I'm not sure how SNK's King of Fighters landed onto Nokia's N-Gage and I'm not asking any questions. The cult-hit 2D series has found yet another home on a portable game system, and although it's not particularly flashy, KOF Extreme is a decent pocket fighter that is a welcome addition in any N-Gage owner's library.

What we have here is your basic 2D KOF package. There are over 20 fighters to choose from, many of whom you'll be more than familiar with if you've ever played one of the other games in the series. Mai (me bouncy), Ryo, Terry, Yuri, and Iori are playable, among others, and they've all been well-crafted and feature their signature moves. In addition to them, the game's backgrounds, while static, are expertly detailed and look different from one another, so you'll battle in the desert, on the city street, and in front of a truck (and many more).

The game's a 2D fighter, so you basically move right and left pummeling your opponent by unleashing a myriad of special moves, all of which are somewhat difficult to pull off because the N-Gage has a billion buttons and they all seem to do something. Experimentation is key, but for the most part I wound up mashing the 5 key most of the time. However, persistence in learning the fighting system will pay off, and 10+ hit combos will be possible after some practice.

While KOF is certainly playable, it runs rather slowly for a portable 2D fighter. Even the announcer seems delayed, as right before a match he'll say, "Round...One.........Fight!" It's not that the game is too slow, but if you're used to the Game Boy SP or, dare I say it, Vampire Chronicles on Sony's PSP, KOF on N-Gage is going to be like watching paint dry.

Keeping things interesting, KOF Extreme comes with a few modes of play, none of which are particularly interesting, but there's enough diversity here so you won't be playing the same thing over and over. Story lets you select a three-fighter team and travel all over the place battling other three person teams. You're allowed to choose the order of appearance of your combatants so there's an element of strategy in place since you'll see who your opponents are before the match begins, and during gameplay you can call partners in to lay the smack down on your foes.

In addition to Story there's Battle (where you can play a friend wirelessly via Bluetooth), Practice, Survival (see how long you can last against an innumerable amount of foes), and Time Attack. As I previously mentioned, none of these options scream, "Oh wow!"

In fact, the game's actually pretty boring. Challenging other players is cool, and the graphics are fantastic, but I never found the KOF series thrilling to begin with, so putting it on the N-Gage (in a much slower form) makes it even less interesting. It's a solid 2D fighter, no question, and if you've been salivating at the thought of a fighting game on the N-Gage then this may quench your thirst for violence, but there's nothing that really stands out here. King of Fighters Extreme is solid, but as far as killer apps go, look elsewhere.