This article was originally published in Italian on Games969.com in 2018.
Can a sequel to a game originally released on a console that never even reached Europe really capture the interest of today’s mainstream audience? And what if I told you that the franchise this title is based on is virtually forgotten in the West, surviving only in the hearts of a few competitive scene veterans?
Only time will tell, but the spiritual successor to SNK Gals’ Fighters—originally launched in 2000 exclusively for the Neo Geo Pocket Color—has finally made its way to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch under the flashy name SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy. Diving headfirst into the ever-expanding realm of team-based fighting games, SNK seems determined to prove that characters like Kula, Leona, and even Mui Mui (?) are not only still relevant but capable of catching the attention of a modern audience. It’s no secret that The King of Fighters XIV, despite its modest technical presentation, managed to reignite interest in a series unfairly overlooked by the general public. But are we truly ready for… a skirt-clad spin-off?
That’s exactly what this 2.5D brawler sets out to be, staging tag-team battles between fourteen heroines borrowed from various SNK franchises, all wrapped up in what the developers themselves call a “provocative” spin-off—which, to be fair, is a lot less sexy than advertised. But let’s take it step by step.
The game offers three single-player modes, all of which require you to form a duo of fighters. There are no “canon” pairs, and depending on who you team up, you’ll unlock different interactions and dialogue lines. The story mode sees SNK’s heroines transported into an alternate dimension where the only rule seems to be wearing skimpy—though more often just plain ridiculous—cosplay outfits. They must battle their way through other pairs of fighters until reaching the final showdown, which, as per SNK tradition, comes with a sharp spike in difficulty. Every completed fight rewards players with in-game currency that can be spent unlocking gallery items or customizing the characters, each of whom sports three different outfits—including, thankfully, their signature look—and a surprisingly large collection of accessories to dress them up with.
Unlike traditional fighting games, SNK Heroines doesn’t ask you to drain your opponent’s health bar to zero. Instead, victory comes only when you land a special move while your rival’s health is critically low. This design choice leads to a unique interface where the health and special energy bars are linked, allowing players with less life to perform more special attacks. On top of that, collectible items appear during battles, spicing up the action or even completely turning the tide in desperate moments.
That said, this title—brought to us by NIS America—is clearly aimed at beginners. Its moveset is extremely simplified, with special attacks executed through a single button and one directional input, a design that completely contrasts with the technical legacy of The King of Fighters. Still, there’s some depth to be found, especially at higher difficulty levels, where switching between fighters becomes essential for performing devastating (and unfortunately uninterruptible) combos. The main problem lies in the roster: it’s very small, though future DLC will expand it. Given the limited content available at launch, it’s hard to imagine the game holding players’ attention for more than a few short sessions.
The available modes include a survival mode, where you face increasingly difficult CPU battles—optionally with a friend controlling your partner—and a training mode to polish your techniques. There’s a brief but functional tutorial, though the absence of challenges or missions, now a standard in the genre, is disappointing. The online mode is equally bare-bones, and I wasn’t able to test its quality due to the lack of an active player base.
Finally, a word on the game’s visuals and technical performance. While the character models are noticeably more detailed than in The King of Fighters XIV, the presentation remains sparse and unconvincing. On Nintendo Switch, the game runs at a variable 30fps with a resolution of 720p in handheld mode. Docked and displayed on a large TV, however, it looks like a product that already feels dated: aliasing is rampant, and the overall image quality suffers from an overuse of visual effects, even during the most basic attacks.
SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy could have been a great way to introduce the King of Fighters cast to a casual audience, but the Switch version suffers from a lack of content and technical issues that make its portability hard to justify.
