KOF R-2 makes a good on-the-go fighter, and the making mode adds enough depth to make it more worthwhile than most of the other fighters on the system. Personally, I would have liked to have seen Heavy D! and Andy included in the lineup, but there's enough characters here to make this oversight all but disappear. Like most of the Neo Geo Pocket fighters, KoF R-2 features splendid visuals and animation, cool character sprites, a smart soundtrack, and slick, well-handled. While the game doesn't have as many characters as its big brothers, most of the popular characters are represented, including Terry, Ryo, Kyo, Mai, Iori, and Shingo. Finally, you can link your KOF R-2 cart up to the Dreamcast version of King of Fighters '98 (which is inexplicably called King of Fighters Dream Match 1999) and trade points back and forth to unlock art galleries on the Dreamcast game and extra skills for your making mode fighter on the portable. Some of these items gain experience when equipped. As you progress through the story, you earn special items that can be equipped on your character to do things like make him immune to normal attacks, dodge throws easier, or even come back to life after being defeated. The mode is slightly reminiscent of the Dreamcast version of Soul Calibur's mission battle mode, in that you'll occasionally have to win under altered conditions, such as no blocking, no super meter, or limited time. The game's got a few different modes, including the standard three-on-three team battle and one-on-one fights for one or two players, but the real draw here is the game's "making" mode, where you'll pick a character and travel through an alternate storyline. The NeoGeo Pocket Color game, King of Fighters R-2, is headed to Nintendo Switch in summer 2020 as part of the NeoGeo. But not only does King of Fighters R-2 put on a decent graphical display, but it manages to capture enough of its Neo Geo counterparts' gameplay to be really quite fun. King of Fighters R-2 - Nintendo Switch Announcement Trailer.
You know, you wouldn't think that the King of Fighters series would look or play well on a portable system.