King of the Monsters 2

In the second quarter of 1992, fighting games were not quite the arcade juggernaut they came to be throughout the rest of the 90's. Street Fighter 2 had only been out a year, Mortal Kombat and Art of Fighting were just around the corner, and Fatal Fury had released only 7 months prior. The belt-action-brawlers (beat-em-up) were still a money maker in game centers at this time, so SNK took the series in that direction with King of the Monsters 2: The Next Thing. 

Sales of King of the Monsters 2 were not as high as the first game despite being (in this writers opinion) a much better game. Having to compete with the now ostensibly popular Street Fighter 2 and SNK's own Fatal Fury, interest in just about any other arcade-centric genre was beginning to wain. Still, King of the Monsters 2 took the 11th most successful arcade game spot in mid-1992 in both Japan and the US according to Game Machine and RePlay. The game sold just well enough to warrant a port to the 16-bit consoles by Takara, in which each version has its strengths and weaknesses. 

Critical reviews at the time were generally mixed given the shallow nature of the game and the very short run-time. Many of these publications were measuring the game as home release, though, rather than a money-making arcade release, which is what it was designed to be. As an arcade game, it's a great amount of sloppy fun. As a home release, $200 (about $450 in 2023 money) was a lot to ask for a game that is over in less than 30 minutes. 

Set three years after the events of the first game, there are just three monsters left that have to save the Earth from alien invaders. Unlike the six selectable characters from the first game, you can choose only one of three monsters in the second: Super Geon, Cyber Woo, and Atomic Guy. Each monster has a unique move set of button mash combos, grapples, and strong attacks, but all attacks are performed the same way: A is your basic combo string attack button, B is your single-hit strong attack, and C jumps. You can also hold down A to charge up each monster's special move. The specials are unique per monster, and all monsters have three different special moves that are each accessible depending on your power level - of which there are three. Actually, for the second game in the series, the number three keeps popping up... 

Each stage is set up as a short belt-action-brawler sequence where you have to defeat planes, tanks, boats, and other human piloted weaponry as you make your way to the stage's boss. Along the way you can pick up the larger buildings and downed vehicles to throw at oncoming threats as well. As you mash your way through each stage, certain defeated enemies will drop power-up items that increase your monster's attack potential. Be warry, though, as you can get a negative power-up that puts you back to default. The ending of each stage plays out as a 1:1 wrestling match between you and one of the six new boss monsters. There really isn't much to say about the complexity of the gameplay; it's literally a lot of button mashing against opponents with oddly placed hit boxes and wonky hit detection. That said, you don't play this game for its deep mechanics. Rather, you play this game to destroy cities with big monsters - which is rewarding in its own way. Two player co-op is where this game really shines, and the Neo-Geo does an admirable job throwing around the large sprites with dozens of effects and explosions all over the screen. 

The sprite work is generally good over all with large, decently animated monsters and loads of detail in the backgrounds. SNK used much brighter colors in this second release, leading to a slightly more cartoonish vibe than the first game. Sound design is fine and the music is serviceable, but music tracks certainly are not something you'll be listening to outside of the gameplay. The graphics and seound hold up much better than the first game, though, and still look great even 30 years later.

King of the Monsters 2: The Next Thing (I love the subtitle), is a lot of sloppy fun. Due to the repetitive nature of the gameplay, you won't find much longevity playing solo. If you grab a friend, though, this game can be a lot of fun for the 25 minutes or so it will take you to plough your way through all six stages. It's also a great game to suggest playing with friends that may be interested in the Neo-Geo but aren't into fighting games. 

Is it worth your money? Maybe. A complete Japanese AES copy will run between $250 - $300 depending on where you look, and a US copy is about the same price. The MVS version is cheaper, of course, while the Neo CD version is cheaper than the AES release but more than the MVS. King of the Monsters 2 was ported to the SNES and Genesis in 1993, with the SNES version being more of a direct port. The Genesis version, however, is a different beast all together. The developer, Betop, retooled the game to revert it back to a 1v1 fighting game and allowed the six boss characters to also be selectable from the start. Both are solid choices if you like collecting on those systems, and the Genesis release is different enough that it warrants a purchase just because of how unique it is. There are also three additional stages/cities to destroy. In the modern day, you can pick up Hamster's Arcade Archives release for $8 on most digital store fronts.

If you're considering getting this game on AES, I'd say to focus on getting some of the better brawlers on the system first, like Sengoku 2 or Mutation Nation. If you're thinking about getting this game or the first one, I highly recommend getting this release first.