King of Fighters iPhone Game Review

King of Fighters iPhone Game Review
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If you’re a gamer, you should be aware that when it comes to 2D arcade fighting games, SNK and Capcom have been pretty much slugging it out for years now. And it’s pretty interesting that even in the iPhone gaming arena, these two are pitting their wits against each other once more. You’ve read about our Street Fighter IV Volt review, so now it’s our turn to take the King of Fighters (which just released a couple of days ago) for a spin.

Is it as good as its rival, Street Fighter IV Volt? Well, I would have to say - BETTER.

Pull Out Those Explosive Combos and Show Your Special Moves

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King of Fighters is a 2D fighting game with lush backgrounds, explosive animations and effects, and tons of attack combos that will surely challenge your thumb’s mashing capabilities. Yes, folks - it’s buttons mashing time again for us, King of Fighters fans. Can you pull out your character’s special attacks, evade moves, or complex combos at the right time?

The game features the usual punch and kick commands on the right side of your iPhone’s screen. There’s also the Evade button, and a Special button for executing special moves. Plus you can tap on one of the gauges located at the top of the screen, just below the character’s name and stats, to execute an explosive move that will cause huge damage to your opponent. You know what makes these attacks special? SNK manages to recreate the same magnificent animations you’ll remember from the original game and they fill up your iPhone’s screen when executed properly.

You’ll Never Get Enough of the Fighting Goodies

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King of Fighters i-002 gives you two game modes - arcade and Bluetooth. Arcade mode consists of Single Battle, Team Battle, Endless and Training. While the Bluetooth mode gives you the chance to slug it out with another iPhone user via Bluetooth.

Take note SNK, the game would have been better if Wi-Fi battle was also an option. Hopefully, this feature gets added in future updates.

Aside from the Versus Battle via Bluetooth, you can also trade cards or replay trade in Bluetooth mode. Going back to the arcade mode, Single Battle is simply a one-on-one battle against randomly selected AI-controlled King of Fighters players. While Endless is simply the Survival Mode in most fighting games. Training, predictably enough, allows you to practice and master each of the character’s special moves, attacks and combos. What’s interesting to note here is the inclusion of Team Battle, which was not included in Street Fighter IV Volt.

Fortunately for SNK, they have mastered this game mode since the first KoF game was released in 1994. Team Battle allows you to select three combatants to fight off against an AI-controlled team of three fighters as well. What’s great about Team Battle is that after beating one opponent, the game continues with the health of your current fighter getting carried over to the next match. What’s the point? It puts some challenge into the otherwise easy-to-beat game. I mean, it’s more exciting and enticing to play than the usual single battle against an AI-controlled fighter.

And Then Some More Goodies

So what else does King of Fighters i-002 have to offer? 16 playable characters with 6 more coming up in future game updates, nice hand-drawn 2D visuals, smooth and flawless animations, coins to earn, bonus content, achievements, Game Center support, collectable trading cards, artwork to unlock – this is the good stuff that will keep you coming back and playing the game on and on. In other words, with these features, King of Fighters i-002 has a high replayability factor.

Take note, this is a 2D game so don’t expect too much when it comes to advanced graphics and animations. If you love the special effects of the game in the arcade or on console, you’ll love them just as well on your iPhone. The Retina Display of the iPhone 4 does justice to the graphics and animations of this game.

Final Words Before I Get Back to My Saved Game

For those who will ask me which one should I get – King of Fighters i-002 or Street Fighter IV Volt? Well, if you’re an arcade fighting game fan, you should get both. If you’re a casual gamer who is just looking for a 2D fighting game to play on your iPhone, get King of Fighters instead for more depth and replayability. All other things are pretty much the same between these two iPhone fighting games.

But which is the better iPhone fighting game? In terms of graphics, Street Fighter is better but King of Fighters has more goodies than Street Fighter and for that, I would say that King of Fighters is definitely the better iPhone 2D fighting game.

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