Following the release of Samurai Shodown! 2 as a preorder bonus for Samurai Shodown on the Nintendo Switch, SNK and Code Mystics have brought another game from the Neo Geo Pocket Color to the Switch. This time, the classic fighting game Gal Fighters was chosen for release and it is a surprisingly fun experience. The game has decent visuals for an 8 bit game with super deformed (chibi) characters, and music that actually fits somewhat well.
Gal Fighters sees you play as a variety of female characters from SNK games, including Mai Shiranui, Athena Asamiya, Yuri Sakazaki, Leona Heidern, Shermie, Nakoruru, Shiki – from Samurai Shodown 64 and Akari Ichijou. There are also two hidden characters to play as, and a boss named Miss X who is surprisingly familiar as a character. The game mostly plays similar to other fighting games from the Neo geo Pocket Color like King of Fighters R-1 but with 1 v 1 matches like Samurai Shodown! 2. The gameplay is also much faster than those titles however, and you will need to take a few minutes to adjust to the gameplay experience. Still, once you get used to the two button controls and gameplay speed and mechanics, you will enjoy the game a lot. Speaking of gameplay mechanics, the game also has an item system, where players can equip certain items to affect the match in a variety of ways. Be careful though. as many of the items are useless and do not have any impact on the gameplay. I am not sure what the point of this was, and it does take a way from the experience a bit.
As for the port to the Switch itself, this is an excellent port of the Neo Geo Pocket Color game. The game is not only emulated perfectly, but some nice touches have been added as well. Almost every aspect of the Neo Geo Pocket Color was replicated, including the options for a system set up if you want, and a Neo geo Pocket Color appears on screen for you to play the game on. You can adjust the controls as you want, adjust display options, and there is even a rewind function included. In addition, there are a variety of skins for the on screen Neo geo Pocket Color in the form of the various different models of the system. The manual for the game is also digital replicated here and that is a nice touch. As well, If you feel the screen is too small, then you can enlarge the image or zoom in to see better. I am happy that we are seeing more Neo Geo Pocket Color games come to Switch, because this emulator being used is amazing.
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