King of the Monsters 2 - Neo Geo (1992)

Set 3 years after the events of the first game, Earth has been invaded by an alien menace. Three surviving monsters from the original game now face off against this new threat, ironically becoming the saviours of a planet they had pretty much destroyed by themselves.

It's pretty hard to find a game on the Neo Geo which disappoints visually, and King of the Monsters 2 is no exception. Thanks to its striking art style and roster of kooky Kaijou combatants, this was always going to be a game to turn heads.

Thematically, KOTM 2 doesn't stray too far from the template set out by its predecessor, although this is closer in design to a sideways scrolling beat 'em up than its prequel. Your chosen monster must fight to the death against an increasingly absurd series of alien warriors, all whilst fending off Earth defence forces none-too-pleased at having two super-sized gladiators tussling in the middle of downtown.

The thrill of two giant monsters battling each other across beautifully realised pixel art cityscapes, ripping up and stabbing each other with skyscrapers while leaving little but smoking craters in their wake is undeniable. Those opening moments of KOTM2 are the best in the game bar none, but it's all downhill from there.

The first signs of trouble come when tackling the game's many boss monsters. The initial thrill of grappling with your opponent and tossing them around gives way to puzzlement, as you'll suddenly find it impossible to win these clinches. There's really no way to influence the outcome - the game is programmed to throw the player a bone by allowing the first two grapples to go your way, provided you don't fall asleep at the controls. From there on out, your opponent will toss you around with impunity; dying will reset this, but since this would be costing you money on the real arcade machine, it's unlikely that you'd want to try this strategy. What follows is a laborious process of chipping away at your foe's health with a series of punches, claw swipes and special moves, all of which inflict relatively little damage.

This is largely bearable during the first couple of levels, thanks to the beautifully drawn cities, but these are a distant memory by stage 3, and all you're really left with is a series of increasingly protracted boss battles. The amount of time and effort required to best these creatures grow exponentially -- the Sea Slug fight being the worst of these -- and becomes just plain tiresome. The real kicker comes during the final level, where the player must fight all 6 bosses again in quick succession, before tackling the seventh and final boss. Considering the game is effectively a boss rush to begin with, this just feels rather cheap.

I really wanted to like King of the Monsters 2, and I still do, at least to some extent. The artwork and general design of the characters is truly superb, and it's easily one of the most recognisable games on the system. If only the designers had opted to make the combat more interesting and the bosses less tanky, this would have been a real classic.

Developer: SNK

Publisher: SNK
Platform: Neo Geo

Year of Release: 1992