA Metal Slug…