The King of Fighters: Battle de Paradise

The King of Fighters: Battle de Paradise (THE KING OF FIGHTERS バトル DE パラダイス), alternatively known as KOF: Battle de Paradise, is a board game style handheld game developed for the Neo Geo Pocket Color. It was released July 6, 2000 and remained exclusively in Japan until the release of NEOGEO POCKET COLOR SELECTION Vol.2. Players could transfer game points for the Dreamcast port, The King of Fighters '99, to speed up the leveling process for the Extra Strikers. The artistic style of the games is similar to SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash.

Story
The storyline is described officially by SNK as follows:

Four young boys and girls who love "KOF" are sucked into the Neo Geo Pocket! There, they find themselves drawn into a mysterious world full of KOF characters. Together with their special partners, they set out for their greatest journey...

Gameplay
The game is a board based, two player, party game that plays in a similar manner as sugoroku. The player can either link with another user to play or challenge the CPU. Each side choose one of four original characters to represent their place on the board as well as an accompanying Striker character (the Extra Strikers from The King of Fighters '99: Evolution). If they're unsatisfied with their avatar's name, an option to rename their character is also given.

Players roll a die and move along the board with various squares. Specially marked squares can trigger one of many mini-games for the player's striker to participate in for coins. Mini-games themselves are a collection of memory games, dodging contests, quiz challenges, and other games common to the genre. Some of these mini-games refer to SNK's older games such as T.A.N.K or previous King of Fighters titles. The main goal of the game is to gather coins to buy stars; the player with the most stars wins.

Players can alternatively gain points and affect the other player by drawing cards. The cards can either be bought in the board's card stores with coins or given during special events. They all have various effects that manipulate the dice rolls, the players' stocks, and other effects to benefit the user.

Other characters from the King of Fighters series randomly appear in events or mini-games to assist or delay players on the board. Results depend on whether they're in "Justice" or "Evil" mode, which is basically the "face" or "heel" of a character. The characters visually change their appearance based on which mode they are in.

Heroes

 * Yu G - an orange haired boy who sports a blue bandanna. He is labeled as the hot-blooded type. Later makes a cameo in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum.
 * Ai - a girl who has blond hair and tanned skin. She is depicted as a hyper kogal who may actually be a good person.
 * Masamune - a boy with long purple hair and red eyes. He is the cool but nice guy.
 * Hatoko - a girl with short-brunette hair who is described as the clumsy but well-meaning type.

Strikers

 * Kyo Kusanagi
 * Athena Asamiya
 * Goro Daimon
 * Ryuji Yamazaki
 * Billy Kane
 * Chizuru Kagura
 * Fiolina Germi
 * Alfred
 * Syo Kirishima
 * Gai Tendo

Cameos

 * K'
 * Shingo Yabuki
 * Benimaru Nikaido
 * Kim Kaphwan
 * Chang Koehan
 * Choi Bounge
 * Jhun Hoon
 * Ryo Sakazaki
 * Robert Garcia
 * Yuri Sakazaki
 * Mr. Karate
 * Mr. Big
 * King
 * Mai Shiranui
 * Ralf Jones
 * Clark Still
 * Heidern
 * Leona Heidern
 * Whip
 * Sie Kensou
 * Yashiro Nanakase
 * Shermie
 * Chris
 * Goenitz
 * Orochi
 * Rugal Bernstein
 * Omega Rugal
 * Krizalid
 * Iori Yagami
 * Seth
 * Vanessa

Trivia

 * If the game is inserted into a Neo Geo Pocket, a remake version of Yosaku will be playable.


 * Hinako's cameo appearance in the Data Select screen makes The King of Fighters: Battle de Paradise her very first appearance, as the game was released approximately two weeks before The King of Fighters 2000, the game that was supposed to be her debut title.