The PSP is no stranger to titles that contain more than one game packed into a single UMD and retro gaming fans certainly appreciate seeing classic games restored in its original format on a handheld. Among the list of games, fighting fans have been waiting for a chance to have a portable version of some of the later entries in The King of Fighters franchise. Thankfully, SNK Playmore brings us The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga for the PSP with five of the best games in the series.

The Orochi Saga chronicles the series’ mid to late 1990s The King of Fighters games that begins with KOF ‘94 and ends with the great ‘98 edition. The highlight, of course, is that this collection includes the Orochi Saga trilogy that began with The King of Fighters ‘95 and closes with KOF ‘97 and that sees the return of an old foe who all the fighters thought was dead. The trilogy also brings together just about every fighter found in SNK Playmore’s other fighting franchises and pits them against returning favorites such a Mai and Terry.

The King of the Fighters ‘94 introduced us to a crime boss named Rugal Bernstein who got the best fighters around the world together for another King of Fighters tournament. It’s a tournament that brought together fighters from the Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting games in a true competition with enough fighters to make things a lot more challenging and in the end your chosen fighter will have to go up against Rugal himself. It’s a faithful translation with a few changes to the lineup but it’s certainly great to see this one and even more so on the PSP.

While KOF ’94 was a fun game that piled on the characters, it’s the Orochi Saga trilogy that truly made gamers feel like they were part of a major King of Fighters tournament. It is here that Rugal - thought dead - hosts yet another tournament as a more formidable half-cyborg opponent. The series brings back favorites such as Bloody Mary and Billy Kane among so many others. The locations have become more diverse and the opponent AI is even more challenging. In the trilogy, KOF ’96 brings specialized attacks and new foes known as the Orochi. In KOF ’97, the finally chapter in the trilogy, Howard Geese sets up a tournament that has three-member teams take on other teams in this new kind of tournament.

Finally, there’s King of Fighters ’98 that continues the three-member teams in a dream match-up with up to a total of up to 50 fighters that does not include the bonus characters you can unlock while playing the game. The competition is fierce even in the normal difficulty setting you can change in the Options menu. Aside from the five KOF games, Challenges mode offers a number of fun challenges that reward you with a number of great extras such as bonus fighters, art and new music. The challenges offer a variety of interesting fighting scenarios such as going up against a super-powered Howard Geese or beat a three-man team with only half your life bar depleted.  

As far as the controls are concerned, The Orochi Saga does a decent job with the PSP hardware. You can use the D-pad if you like but I found the analog stick far more effective in unleashing each character’s unique individual attack. For example, complex special attacks such as Yuri’s The 100 Blows attack that isn’t so easy to perform using the D-pad. The framerate is rock steady as a single-player game but not so much playing against a friend via Ad Hoc. My biggest complaint, however, is the extra long load times that frequently occur.

Visually, The Orochi Saga features some crisp and sharp graphics that look good even on the PSP. Nothing has changed visually for this collection and that’s not a bad thing considering the fact that all five of these games looked good even back in the day. Even the visual effects are straight out of the arcade version of the games. Meanwhile, the game’s sound isn’t so bad either although the soundtrack isn’t always good. While there are a number of cheesy tunes with heavy guitar riffs, there are tunes that bring out the old-school funk that is far better. All the sounds you’d expect from the series are also present.

It’s great to see The King of Fighter franchise on the PSP and even more so when it is part of a collection with enough good things going for it. The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga is a great compilation of classic fighting fun that might not be completely perfect but does a decent job of doing justice to the series’ fight style. If you’re a fan of the series or like a good classic fight game, do pick this one up.

Gameplay: 7.5
The games feel comfortable enough on the PSP whether you like to use the D-pad or the analog stick. As a single-player game, all five of the games have a lot to offer and with the extras you will find yourself having a blast unlocking them. The multiplayer mode suffers from some framerate problems, though.

Graphics: 7.5
All five of the games look good on the PSP and it’s good to see all the flashy effects from the arcade versions are intact. The overall presentation looks really good as well.

Sound: 7.0
The heavy guitar riffs are definitely on the cheesy side but there are also some decent tunes that sound good coming out of the PSP speakers. Even the sound effects are good and will bring back good memories.

Difficulty: Medium
The solid AI makes for some really challenging fights that will have you going up against some real powerhouses. The difficulty setting can be changed for even more punishment but the medium setting offers more than enough challenge for even experienced fighting fans.

Concept: 7.5
Five complete King of Fighters games in one portable package is a brilliant idea and it’s even more enticing to have all the extras found in the console version of this collection. There are also plenty of characters to pick. You can also play the game with a friend via Ad Hoc.

Multiplayer: 6.5
There’s no online multiplayer fun to be had here and that’s a real shame. Then again, seeing how there is some framerate issues that pop up in Ad Hoc, it’s probably a good thing these wasn’t an online option. There are plenty of fighters to pick in the game, though, and some good fights to be had with a friend.

Overall: 7.5
While it doesn’t quite reach the level of fighting game goodness that you would find on the console version, The King of Fighters Collection for the PSP is not a bad alternative for portable gamers. It’s good to see quite a collection of games that make up this great franchise in one UMD and even more so with a few extras tossed in as well.