Underappreciated game that, while it doesn't strike the right notes everytime, is still kind of fun.
One of the reasons why I actually like this game is the fact that they added the Meiba's (and a few more) into the mix. So yeah, I like Alba's moves, although yes, SNK was probably trying too hard to be cool by adding them, especially Soiree, who uses street dance to fight.
It's also pretty fast-moving and energetic, and while at times, the frame rate drops, I don't exactly mind, but it's pretty frequent.
The graphics and the faces of the characters have changed a lot though, and that's what disappointed me. I mean, the only way you can know that this character is really that character from the past game is through their costumes! One prime example is Mai Shiranui, who looks almost nothing like her 2D sprite! It's really hard to see which character is who, but when you get used to their new faces, it's just second nature.
Speaking of characters, the number of characters in this game are scant. What happened?
But overall, it's still a pretty decent translation of SNK's long-running fighting game, and I guess this was a risk in their part, so I still applaud them for actually attempting to do this! I mean, based from this came the significantly better KOF '06, which is an example of a developer learning from their mistakes!