Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers

Even when Real Bout 2 The Newcomers felt mighty familiar or some choices seemed backward, I was always playing with a smile on my face.

You know that old say about if something isn't broken don't repair it, and that is what the developers did with RB2. At first glance, you'll notice some tweaks here and there, especially from the characters you used in the past entry and at moments it might seem as some of them are clunkier but instead, they added complexity to some of them, you still have all-around fighters like Terry or Mai but already difficult characters to use like Mary have been tweaked if only a little to add more complexity to avoid button-mashing combos, or at least that I believe anyways.

The roster is bigger than the last game (by 2 characters) and felt a little like those All-star games where the plot is not that relevant and are more focused in fighting, which is great or the better experience if you play with friends but from a single-player perspective, it felt a little backward, since a lot of the fun playing that way is to unlock stuff and get the endings for your favorite characters but the little sequences you obtain by beating the game are for the most part silly and stakes-free, is not a bad thing per se but they aren't as rewarding as a "story" ending.

Another thing that at times bothered me a bit was the discrepancy between the damage of some special moves, for the most part, they were balanced but in a few instances, they felt too op in terms of speed and damage. The artwork and the sprite work are still great although it doesn't seem that they were trying to push the envelope to higher places, instead the maintained the quality in a safe spot.

RB2 is so much fun if you play with friends, from a single-player experience it might be a little unrewarding or plain at times but even when it plays it safe in almost every aspect of its mechanics or artwork, it is still a pretty good game.