After Orochi was vanquished, Emperor Goenitz renewed his search for a substitute host that could channel more power than Riot of the Blood and for a way to break the seal once more so that Orochi could be resurrected. He also looked for a way to free Orochi from his imprisonment. And he is not going after anyone else in particular with this comeback; rather, Leona’s daughter is the target of his efforts. At that precise instant, a tremor occurred, which ultimately led to the deaths of the people in the immediate area, including her poor mother. Goenitz came to the conclusion that the process of reviving the devil would move along much more quickly if he were able to obtain the blood of the most powerful warrior. As a result, the KING OF FIGHTERS tournament was rescheduled and given the name THE HOWLING BLOOD this time around.
Before beginning to play in story mode, players will first build a party consisting of three members by selecting from a cast of characters that the game has previously unlocked for them. There are a total of eight stages, and players will be responsible for determining the battle orders for each participant prior to the beginning of the intense competition. If your team is successful in vanquishing all three foes, they will emerge victorious and earn the right to proceed to later levels. However, if you are defeated, you will have to play through the level once more.
If you find that the gameplay in this mode is too challenging or too complicated for you, you can switch to a single-player campaign instead, or you can connect with at least one other GBA device to engage in cooperative or competitive play. This EX2 version also comes with a brand new tournament that goes by the name of Maximum. However, access to it is only granted once both of the following requirements have been satisfied: (1) the preceding storyline has been finished; and (2) the title of Master Orochi has been earned.
Regarding the cast of characters, the programmer added Reiji, Jun, Moe, and Miu while maintaining the other 21 warriors as they were originally designed. When new members are unlocked, players will be able to view their respective profiles and learn more about them. Reiji is well-known for being one of the powerful warriors who contributed significantly to the process of securing Orochi. Miu, on the other hand, is only a teenager and a student in high school, but she possesses incredible strength. Each character, in general, possesses the same fundamental combat abilities. These abilities include the ability to manipulate their opponents while in the air, launch punches at them, and stun them with kicks. However, they also have access to critical strike techniques that can be activated by drawing power from the source at the top of the screen as the gauges continue to fill up as they engage in combat.
