Review: The best part of this game on N-Gage: When you're playing on the bus and shout "Oh that's SO unfair!" and everyone turns to stare at you, simply put the game deck to your ear like you're talking to someone, nod your head and say, "It's a cell phone, too."
Fighting games are essential to video game platforms and, for the most part, there are plenty of them available. Not for the N-Gage, though. Nokia's little mobile gaming device only offers a single fighter thus far, but luckily for fans of the genre it's part of the King of Fighters franchise. King of Fighters EXTREME actually appeared on Game Boy Advance under the name King of Fighters EX2: Howling Blood. Although the screen space is smaller and the frame rate takes a beating in the N-Gage version, the game fairs well by looking good, being easy to pick up and play, and being the best fighting game for the system by default.
KoF EXTREME contains a total of 22 characters with unique moves and weaponry. So anyone expecting an overly simple punching and kicking video game will find a more complex and addictive one instead. Don't let the N-Gage's block arrangement of nine keys fool you into thinking KoF EXTREME is cumbersome to play, though. The controls are rather easy to adapt to and there's enough of them on this portable to pull off all the moves.
The system also benefits from the buttons being in close proximity, making it simple to string together combos, attempt counter moves, and execute special moves. However, if you're still having trouble, the scheme can always be customized within the game's options menu.
The frame rate can't be corrected within KoF EXTREME and I can't seem to figure out why it's sluggish to begin with given the GBA version's speedy frame rate. Although the game looks colorful and the fighters seem crisp on the N-Gage screen, it sadly runs at a slow 16fps and that's definitely short of satisfying. The rest of the game's visual and audio presentation matches the 90s arcade era perfectly, so you won't be suffering through the lagging without something appropriate to look at and listen to.
Another issue is the lack of modes, or at least distinctive modes, that KoF EXTREME offers. Sure, there's a Story mode without an actual solid story, that's expected, and there's Time Attack, Practice and Survival modes for the single player. However, there's very little to distinguish between each and therefore I'm left with the same exact game while playing alone. Unfortunately, there's no N-Gage Arena option for head-to-head play online, but you can still kick a friend's butt in the game's Battle mode via Bluetooth.
