I loved the original game to death, so I had no qualms forking out the $80 for this fairly rare Japanese-exclusive sequel to one of my favorite portable games ever, and MAN did it deliver. On the mechanics side, a lot of the really overpowered cards got nerfed (though not all. Akuma is still hella OP), and the AI was made much much better and given interesting decks, so there's actually variety in the harder opponents other than just the randomness of their big decks with good cards. The new card type Reactions also add a much needed level of depth, and especially against the harder computers it's really hard to get into a swing that they just can't knock you out of like it used to be.

On the aesthetic side, to their credit, ALL of the original 200+ character cards were given new art, but DAMN is the new art ugly. Maybe it's just me, but there were maybe only a couple dozen cards at most where I said "wow, that's actually quite an improvement on the old art style." On the plus side though, there's only one version of this game, so you dont' need to faff around with trading/giving or anything to get all of the cards like you did in the first game(s).

The original games' Pokemon-style top-down area map-system with overworld has been completely scrapped in favor of just an overworld with rigid roads you walk around to an area where you just meet the 'dualist,' although that's just story mode. No longer do you have to run around all over the place to fight a specific opponent, as you can just battle anyone you've already beaten from the Free Battle mode in the main menu, which is nice, although it takes some getting used to considering how much I liked the old area-maps.

THEN, on top of that, after you beat story mode, ALL of the AI opponents you unlocked to play in free-battle mode get new decks. Much MUCH better decks, so that's another 20 decks to fight against/muck around against trying to get the rest of the cards.

I have a very hard time recommending this game to someone who knows both nothing about the first game or any Japanese, because it IS a card game and is therefore a very text-heavy game. If you've played the first game, the card-battling UI is more or less exactly the same, so you can just let your muscle memory guide you, and even though some cards have new abilities, most of them aren't that difficult to just guess/trial and error your way into seeing how they work. But anyway, if you love TCG's and don't mind playing against the AI, I'd certainly give the first game a look while Neo Geo Pockets are still cheap. Never know when they'll skyrocket like the Turbografx did a few years back O.o

EDIT: After some more faffing, I've discovered something. Everyone in Free Battle mode does have new decks, but what I thought were their deck themes are actually the rewards you get for beating them, so say if you know you're missing a Street Fighter or Samurai Showdown character card you're missing, you can fight a specific character for a much higher chance of getting that guy the next time you beat them. Very nice.

The last game made by original SNK. The gameplay is a natural evolution of the first game; reaction cards seem like a small addition but essentially having "trap cards" on hand is a welcome addition. Also, the card art has been completely redone, enjoyable alongside the original art.

There's a story this time, and it's broadly a goofy chase-the-bad-guy stuff, though that means that opponents unlock in a linear order. Unfortunately, you can't explore the places you go to, even though there's a map screen. For convenience you can also just challenge everyone from a menu if you're trying to get cards, but the world is nice to have. SNK put a lot of love into this and the previous game.