Virtual Player: Fatal Fury 2, Donkey Kong 3, Ninja Commando and more.

7/30/2008 7:11 PM | 0 Comments | Page 1 of 3

Fatal Fury 2
Developer:SNK
Publisher:D4 Enterprise
Price:900 Wii Points
Originally Appeared on: Neo Geo

RECOMMENDATION:
Buy It

The original Fatal Fury was pretty fun, and gameplay-wise, it held up quite well to Street Fighter II, which was originally released a few months before SNK's game way back in 1991. It wasn't long before arcade-goers became attached to characters like Terry and Andy Bogard and Joe Higashi. The problem was, gamers kinda had to get attached to those three as they were the only playable characters in Fatal Fury. None of the opponents that the trio originally faced were selectable.

Luckily, SNK added a few more playable characters to this sequel, which was released the following year. Like the original, FF2 is played on two planes, giving you the chance to avoid attacks by moving between the foreground and background. Now, however, you have the ability to knock your opponent into the other plane. Also added is a desperation move that can cause massive damage, but only if your health is dangerously low.

Despite being rather old, Fatal Fury 2 is still a quite enjoyable. SNK obviously has a long history of creating fighting games, and it's great to go back and look at some of the better titles that led the company to where it is today.

King of the Monsters
Developer: SNK
Publisher: D4 Enterprise
Price: 900 Wii Points
Originally Appeared on: Neo Geo

RECOMMENDATION:
Fry It

King of the Monsters is one of those games that has a better premise than it has gameplay. It's basically a riff on the old "Godzilla" movies -- you take control of one of six giant monsters and duke it out with the other creatures in a variety of Japanese cities. In classic kaiju fashion, the cities that form the arenas crumble like so many miniature models as your brawl progresses. Since the combatants are lumbering monsters, the game has more of a wrestling feel than your standard fighting game, and each monster has special moves and the ability to pick up and toss vehicles.

Sounds pretty good, right? Unfortunately, it's not nearly as exciting in practice. The fighting engine is pretty basic, resulting in some dull, plodding matches. After the novelty factor of staging a battle between Fake-Godzilla and Fake-King Kong wears off, there's really no reason to go back to this one. Making matters worse is the fact that KotM is one of the games included in the compilation, SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1, which is coming soon to Wii.