King of Fighters R-2 Reviews

King of Fighters R-2 is ranked in the 40th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
9 / 10.0
Aug 18, 2020

With impeccable gameplay, 23 characters, various game modes, great local multiplayer, several improvements over the original console and a virtually infinite replayability factor, King of Fighters R-2 is highly recommended for fighting fans and a must-have game for enthusiasts of The King of Fighters franchise, not only for its historical value, but for the hours and hours of fun that the port provides.

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Aug 29, 2020

At $7.99 this is the perfect “time-waster” game, or something to let the younger gamers out there play on a road trip or something to that effect.

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8 / 10
Aug 18, 2020

It may be a handheld game from the late '90s, but there's a solid fighting system in King of Fighters R-2 and genre fans should check it out if it passed them by the first time around. It may be a tad pricey given that it's lacking in the sort of special features many other retro releases get these days, but gameplay's where it counts and in that respect we have no complaints.

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4 / 5.0
Aug 23, 2020

Though the Neo Geo Pocket lacks the overall power of the base Neo Geo MVS and AES Hardware, it was a pretty potent little handheld that had a solid library, and seeing these games ported to the Nintendo Switch to open up access to people that never got to experience it for a very low cost of entry is awesome. The lack of a micro-switch joystick might make things feel a little alien to you if you’re used to playing on real hardware. However, if you’re just delving into the Neo Geo Pocket library on the Switch, that shouldn’t be an issue, and with some practice, more seasoned players can get used to it as well

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7.8 / 10.0
Sep 6, 2018

Overall, I think that this might be my favorite re-release on the Nintendo Switch so far. King of Fighters R2 has a fun fighting scheme, features unique and fun personalities renown for the series, and preserves most of what made King of Fighters great — cool moves to pull off during fights. If the screen size could be fixed, we would be golden.

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7.5 / 10.0
Aug 19, 2020

I enjoyed King of Fighters R-2, mostly for historical purposes. It's interesting to see KOF gameplay shrunken down and still very playable, and the Chibi aesthetic works, somehow. Samurai Shodown isn't for me, but I sure hope that this series continues.

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Aug 12, 2020

These are the good vintage fighting games, in other words, and you'll probably find yourself coming back to them more often than you'd think because they're just that playable and charming in their highly-refined and precise simplicity.

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Aug 26, 2020

While I think I liked Samurai Shodown 2 a bit less than the other two Neo Geo Pocket fighters I’ve looked at, I like there is a wide range of characters with two different styles and collecting the cards adds a good amount of replay value here. I don’t think it controls quite as well as the other title, and the fight against Gandara is just plain annoying. It’s very difficult until you unlock a few cards to get an advantage. There is a rewind feature thankfully and you will be using it a lot here, I assure you. This one will set you back $7.99 as well. While I don’t think this is a bad game, I would have to recommend the other two titles over this one, since it just doesn’t have the polish of those. If you are a hardcore Samurai Shodown fan, you will still find a lot to love here.

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6.9 / 10.0
Aug 7, 2020

While I wouldn't consider the King of Fighters series one of my favorite (if nothing else it was hard to keep up with all of them) I have always appreciated its tight play, pretty vast roster, and overall great look...

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6 / 10.0
Aug 20, 2020

While I'm certainly hoping to see further Neo Geo Pocket Color games eventually come to the Nintendo Switch, maybe pick from a different genre for the next release. KING OF FIGHTERS R-2 is still decent for what it is, but only big fans of 2D fighters need to experience it on the Switch.

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Cubed3
Athanasios
Top Critic
6 / 10
Aug 13, 2020

For what is a simplified and chibi-fied version of The King of Fighters '98, this is pretty neat. There are better alternatives in the world of retro game collections, though. In other words, since this has more of a collector's value, if SNK had included a few more titles from the Neo Geo Pocket Color, it would be a stronger recommendation, as this is somewhat to pricey for what's on offer.

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Sep 9, 2020

Fighting games have come a long way since 1999 and this portable fighter is fun but King of Fighters R-2 can't help but feel dated.

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