The King of Fighters franchise celebrates its 10th anniversary with KOF: Maximum Impact. Since this fighter has seen a new edition every year (which have not always released in the USA) since its introduction in 1994, this is actually the 11th installment of the game and the series really has been around for ten years. And to celebrate 10 years of solid fighting games that have changed little over the years, SNK has given The King of Fighters a pretty major overhaul … one that I’m not entirely sure franchise fans are going to be completely happy with and is really not enough to make fans of modern fighting games sit up and take notice.
For the fans, SNK has brought back many memorable characters from the series along with their trademark moves. There are also some interesting new characters like Lien Neville. In all, there are about 20 characters to choose from. Also, in addition to their traditional garb, SNK has thrown in alternate costumes for each of the characters. A nice feature if you want two Mai Shiranui characters to fight one another. And who wouldn’t want to see that? But there are problems with the characters in an unlooked for way. They are badly balanced. The game clearly favors some characters over others. Not a good thing.
SNK has made much of the fact that KOF: Maximum Impact is the first game in the series to be in full 3D. True, the characters and the environments they fight in are rendered in three dimensions and it all looks pretty nice. But like so many of the other old 2D fighting franchises that have made the leap to 3D, KOF: Maximum Impact is at its heart still a 2D fighting game – which will delight series fans. There are some concessions to the 3D environment, such as the sidestep maneuver that allows players to circle in order to attack and evade in three dimensions rather than just having the ability to move toward or away from their opponent. While the 3D implementation is fair, I think it may turn off some KOF traditionalists and it is not well enough developed to attract fans of more modern fighters like Soul Caliber.
Control is unapologetically rooted in the arcade system that started the series. Unlike what other formally-arcade fighters have often done, KOF: Maximum Impact does not even offer the option of using the analog sticks for control. The digital directional pad is the only movement control. The face buttons pull the yeoman’s share of the work in a fight, while the ‘R1’ shoulder button allows the character to move in the three-dimensional space and evade attacks, and the ‘R2’ button serves as the blow-back attack button and guard cancel attack. A great many of these button presses have to be accompanied by the appropriate directional pad movement. That of course makes KOF another one of those games requiring a great deal of memorization and rather precise button/directional presses to play proficiently.
There are a perfunctory number of play modes in KOF: Maximum Impact. Story mode allows the player to select a character and fight him to the end of the story through a series of computer-controlled opponents. There is no limit on the number of continues the player is allowed, so losing a fight does not really end the game. Versus mode is just pure fighting. In this mode the player may either battle computer-controlled opponents or take on another human-controlled foe. Versus can either be 1-on-1 or a team battle where each player chooses three characters and then pits the teams against each other. Challenge mode has the player accomplishing various missions such as pulling off a particular combo or defeating an opponent in a certain amount of time. It is also the avenue for unlocking the items in the game. Practice mode is pretty self explanatory: practice those moves on a pliant opponent.
Graphically the game is a bit of a mixed bag. The 3D characters do not radiate as much personality as their 2D predecessors, nor are they quite as detailed. The animation also comes off a little stiff. The environments are fair but sport very little environmental animation or detail.
Audio is rather weak with bland sound effects and poor voice acting. The musical soundtrack is infinitely forgettable.
KOF: Maximum Impact is available in a two-disc pack. The bonus disc contains some interesting items like character profiles, commentary on the fighting system, and interviews with the game makers. And while the production quality is not the best, it is fairly informative.
KOF: Maximum Impact is a good first attempt at bringing The King of Fighters franchise into the realm of modern 3D fighters, but it does not quite go far enough. At the same time I fear the changes will alienate some of the core KOF fans. Add to that some questionable production values and you have a game with enough problems to only make it only a 3 out of 5.
© 2004 GameShark.com
