A surprisingly competent game, but far from perfect. It does give one hope for the future of the sequels.

User Rating: 8 | KOF Maximum Impact PS2
KOF Maximum Impact is SNK Playmore's stated "10th anniversary gift" to the series' fans. While I'm not sure it quite lives up to being worthy of such a designation, the end result is a very good game from start to finish, although there are a couple of minor visual quirks and some slightly questionable design decisions that keep it from being everything it can be. Gameplay: First and foremost, this game is KOF with a healthy dose of Real Bout Fatal Fury and Bloody Roar mixed in. The control is as smooth and responsive as KOF98, and you should have no trouble pulling off any move, even on a Dual Shock. For the most part, the moves are done in an identical fashion to that seen in the 2D iterations of the series, and they typically function just as they always have. Some subtle differences to note... each super move is individually assigned a power level and has no other weaker/stronger versions. For instance, Ryo's giant Haohshokoken projectile is a level-1 super only, whereas the Ryuko Ranbu rush DM is level-2 only, and the Tenchi Haoh Ken (the 1-hit punch DM) is level-3. Some characters, like Athena, have only level-1 supers. Also, DMs tend to have considerably lesser priority than they have in the past. In other words, don't overuse them, or you may face an unpleasant and painful surprise. Gone are the command normals of old, to be replaced by the new "Stylish Moves." Each character has multiple button-tap combos, of which some hits are interruptible into a special or super move. These quickly become crucial to the game and serve as a surprisingly pleasant change from the old KOF combo engine (which has been getting a little stale in recent years). Truly mastering a character will depend on how well you learn to use these in addition to the usual stock of normals, specials and supers. This system is actually somewhat akin to how the Real Bout Fatal Fury games worked. Full 3D movement is available, though it isn't unlimited like Soul Calibur's 8-way run. By pressing Weak Punch (A) and Weak Kick (B) together, you'll dodge into the background, or press down+AB to dodge into the foreground. In both cases, you can hold down the buttons to begin circling the opponent. Left or right+AB gives the traditional KOF roll, but it will no longer move through the opponent, and it does not afford much invincibility time. There is also the old KOF recovery roll, done by hitting AB just before hitting the ground while falling. This becomes crucial to survival, as will become quickly apparent. One thing which can be a bit of a pain is just how prevalent ground and corner combos are. For the first time in the series, everyone has the ability to hit a character who is lying prone on the ground, and this can be used to great effect to lengthen combos (with reduced damage). This works fine, but they can be a little too easy to do, which the CPU takes grotesque advantage of at times... particularly the final boss. Also, one thing you'll notice immediately is just how fast the game plays. There is very little in the way of hitpauses, which gives the game a pretty frantic pace. You'll have to be prepared to think fast to keep up. This becomes particularly significant in the face of how fierce the AI can be if you turn up the difficulty. Graphics: The graphics have improved since the last time I had seen footage, with the usual spate of lighting effects and other flash. The models look clean and animate fluidly, and the stages, while a far cry from being a visual tour-de-force, look pretty good. One particular graphical oddity is that the characters' mouths move like they were marionettes. There is no real lip syncing to speak of, so when you see some of the poses, it looks fairly silly and works against the overall sense of polish on the game. All of the flashier move effects have a very "glowing" look to them, which works fine in some cases but not so well for others. Fire in particular tends to look cloudlike and unconvincing. Overall, it works okay, but some things could use a bit more work. One thing that stands out as being a little poor is the camera work during poses and supers. It follows the action flawlessly during play, but when it goes to pre-scripted motions, it's lacking. Many winposes lose most, if not all, of their impact, due to not being able to properly see what the character is doing. This would have been remedied quickly by allowing the player to maneuver the camera freely, or providing multiple viewing angles. Also, a few supers look a little odd, with the camera too zoomed-in. Yuri's Hien Houou Kyaku and the end of Rock's Deadly Rave Neo are the most prominent examples of this. This is really a fairly minor quibble, but it deserves to be mentioned. Given the newly-3D nature of the game, some more creative camera work would have been nice. Sound: Here's one area where the US version falters... though it's not really SNK's fault. All of the voices were dubbed over in English, by demand of SCEA, and there is no option to use the original Japanese, which is odd, because the samples are on the disc. The English voices range from good (Duke) to downright painful (Yuri). Beyond the voices, it's really hard to complain. The hitsounds are new and sound heavy and convincing, everything is clean and there's no signs of distortion. Very solid work all around. My only complaint is that support for some form of surround sound is missing. Musically, the game fairly shines. All of the new tracks are composed by Tanaka Keiichi of Studio Aqua, and he's done a great job, with some standout tracks being "Unbreakable Stained Glass" (Ancient Ruins stage), "Requiem of 50000 Souls" (Show Time stage) and "Mysterious Machine" (Iron Hell stage). All of the tracks are good, though, and the music on the whole is some of the best the series has seen since KOF96. Miscellaneous: The story mode in the game is essentially nothing more than a basic arcade mode with a "cutscene" between fights. While this works okay, the scenes are nothing more than talking-head bits, and the story is completely inconsequential for the vast majority of the cast. Only Alba, Soiree, Lien and Seth have anything significant to do with the plot of the game. The usual set of gameplay modes is available, versus, team versus, etc. The more noteworthy aspect is the Challenge mode, which is where you'll find Time Attack and the Mission mode. Mission Mode consists of 40 different challenges, which can be attempted with any character. Completing one of these will unlock a new color/texture scheme for one of a specific character's player models. Most of these are a real treat to see, with several homages to characters from other SNK games (like Haohmaru, Kaede, and others). These missions range in difficulty from the painfully simple to the incredibly hard. This mode is a welcome addition, but it's a shame it's not as robust as the Expert Mode found in Arika's Street Fighter EX games. Also, it's a pity there's no option for online versus play, but perhaps I'm asking a bit much, since SNKP has never done anything of that sort before (4P Super Tag Battle doesn't count). The roster feels pretty small for a KOF game, but it's actually a pretty decent size. Everyone will have some complaint about the inclusion/exclusion of various characters, but even so, it's hard for me personally to imagine why someone like Seth (bland design, boring moves) was included at the expense of longtime staples like, for instance, Benimaru, King, Robert, Andy, Joe, Shingo, etc. Hopefully when the inevitable next game in the series shows up, the roster will be expanded to be more in keeping with what KOF fans have grown to expect. Overall: It's easy to recommend KOFMI to both longtime fans of the series (like myself) and newcomers alike. The action is fast and furious, the control is extremely smooth, the graphics are well above average, and the audio is excellent. Aside from a few minor aesthetic gripes, the game is a solid purchase, well worth picking up. There is, as always, room for improvement and expansion, but if you're looking for an enjoyable 3D fighter that offers something difference from what Namco, Sega and Tecmo are offering, then you definitely need to get this game. You won't be disappointed.