Critic Reviews
SNK Gals' Fighters is a pocket-sized triumph with exciting combat, a fun selection of female fighters from throughout SNK's various franchises, and collectible items to keep coming back for.
SNK Gals' Fighters is a reminder of why fighting games didn't really work on portable consoles back in the day. While the additions to this port are nice and the game looks good, the game itself feels unresponsive and the controls are too complex for its own good.
Originally a 2000 Neo Geo Pocket Color release, SNK Gals' Fighters makes its reappearance on the Nintendo Switch. Despite its low price, there's a lot more effort than you might expect to make this celebratory release feel cared for.
While certainly not as content-full or complex as more recent works, its simple gameplay is extremely fun and the local multiplayer mode will be thoroughly appreciated. It could be even better if an online multiplayer component had been added.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
20 years before it was spiritually reawakened as SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy, the Neo Geo Pocket Color added another fine string to its bow with the enjoyable handheld combat of SNK Gals' Fighters. With a few extra changes for Nintendo Switch – namely support for far easier to set up local multiplayer and a handy rewind feature – this classic portable fighter is now in the rudest of health. It's not the deepest of fighting games, but with an already strong Neo Geo presence on the platform, this cutesy battler is a fine way to perfect your combos on the go.
SNK Gals' Fighters is good, even for a game from a failed system back in 2000. It is progressive in its gameplay design and a fun fighter for a two-button control scheme. It needed to be translated fully onto a Nintendo Switch screen, but it's manageable with the screen options the game provides you.
SNK GALS' FIGHTERS will find success on the Nintendo Switch by appealing to nostalgia. Those who can appreciate what this 2D fighter did back in the day should still appreciate it now, shallowness and all. Especially at only $7.99, considering an original cart could find you spending hundreds.
This new release of Gals' Fighters is, of course, a game with a very specific audience.
If you’re looking for something different but with the quality and pedigree that SNK is known for, Gals’ Fighters is worth a download.
Few retro handheld fighting games hold up today, but SNK had already done a good job getting the gameplay of The King of Fighters functioning well on the Neo Geo Pocket Color, and SNK Gals' Fighters still proves fun for some casual bouts in this Nintendo Switch port. A lack of gameplay depth, and inability to convert some moves to unused buttons, and confusion in how to unlock characters is a shame, but the additional options introduced, including the excellent multiplayer setup to allow for instant local fights on the go, really make this more enticing, and much more tempting given the price.
SNK Gals’ Fighter is a fantastic little game.
Overall, SNK Gals' Fighters is a fun retro portable fighting game that's a bit too basic to thoroughly enjoy in this day and age.
SNK GALS’ FIGHTERS does a lot of things right. It’s a solid and fun fighter that is easy to pick up and play, but has enough depth to keep you entertained for a while. The extras SNK included here are multiple borders, scanline filter and a zoom feature that lets you customize the look of this anyway you wish. The game looks great on a normal TV docked as well. The scanned manual they included was great and I felt that was a nice touch to cap off this great package. For the price of $7.99 I feel like fans of SNK will have a good time with this one and folks looking for a cheap fighter that packs a lot of punch should snag this one up as well.
SNK Gal’s Fighters on the Switch isn’t the most ambitious port out there, but that’s okay. Two decades since its original release, it’s just as addicting as it ever was. If you’re looking for a lighthearted retro fighter to add to your Switch library, or just want to experience this obscure gem in the Neo Geo’s 30-year history, then there’s no better time than the present to give SNK Gals’ Fighters a shot.
So now we gotta talk the bananas part. Bananas in a good way. Gal Fighters originally did 2P via link cable. You both had to have a Neo Geo Pocket Color, and a copy of Gal Fighters on you, plus the cable. Yeah that's not happening. And in the modern day, it's made the game tragically difficult to enjoy properly. So how does the Switch port handle things?
SNK Gals' Fighters is an original game by the old Neo Geo Pocket that returns to Nintendo Switch to demonstrate the benefits of SNK's portable system, and the ingenuity to bring to this machine its great catalog of fighting games. We are facing a dream match of female characters from various games of the company, which despite the limitations of the control and a brief number of fighters, knows how to entertain and give enough depth to their battles. Let's hope that together with the Samurai Shodown II already appeared on Switch as a promotion, it will be the beginning of a series that recovers the best of the Neo Geo Pocket catalog on the Nintendo hybrid.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
SNK GALS’ FIGHTERS is a super fun time. Whether you’re whiling away a long trip or needing something simpler to play against your friends it’s a great choice. Most of the characters were pretty fun to play as so even with eleven total, I felt like I had plenty to choose from. I wish I had this when I was a kid (I would have just been old enough).
Gals’ Fighters is a straightforward and incredibly fun fighter that takes advantage of its original technical limitations.
When it comes down to it, SNK Gals’ Fighters is a pretty fun fighter from an interesting time. It manages to be impressive both in animation and in it’s deep fighting options. The original release might not have lived up to it’s full potential, but with the Switch, it’s given a second life.