Playing King of Fighters: Dream Match 1999

Perhaps the last bastion of the hard-core gamer, the King of Fighters series represents the last of the 16-bit, sprite-based 2D-fighters. While Capcom has ever so slightly upgraded its CPS systems to keep up with the times, SNK has steadfastly remained loyal to its incredibly dated hardware. While some King of Fighters is certainly better than no King of Fighters at all, one has to wonder exactly how much life the franchise has left. In SNK's eyes, it must be a case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Either that or its engineers can't be bothered to reinvent the wheel. Whatever the case may be, there has been little in the way of concession to Sega's 128-bit graphics architecture.

OK, there's been some tweaking of the backgrounds so that they appear to be in 3D. Whether this is through some clever sprite-based parallax trick, or because the game is actually shifting polygons is unknown. Either way, it fits perfectly with the game. Basically, no radical changes have been made. The 38 characters from the first game return. The action is quick, there are practically no loading times, and little touches like Street Fighter Alpha-like shadows have been implemented.

It's been rumored that Sega might bring KOF99 to the US launch. While it would a great way to cement the credibility of the domestic library, one can't help but think this is really an understated game on the Dreamcast. The music is of 16-bit quality, while the hand-drawn, extremely lengthy animated intro borders on anesthetic. Heck, even the PlayStation is getting the 3D Fatal Fury game. Geez! Well, after this, SNK vs. Capcom better be good.