J!-ENT
Asian Entertainment News and Pop Culture

GAME: NEOGEO BATTLE COLISEUM

CONSOLE: PS2

DEVELOPER: SNK PLAYMORE

RELEASE DATE: December 11, 2007

ESRB RATING: T for TEEN - Animated Blood, Suggestive Themes, Violence

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

A world on the verge of eternal darkness.. The Government has secretly dispatched its two best secret agents to a fighting competition known as the NEOGEO BATTLE COLISEUM. Their mission is to enter the competition and find out the secrets of the “Warez Conglomerate” and to stop the maniac who is reportedly planning to take down the NEOGEO world.

• A total of 40 characters, all taken from SNK’s most popular franchises, including: METAL SLUG, KING OF FIGHTERS, SAMURAI SHOWDOWN, WORLD HEROES and many more.
• 2-on-2 tag-team battle format. Switch tag-team members during matches.
• Color edit Mode - Modify the appearance of your favorite characters
• 6 hidden characters to unlock
• Exclusive new game mode - Tag Play!

I had no idea this game was coming out or was out. Just by chance, I was looking at the new releases and a single copy of “NEOGEO BATTLE COLISEUM” was on the shelf and I didn’t even need to hesitate, I’m buying this game!

Just by looking at the back cover, I was thinking…”THE KING OF FIGHTERS” but from all major SNK franchises. How cool is that?

Once I started paying the game, I quickly realized how different this game was compared to previous SNK fighters. The premise is the same…fight and survive and the cheap ass boss similar to a KING OF FIGHTERS game is oh, so present. He’s definitely a cheap boss that takes a lot of energy from you and you take so little off him. But of course, what SNK fighting game would it be without the cheap ass boss.

Available to the player are the following:

ARCADE PLAY: 2-on-2 battles against the computer.

ARCADE VS. 2-on-2 battles against another player

TAG PLAY - Play a series of tag-team battles against the computer

PRACTICE - Practice your moves

SURVIVAL CHALLENGE - Play tag-team battles until both characters health reaches zero.

During ARCADE PLAY, the goal is to fight against a number of computer-controlled characters that appear one after the other and defeat them within the time limit. When you defeat three tag teams, you are offered the following BATTLE BONUS: No Bonus, Restore Health gauge, Restore Power Gauge and Time Inrcease.

So, you can battle 6 teams and then get to the boss. Interesting enough is that the teams you go against are not so difficult if you are familiar with fighting games. You’ll be able to breeze through the game but once you get the boss, that’s another story. No breezing through the game. This boss is insanely difficult.

But the passion of this game goes to the characters. The 40 characters are just very cool to play and because a lot of them are appearing on a fighting game for the first time, it’s definitely fun to learn a lot of them.

Also, I enjoy the speed and the combos I was able to pull off. Definitely had fun with this game and still need to beat the game with other characters. But so far, this game was definitely worth the $19.

I have read that the PAL version of the game has bugs. Some people have complained about a few bugs in the PS2 US version but I have only encountered only one crash during battle and fortunately in the beginning of the match but all in all, it only happened once and never again.

The game is actually very fun and addicting, especially with all these characters involved. Definitely enhanced the enjoyment of the overall game.

I did find the boss Mizuchi to be a cheap boss that has everything coming at you. But figured out some patterns and learning what to dodge and was able to beat it with Terry Bogard and Haohmaru, Mai Shiranui and Jin Chonshu (utilizing Jin’s transportation abilities helped), K’ and Kisarah Westfield.

Some have criticized the graphics and where is the improvement? Sure, “Street Fighter IV” is doing something different image wise and SNK has done KOF in 3D format via Maximum Impact I and II. And its not all about nostalgia for me, it’s about gameplay and just having all out fun.

This game offers quite a bit for it’s price and if you are a KOF fan or SNK fighting game fan, you definitely need to pick up “NEOGEO BATTLE COLISEUM”. You won’t be disappointed!

Tags: NEOGEO BATTLE COLISEUM, SNK PLAYMORE, Sony Playstation 2

GAME: THE KING OF FIGHTERS XI

CONSOLE: PS2

DEVELOPER: SNK PLAYMORE

RELEASE DATE: November 13, 2007

ESRB RATING: T for TEEN - Alcohol Reference, Animated Blood, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

A new KING OF FIGHTERS tournament has been announced. But, not all is what it seems. Fight through the toughest fighters in the world to unlock the mystery behind the stolen Orochi Seal and Yata mirror.

• Total of 11 Teams; 47 characters, include 3 all new characters to the franchise.
• 3 new abilities added: Quick Shift, Saving Shift & Dream Cancel, as well as the new Judgement System and Skill Stocks
• Exclusive Characters: Mai Shiranui, Tung Fu Rue and EX Kyo Kusanagi
• Various Modes of Play: Arcade Play, Team Play, Endless Challenge and Practice
• 14 New Enings and 4 New Stages, exclusive to the console version

The latest KOF game in the series came during the Holidays and for many of us who have enjoyed the fighting game series for years, not only had it slipped under the radar for many fans but it also was difficult to find at a store, making online purchasing the most viable way to obtain it.

As a big fan of the series, my love of the “Fatal Fury”, “Art of Fighting”, “World Heroes” and “Samurai Showdown” began when I was younger. While long lines of people waited to play “Street Fighter 2″ and “Mortal Kombat”, I used my quarters on the Neo Geo machine.

There was something about SNK fighting games that I loved about them. And for “KING OF FIGHTERS”, mainly how it incorporated characters from each game and you had the ultimate fighting game. To make it even more entertaining was how SNK would tweak the games to incorporate skill sets, strikers and most of all, a cheap ass final boss that would take so long to beat and force you to figure out how to beat it.

“THE KING OF FIGHTERS XI” marks the tenth game (the first game was “THE KINGS OF FIGHTERS `94″) and features the second game in the “Tales of Ash” storyline continued from “THE KING OF FIGHTERS 2003″ (note: KOF2002/KOF 2003 were released together on the PS2).

In 2003, the game introduced the “multi-shit” and introduced the characters of Ash Crimson, Shen Woo, Duo on and Malin. And a new cult is now trying to reawaken the Orochi. In this game, Mukai from the 2003 game has stolen the Orochi seal and Ash Crimson, well…you get to learn a bit about his true intentions and makes you wonder if he is either a good character or a villain. Also, “THE KING OF FIGHTERS XI” brings back a few old faces as well as a few new characters.

One of the things you will notice when starting up the game is the look and feel. Visual presentation has this anime-like look that is pretty cool to see. The overall animation, seems to look updated in terms of the sprites but doesn’t stray from the 2D fighting look that we have been used to for so long. In fact, as much as I enjoy the 3D KOF “Maximum Impact” games, it’s hard to stray away from an SNK fighter without that 2D sprite feel and overall look.

The backgrounds use 3D and really nice painted artwork and XI definitely looks pretty cool (I know…graphic whores will scoff at this game looking too old school) compared to previous games and how they look now.

As for game mechanics, now there are abilities such as “Quick Shift”, “Saving Shift” and the “Judgement System” and “Skill Stocks”.

For each battle, you select a team leader and which person would then come into the battle (you set who is first, second and third). Quick Shift allows the player to change to another character during battle. This uses up one skill point.

The next one is called “Saving Shift” which makes the character invulnerable while he/she is being hit and changes to a waiting character (uses two skill points).

As for “Dream Cancel”, this is a combo that can be used by the leader of the team. It’s actually a very damaging combo.

Exclusive to the PS2 version are the following characters: Mai Shiranui, Geese Howard, Tung Fu Rue (Fatal Fury), Robert Garcia and Mr. Big (Art of Fighting), Hotaru Futaba (Garou: Mark of the Wolves) and EX Kyo Kusanagi (KOF: NESTS Saga).

I have read that the PAL version of the game is littered with bugs. For the US (NTSC) version, I have not had any problems with this game at all.

The sub boss Shion and final boss battle with Magaki has been beatable and not too frustrating.

The endings have been pretty cool so far using K Team’s K’ and Fatal Fury Team Terry Bogard and Kim Kaphwan for team but mainly K for single play. The ending for the K’ Team (K’, Maxima and Kula Diamond) have been fun to watch.

But all in all, I really like the overall look, roster update and feel of the latest KOF game.

The game goes for $14.99, so if you are a fighting game fan, especially a KOF/SNK fan, definitely purchase this game. It’s a great update to the series so far and for those who haven’t played a KOF since the 90’s, definitely a good time to jump in.

Tags: ART OF FIGHTING, FATAL FURY, SNK PLAYMORE, Sony Playstation 2, THE KING OF FIGHTERS XI

Our Video Game Video Clip goes to the trailer for “Poison Pink” for the Sony Playstation 2.

DISCLAIMER: YouTube.com videos are courtesy of youtube.com and are not on J!-ENT servers

Tags: Poison Pink, Sony Playstation 2