KOF98 on Xbox Live Arcade is just what you'd expect it to be...and that's a good thing.
A little backstory: KOF98 was released earlier this year on the PS2, which in turn was a port of a game released in arcades more than a decade ago. For those of you who don't know the series, this game combines the best characters from SNK games (Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, etc.), puts them all in an alternate universe and lets them battle in a tournament to basically stop Rugal Bernstein, the Orochi Demon and all associated with it...at least that was the plot to KOF 94-97.
In '98, it's all out the window, baby! No plot, no storyline!
The roster gives you 43 fighters to choose from (some with alternate versions and two hidden bosses) and allows you to create a team of three brawlers to rumble through the ranks. The look of this game hasn't changed a bit, and while that means it's not near the polish and vibrancy of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, it will bring out the nostalgia fan in you. Though having the victory text in Japanese without the ability of switching it to english was a poor error on SNK's part.
The sound is arcade perfect, right down to Joe Higashi's annoying laugh when he faces off with King. And as I stated earlier, the controls are a lot looser and more responsive. You won't find yourself cursing the game and/or your controller trying to pull off a Desperation Move. Though another flaw with this game is it's vagueness of the basic moves you can pull out. It would've been nice if they'd been more descriptive about guard-breaks or how exactly to escape a throw attempt. For what it's worth, unless you're a long-time player of the game, it's best to try to avoid those situations all together.
But when it comes down to it, KOF98 is old-school fighter fun! If you ever enjoyed wiping the floor as Geese Howard or unleashing Psycho Wrath as Athena, you'll love this game. The Challenge Mode is a good addition, but it also suffers from lack of knowledge of the moves (as I stated earlier). There's also a single fighter mode which takes you through the ranks in a more traditional style of fight, one-on-one best-of-three. Online play is smooth and very enjoyable...when you can get it. Player Matches are often mostly barren, forcing you to dive right into Ranked Matches just to find competition. And more often than not you'll find an opponent with a sky high Ping, which just invites lagging and ruins matches all together.
Bottom Line though, small issues aside, this is an arcade-perfect port that should be enjoyed by all SNK fans. And for 800 Microsoft Points, it's not like you're paying an arm and a leg to get the experience. At the very least, it's something that'll hold you off until King of Fighters XII (which also has a plot about nothing) comes out in the States.